Astoria Businesses Clinging On As NYC Works To Extend Lifelines

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Vincent Licata and his brother, Jack, opened the restaurant Burger Village in Astoria just before the state tightened restrictions on businesses like theirs, faced with a rising wintertime wave of coronavirus cases.

Three weeks in, the brothers have already laid off half their staff. Two people are working the kitchen, and they have just one server.

A hint of hope came Monday in the form of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Commissioner Jonnel Doris of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, who visited businesses along Steinway Street and Broadway to spread the word about a set of new grants and no-interest loans the city introduced in late November.

Doris left information on a grant program that will pay interest owed by small businesses that took out loans from certain lenders, which piqued Licata's interest, and a lunchtime order of an Impossible Burger with hot sauce.

Richards, who took office this month, told Patch he is preparing to launch a financial aid program specific to Queens small businesses — especially those in communities hardest hit by the pandemic — but the details remain under wraps.

For hundreds of small businesses in Astoria, aid can't come soon enough.

Get Cutz Barber Shop on Steinway Street is down to four barbers from eight, owner Javier Perez said Monday. As Doris and Richards dropped off packs of face masks and flyers on the city's new financial assistance programs, two barbers stood idly by with no hair to trim.

"We're in the middle of Steinway — we should be busy," said Perez, who also owns the tattoo parlor upstairs.

Perez showed interest in the Department of Small Business Services' interest rate reduction grant, but he said he already started paying back the five-figure Paycheck Protection Program loan he received.

What he really needs, he said, is help paying his rent.

Small businesses are the backbone of our community and Commissioner @JonDoris1 was out in the streets speaking directly with business owners in Astoria & sharing info about resources available from SBS. Thanks to @DrichardsQns @Costa4NY and @SteinwayAstoria for having us today. pic.twitter.com/UkDXx2IlZr
— NYCSmallBusiness (@NYC_SBS) December 21, 2020

To Katch Astoria owner Roseann McSorley, who helms the Western Queens Business Advisory Council, a major part of the battle to help small businesses recover is simply spreading the word.

McSorley is urging the Department of Small Business Services and city officials to put more effort into communicating about the ever-changing pandemic guidelines and available resources, particularly in multiple languages.

"We don't have hope," she told Patch.

Doris, who was appointed in May to lead the Department of Small Business Services, is tackling the challenge in part with walking tours like the one Monday in Astoria.

The agency is reviewing applications for its new grants and loans, a spokesperson said. It's unclear when small businesses in Astoria and elsewhere will get approval.

"Small businesses across Queens are doing their best to hang on," Richards said, "and we must spare no effort to help them survive."