Shutdown Of Astoria's Bars During COVID Showcased In New Film

ASTORIA, QUEENS — When Governor Andrew Cuomo mandated the shutdown of New York City’s restaurants and bars on March 17 2020, hundreds of establishments closed their doors at 8 p.m. and still haven’t reopened — including The Sparrow Tavern in Astoria, where Jena Ellenwood worked as a bartender.

In a matter of days, Ellenwood, like thousands of hospitality workers, was left stranded without work amidst the pandemic. “We [hospitality workers] take care of people, and it’s hard that we need to be taken care of and we don’t know if we’re gonna be,” she said in a trailer for “Last Call: The Shutdown of NYC Bars” a documentary filmed during the height of the city’s COVID-outbreak that showcases the social and economic impacts of the pandemic on the city’s hospitality industry.

“Last Call,” which is directed by Emmy Award-winner Johnny Sweet and produced by Bryan TwZ Brousseau, will make its New York City premiere on July 3, during the final day of the Queens World Film Festival.

In addition to The Sparrow Tavern, the 61-minute film showcases other bars in Astoria, and documents the experience of those establishments’ employees.

In order to film in a COVID-safe way amid the pandemic, all of the documentary’s interviews were conducted in an empty studio with remotely-operated cameras.

For the past 10 years, Sweet’s work has largely focused on sports films, but he was inspired to make a piece about the hospitality industry because of his own experience working at a bar in college.

“Arguably the best professional morale I ever experienced was working at Konrad’s,” he said of the bar that he worked at while studying at Syracuse.

“I imagined thousands of those small professional families having their lives ruined at the same time over something they couldn’t control. These businesses and their employees needed a voice, a platform to speak about the sacrifices they made for us to help turn the tide against COVID-19,” he said.

“Last Call” will screen in-person at the Queens Theater in Flushing Meadows at 1 p.m. for $11.49 per ticket, followed by a virtual screening at 8 p.m. for $15 per ticket.

Click here to watch the documentary’s trailer.