1M NYC Workers At-Risk In Coronavirus Downturn, Data Shows

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — More than 1 million people work in New York City region restaurants, food service and other industries expected to be the hardest hit by a coronavirus-driven recession, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

That's one in five workers in and around the city.

And the Moody's economist's assessment of vulnerable industries doesn't take into account the impact of a sweeping "stay-in-place" order issued Friday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Long story short: the worst could be yet to come for New Yorkers and those around the city.

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That means more restauranteurs could follow the lead of Keavy Landreth, owner of Butter & Scotch in Crown Heights, and temporarily shut down business and hope to ride out the coronavirus crisis.

It means bartenders like Park Slope's Misty Smith have no end in sight to a shutdown that all-but wiped out their jobs overnight.

Food services and drinking establishments are the second-largest industry in the New York City region, according to an Associated Press analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Nearly 640,000 people work in about 50,000 bars, restaurants and other similar joints scattered across New York City, Newark, Jersey City and nearby Pennsylvania, the data shows.

They're also the third-lowest paid sector in the region — $26,135.02 a year, on average — behind only gas station workers and a grab bag category of "sports, hobby, music instrument, book stores."

A Moody's analysis identified five sectors especially vulnerable to layoffs and other stress during a coronavirus-driven downtown. Those are leisure and hospitality, transportation, employment services, travel arrangements and mining/oil and gas.

About 1.3 million New York City-area workers fall under those categories, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That's 18 percent of the area's workforce.

The numbers include:

• 58,570 employees in performing arts and spectator sports
• 89,588 employees in amusements, gambling, and recreation
• 16,403 employees in museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks

Coronavirus in NYC: What's Happened and What You Need To Know