Outdoor Dining, Open Streets and PPP Updates

Originally Published : June 4, 2020

CUOMO COMES THROUGH: OUTDOOR DINING TO REOPEN AS EARLY AS JUNE 22ND!! De BLASIO FEELING THE HEAT!

I was in the sourest of moods.  A day of talking to Landy had me down in the dumps and questioning the very nature of humanity. You understand. Then, I read that our hero, Governor Cuomo made a bold and brash decision to set his outdoor dining phaser to 2 and allow bars and restaurants to open up outside much sooner than expected. It seems that June 22nd is now the target date.  That’s only 19 days from now. 

Cuomo executed such a seasoned and perfectly timed political chess move that you have to admire him. The day before the City Council is set to have a public hearing on the Open Street legislation, Cuomo puts everyone on blast that he has cleared the path for outdoor dining and that if people are not guzzling margaritas and snorting spritzes on June 22nd, well, it ain’t his fault.  Check.  He put De Mayor squarely on the hot seat as the pressure is now on him to:  a) ensure that the City Council pushes this bill through and fast and b) sign it as soon as he gets it and c) push DOT and DCA to be ready with expedited approvals and licensing.  All within the next 3 weeks. Checkmate.

Man, De Mayor really needs a win doesn’t he? His response to the protests were not very well received and then Cuomo almost had him removed and all the papers and the protesters and most New Yorkers are just not vibing with the guy.  Well, maybe there is a way he can turn it around.  What if De Mayor makes it so  that when June 22nd rolls around, we can use the city streets and sidewalks for tables and chairs and people and get those cash registers ringing and people working?  It would certainly make up for some of the damage he has caused over the years by his many refusals to help the industry and maybe, if he can pull this off, he wouldn’t be such a pariah in this town any longer.  But, if he blows it and we are not ready to go on the 22nd, we will excoriate and then exile him from NYC for good and he will never again cut his pizza in peace in this town.  

We are all over this and will have our licensing team working all day tomorrow to give you our usual in-depth breakdown of the things you need to know.

PPP Update: For some reason Sen. Johnson of Wisconsin was causing problems today in the Senate and he won’t give his approval to the PPP reform bill, so they can’t vote on it.  It looks like Queen Bee is buzzing and Johnson may be coming around.  If he does, this thing may pass as soon as tomorrow.  We will keep you posted.

Also, a few banking groups are lobbying Congress to automatically forgive any PPP loans under 150K.  It’s seems its just not worth the trouble for the banks to have to work on such piddling loans.  Watching this too.

Now, I’m going to watch President Obama and just soak in his voice and intellect and class and float back to a better time for a little while.

Good night,
David