Say It Ain’t So Governor Cuomo!

WHAT’S THE PLAN, STAN? CUOMO HAWKS HIS NEW BOOK ON LEADERSHIP, WHILE DISPLAYING NONE. 

Governor Cuomo’s new book on leadership and the pandemic hits the stands in October and I for one, plan on buying a copy so I can promptly exercise my first amendment rights, if they still exist, and set it on fire.  How the hell did he have time to write a book and then record the audio book (poor sound engineer) in the midst of all this chaos?  Does he think we’re in the clear now that the Covid numbers have held?  What about restaurants and bars?  Remember us?  All we hear from him these days is when he threatens and gripes and sends out his Keystone Kop trained goon squads to suspend and fine and harass us.  

So, amazing leader, what’s the plan?  When are we going to be able to open up our restaurants so we can seat people inside? You know, like the rest of the state is permitted to do.  It seems that they are doing ok and that there have been no terrible outbreaks in the Hamptons or the Catskills or Lake George or anywhere else where people congregate and eat inside.

That you are not communicating with us is inexcusable.  Are we just waiting for you to wake up one morning and “feel” that it’s safe or are there actual metrics that you are relying on?  I guess we will have to file a lawsuit to get your attention and find out.  What a travesty. 

And what’s really behind the delay and the cold shoulder that you are giving to the industry?  Is it the book?  I looked it up, you made around $800K on your last book and sales were not that great.  They were pretty dismal actually.  Like under 3,000 copies sold after an initial run of 200,000 copies were ordered.   Oops, that’s an awful lot of no sales.

I think you don’t want to open restaurants because you want to keep the Covid numbers low so when your book comes out in October, you still look like a hero.  You don’t want to risk looking like a fool by having New York awash in a second wave of infections while you hit the talk show circuit to discuss your great successes with Jimmy and Seth and not Ellen.  I actually thought that maybe you cared about the industry but it turns out that you are a typical self-obsessed, greedy, narcissist politician just like the rest of them. Thanks for nothing.

And where is the Mayor in all of this?  Curled up in the corner of his custom-built shower, sobbing uncontrollably and regretting this whole “Mayor” thing I’m sure.  Another disaster of a politician who does not deserve another word from any of us.

This morning, as I was walking around Greenpoint, I ran into two of my clients/friends.  Vince had recently closed Cherry Point and Nick is in the process of clearing out Alameda.  Nick was picking up some used furniture from Vince for his other places and the three of us chatted and lamented about Landy and Covid and all the wackiness and about moving on.  As I walked away, I was a little sad for myself and Lauren about losing two of our favorite hangouts but I didn’t feel bad for Nick and Vince.  I just knew that both of these guys, like all of you intrepid entrepreneurs who built successful restaurants in NYC, are going to be just fine. After all, you are the hardest working, most talented business people in the world and you made it here and, well, you know the rest.

Well folks, this is gonna be our last newsletter for a minute.  We are going to take a hiatus from publishing it on a regular, weekly basis as the news barrage has slowed down and we are up to speed about PPP and Landy and the SLA and outdoor dining and all the other new things that we have to contend with as we continue the battle in the weirdo world.

But please rest assured, if anything at all pops up that you need to know about, we will write about it and will send out a newsletter to keep you in the know.  And you can always reach out to us if you need any help or if you have any questions about anything. We are always here for you and we are with you to the end.

As Jerry and the boys say, “Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell”. 

On behalf of everyone at Helbraun Levey,