Steve Thurston (2020)
Outdoor seating for the Downtown City Tavern sits empty on a snowy December day.
Members of the Glens Falls Common Council will begin talking to restaurateurs this week to find out how they can be helped if the coronavirus pandemic pushes further restrictions on dining, the council said last night.
Fearing that Governor Cuomo could lower the capacity of restaurants to 25% down from 50%, Mayor Dan Hall asked a small working group to spitball possible help, and the council, at the end of their meeting last night talked through some options that included designated, outdoor pick-up areas, technology help for online ordering, delivery help and other ideas. This will be especially urgent as the weather has turned cold, and the outdoor seating that allowed for more patrons, has disappeared until May.
In an interview today, the mayor made clear that all of the ideas were simply the result of brainstorming, and none had been vetted by the city’s legal counsel or approved by the board.
“All the ideas aren’t there yet, but it’s just a start,” he said.
During the meeting Mayor Hall opined that a BINGO-style game could be played. Guests of restaurants--outdoor or in--could get stamps on BINGO cards when patronizing a restaurant and win a small prize from the city.
The city feels a need to help because a loan program the council set up using federal HUD funds, and approved by HUD, earlier this year was not open to restaurants, but only to small businesses that did not or could not qualify for federal Paycheck Protection Plan stimulus, said At-Large Councilwoman Jane Reid. And even if the council could change the regulations to allow restaurants access to the HUD funds now, eight businesses have already taken loans and another six are in the queue, and she does not know how mucy money will remain.
With stronger COVID-19-based restrictions expected as early as Monday, “We don’t have time to change those regulations,” anyway, Reid said.
“Glens Falls revitalization has been on the backs of these restaurants,” Reid said, adding later that they had to look for ideas to help.
Patrons need to feel safe. They have to want to go out and be around other people, a couple local restaurant managers said. That is tough for the council to fix, and more restrictions will certainly not help.
Chris Dore at Downtown Social on Glen Street said he thought there was little the council could do. He bemoaned the current restrictions.
But as he thought, he said, the council could have a list of restaurants that do take-out in a central location for people to find.
Rather than help with technology, they could help retrain patrons. Help teach people to purchase directly from a restaurant’s website whenever possible and avoid popular apps such as DoorDash or UberEats, Dore said. The restaurants retain more of the money if the purchase is made on their site, even if another company delivers for them.
Councilman Scott Endieveri, who has ownership interests in Glens Falls restaurants, said at last night’s meeting he would pursue various ideas with his partners and others.