has provoked a severe recession and a great number of businesses and individuals will be hurt,� Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said at the legislative meeting. “We all want to minimize the economic impact as much as we can.� Some business owners are already frustrated that the Council didn’t go far enough. Thamee owner Simone Jacobson wrote to legislators imploring them to increase unemployment benefits. Currently the District pays $444 per week. Jacobson and others wanted to see that number climb to $1,000, but it was ultimately up to D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt. By his calculation, if this stretches to the end of June, the city will need to cut $500 million in 2020 spending. Congress is also working on a federal coronavirus relief bill. After a couple of rounds of revisions, it passed in the House Monday night. The Senate should vote on it this week. Expect the legislation to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, a deal that the Post is characterizing as similar to the stimulus packages Congress enacted during the 2008 financial crisis. The hospitality industry is hanging on by a thread and hoping there’s some sector-specific relief. The bill includes some paid sick leave provisions, but that wouldn’t help workers who have been laid off because their businesses have closed. Restaurant and bar owners tell City Paper that while some of them have ins u ra n c e p la n s that cover interrupted business, global pandemic isn’t included alongside things like flood and fire. “That would be like getting volcanic eruption insurance in D.C.,� says Coconut Club chef and owner Adam Greenberg. Greenberg and other business owners shared what kind of assistance they need most from rent deferment and commercial loan deferment to no penalties on future unemployment premiums, and a policy where it would be illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant over missed rent payments. Timber Pizza Co. and Call Your Mother co-owner Andrew Dana is looking for quick and easy access to Small Business Administration loans with low interest rates. The agency issued a statement on March 12 detailing how to apply for disaster relief lending. It says the interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses without credit available elsewhere. “3.5 percent is the normal rate for disaster bonds, but that isn’t going to cut it,� Dana says. “With margins hovering around zero percent for restaurants, we need interest rates to also hover around zero percent or this disruption will shutter restaurants left
and right. Less than 1 percent interest rates are what we’d like.� Dana suggests an idea floated by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. “It’s the idea of zero percent bonds with the assurance that we keep folks on payroll,� he says. “I think that’s something we should be fighting for as a restaurant—money in our pockets now to keep paying employees. It’s simple, avoids the government worrying about the administrative issues of unemployment, and most importantly for so many restaurants, it protects undocumented workers who otherwise don’t have access to unemployment.� What You Can Do Restaurants and bars can only make money off of take-out and delivery orders, which in no way compares to having a dining room full of patrons. Despite being shut down and squeezed as they await help, some are stepping up to feed those in need. Steakhouse Medium Rare is bringing free meals to neighbors older than 70 who are at risk if they leave the house. RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant in Navy Yard, is serving free take-out meals to school children under 18, hospital workers with valid ID, and employees and their families. Hummus slinger Little Sesame is partnering with Meals for the City to feed the food insecure. There are a few things diners concerned about their favorite bars and restaurants can do to return the favor in the new normal. If you’re comfortable with it, pick up take-out or order delivery from places that have decided to continue operating within the legal parameters. Even fine dining restaurants that haven’t packed up food before are giving it a go, including Little Serow, Emilie’s, Albi, Centrolina, and Ellē. Consider purchasing merchandise from businesses that sell swag and gift cards, although the latter option isn’t a perfect solution since some third-party gift card processing companies don’t fork over the cash until they’re redeemed. A handful of grassroots efforts are also growing in the community. Park View restaurant and events space Hook Hall teamed up with RAMW to launch a fund for supplies and meals for restaurant and bar staff. Then there’s the Virtual Tip Jar. It’s a Google Form that can easily bring you to tears. At press time, 2,106 presumed local bar, coffee shop, and restaurant employees had entered their Venmo handles or PayPal contact information into the spreadsheet, hoping the public would open their wallets and give them a hand. They listed their place of current or former employment and whether or not they have health coverage. Hundreds don’t. CP
“They keep stopping short of mandated closures because of the responsibility that goes with it— rent abatement and unemployment.�
PUZZLE I NEED MY SPACE
By Brendan Emmett Quigley
1 Picture puzzle 6 "Get training fast" seminars 15 Engages in bloviations 17 Slandering 18 Samsung smartphone line 19 "Behold the Lord High Executioner" comic opera 20 Senate leader? 21 Crunk 23 Winter hrs. in Seattle 24 One who goes along to get along 29 Bess' partner 33 Exquisite style 34 Spaces 36 ___ polloi 37 Flip of a 7" 39 Dole (out) 40 Connected by a thread 41 Public health intervention to reduce transmission of disease, and what's happening literally in this puzzle 44 "Squawk on the Street" channel 45 M.D. specialty 46 Lavs
47 48 49 50 52 57 59 60 61 66 69 70 71 72
Intention Beliefs Hat-tipping word Haiku poet Matsuo ___ Florida city or its lake or county seat Ovid poem "A right delayed is a right denied" speaker, initially Without much pressure Swear words? Snobby "Heads up" More to the point Went down "I ___ listening"
1 Word list compiler Peter 2 Take off the page 3 Floating wood 4 Acting instructor Hagen 5 What a dirty mind thinks about 6 Off one's rocker 7 ___Kosh B'Gosh 8 Poet's "ajar" 9 Do some freelance work 10 Potato chips in Parliament 11 Implore 12 Mil. status
13 Escape vehicle in sci-fi 14 ___-Seal (weatherproofing brand) 16 What fingers signal in charades 22 Actor McDiarmid 25 Doctor in a theater? 26 Strong request 27 Discharge 28 Hair metal band with a verminesque name 30 KĂśln's river 31 Graduate's getups 32 ___ Yang Twins 35 Doublebreasted coat
37 Indian National Congress president Gandhi 38 War game weapons 39 Belarus' capital 40 Average chump 41 Sign of healing 42 Proof-of-concept product 43 Comic with the autobiography Born a Crime 48 First aid kit fluid 49 Qantas hub letters 51 See 65-Down 53 Alter 54 Make sacrosanct 55 Polished off 56 Give off effort 58 It is, in Chile 61 Exaggerate on the expense report, e.g. 62 Lyft line: Abbr. 63 Like nonRx drugs 64 Chunks in the 30-Down 65 He regularly serves 51-Down 67 Hardly any 68 Brother's address
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washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 11