Small Businesses in NYC Respond to the Pandemic

This April in New York City was like no other. Deserted sidewalks, empty and lifeless restaurants, and an eerie quiet gave it a ghost-town ambiance. As New York state began to plan for outdoor dining, there was hope among many New Yorkers that the restaurant industry would revive itself.

While some restaurants buzzed back to life as they unfurled their outdoor tables and street partitions, the restaurants and cafés that remained in their dormant conditions continue to remind New Yorkers of the irreparable damage the pandemic has inflicted upon many of our most beloved dining spots.

To learn about how restaurants have fared during the height of coronavirus desertion, I visited three Upper West Side food establishments.

First, I visited Broadway Bagels on Broadway and 101st Street, where I spoke with the manager, Joe, about food delivery during the pandemic. Prior to the shutdown of indoor dining, Broadway Bagels had operated a successful delivery business for years.

When I asked how Broadway Bagels operated during the pandemic, Joe responded, “Delivery was online or by phone and we had a few delivery guys making deliveries. We had been doing online deliveries for a long time.”

While Broadway Bagels did see an increase in online orders, Joe explained, “It was not as much as we had expected.” Hearing how Broadway Bagels had continued their operations through delivery, I was curious to see how a more popular and well-regarded Upper West Side bagel shop had responded. So, I decided to talk to partial-owner Nick at Absolute Bagels on Broadway and 107th Street.

Broadway Bagels was well- equipped to handle the orders through delivery, but Absolute Bagels, lacking previous delivery experience, did not venture into the daunting realm of transporting fresh bagels.

When asked about whether Abso-

lute Bagels considered doing deliveries, Nick explained, “We’ve never done any delivery because most of our customers don’t mind just coming here and buying. We have been open during the whole pandemic. At the beginning we had fewer customers and had to keep the business alive so we’ve had to be efficient.”

As one of the best bagel shops in New York City, Absolute Bagels still has lines out the door every morning.

While most bagel shops and restaurants deal with goods that are relatively easy to deliver, local coffee shops and cafés cannot deliver their products the same way, according to Dragan, the founder of Peaky Barista on Broadway and 102nd Street.

Dragan said, “The thing is, with coffee, it’s hard to deliver it because we want it to be hot and the market for coffee shops wouldn’t be as high as other shops without a serious menu.” Despite being unable to offer delivery, Dragan found support from the community and continued to open his doors day after day. He described, “We never closed, we were always open. The first couple of weeks were tough because no one knew we were open, but as soon as everyone found out, locals and regulars started coming to support us.” As indoor dining begins to pick up, Dragan is hopeful that café culture will revive itself, and New Yorkers will be eager to sit in their beloved coffee shops again.

While these establishments have managed to stay afloat during the pandemic, they do not represent all of the restaurants in the city. Not every establishment had the local supporters who kept these restaurants alive.