Daily Archives: July 25, 2021

The return of restaurants. The season of hedonism. The summer of New York City. Theres no shortage of names for whats unfolding in the once-yurt-laden streets of New York, but Nicole Biscardi thinks there might be room for one more. This is the start of the restaurant renaissance, says Biscardi, a hospitality industry specialist with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

In July 2020, when the five boroughs became an epicenter for coronavirus globally, city officials struggled to document the number of restaurant closings across the city there were just that many. Roughly a year later, the opposite is now true: New York City is experiencing one of its busiest seasons for restaurant openings in over a year. Even if its not all that busy.

Restaurant openings are on the rise again in New York City, but viewed through the lens of pre-pandemic openings data, the renaissance looks more like a slow recovery. People might think restaurants are blowing the doors off, making money hand over fist, opening left and right, but they dont realize how devastated the industry was, Biscardi says. Even though it looks and feels like things are back, theyre still not.

Close to 700 restaurants opened their doors between March and May 2021, according to the latest available data from Yelp, but more than 1,000 opened over that same period in 2019. In May, typically one of the years busiest months for restaurant openings, the number of new openings dropped by 300 restaurants from 2019 to 2021.

Restaurant reservation company Resy estimates that roughly the same number of businesses opened on its platform between April and June 2021 as during that same period in 2019. However, the companys reach has more than doubled in recent years, from roughly 2,000 restaurants in late 2018 to more than 5,000 the following year, suggesting that openings have not kept pace with the companys growth.

Even so, its an encouraging uptick after a year that brought even the citys busiest seasons for restaurant openings to a halt. Over the last year, Biscardi says she has monitored restaurant openings across the city, surveying a caseload of more than 600 businesses grappling with seasonal weather and shifting regulations. In the fall, when indoor dining briefly returned to New York City, there was panic about how vaguely worded state policies would play out in reality, she says. After indoor dining shut down two months later, most of the restaurateurs she spoke with were hysterically crying, unsure if their businesses would make it through the winter.

By spring, coronavirus restrictions had started to loosen, and something became apparent, Biscardi says. Through a year of ups and mostly downs some restaurant owners were holding their breaths, planning new projects, and waiting to debut those that were already in the works before the pandemic. Now well into summer, restaurant openings are firing out like a shotgun, she says.

True, the number of restaurants that opened between March and May 2021 is down compared to 2019, but viewed year-over-year, the number of new food businesses is up by roughly 92 percent, according to data from Yelp. Between March and July, approximately 1,300 additional establishments applied for permits through the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, though that number also includes non-restaurant food businesses and renewals for existing restaurants.

Spring and fall were typically the busiest seasons for restaurant openings in pre-pandemic times, but the latest uptick in numbers is the culmination of a year-long bottleneck, according to Biscardi. Because of how long it can take to plan and open a restaurant, there were a lot of restaurants waiting in the pipeline, she says. When pandemic restrictions on restaurants and bars started to loosen, people that were even sort of ready to go said, Fuck it. Lets do it now.

Such is the case with Hand Hospitality, the hit-making group behind Her Name is Han and Izakaya Mew. Emboldened by the citys reopening, Hand debuted Little Mad in early June, a Korean-American restaurant in Nomad located in the former space of On, from the same group. Hand has plans to expand with a second restaurant next month, a Thai establishment that has been in the works for more than a year but was put on hold due to the pandemic.

The openings were spurred by a feeling that everything is slowly coming back, a spokesperson for the hospitality group tells Eater but also by a fear. If we dont do it now, how much later can we wait? they say.

Hand Hospitality repurposed its restaurant spaces, but elsewhere in New York City, openings are being spurred by fire sale rent deals made earlier in the pandemic, according to Andrew Moger, the founder of local sandwich chain the Melt Shop and real estate development company BCD. The things that are opening now are deals that were made during the pandemic, when rents were being discounted by 30 to 50 percent in some parts of the city, he says. Its not like you sign a lease now and you pop it up the next day. It takes time.

For operators with capital at their disposal earlier in the pandemic, investments are starting to pay off. Blank Street Coffee, which first opened in Williamsburg last August, now has a double-digit lineup of coffee carts and brick-and-mortar cafes under its belt. Founders Issam Freiha and Vinay Menda plan to open 20 additional locations in New York City by the end of the summer, they say, roughly a third of which will be brick-and-mortar.

We were the only bid most times, Menda says of rent deals made at this time last year. We had all the time in the world to decide what we wanted to do.

Those same opportunities are rarer today. Brandon Pena is the founder of Puerto Rican coffee roaster 787 Coffee, which nearly doubled its number of locations this past year from four to 11 by signing leases on cafe spaces that shuttered during the pandemic. He estimates rent prices have increased by roughly 20 percent from this time last year. Theres a lot of restaurants opening and everyones trying to get the best price, says Pena, who has been outbid on three cafe spaces in June alone.

Everything weve looked at, prices are up because they have offers now, he says. They used to not have anyone.

Restaurant spaces may be moving again, but experts say the New York City economy may still be years away from returning to pre-pandemic levels and could be slower to bounce back than other metropolitan areas in the country. Other factors, including the end of the states pause on commercial evictions on September 1 and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund running out, mean that an uptick in restaurant closings could be on the horizon.

Biscardi will be the first to say shes not a fear monger or an expert on citywide economics but as someone whos been on the ground with restaurant and bar owners over the past year, she believes were on the right path back, even if its a long one. Even under perfect circumstances everythings open, regulations are lifted, people want to go out I think were looking at another two to three years from now, she says.

Still, a renaissance is a relative, and Biscardi expects that restaurants and bars will continue to open their doors, especially as New York City inches toward its second busiest season for openings: the fall.

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A Record Number of Restaurants Are Opening in New York City. Sort Of. - Eater NY

Empty stadiums, no fans, and if you're an athlete it's probably best to avoid having sex in the Olympic Village just to be on the safe side.

No wonder, then, that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has been forced to break with a number of traditions as the global pandemic forces organizers to mastermind a mega-sporting event unlikely any other.

There's quite a checklist of dos and don'ts for athletes, officials, media and volunteers attending the Games, given those Covid-19 countermeasures that have been in put in place to ensure the Olympics are "safe."

Spectators will also be absent from 97% of Olympic competitions, with "virtual cheering" and a screen at events for fans to send in selfies and messages of support to athletes instead.

While opinion polls have consistently highlighted the unpopularity of the Games among the Japanese public, organizers hope the focus will quickly move away from the global pandemic once the serious competition gets underway after Friday's Opening Ceremony.

Nonetheless, questions remain over how Tokyo can hold a massive sporting event and keep volunteers, athletes, officials -- and the Japanese public -- safe from Covid-19.

On Tuesday, a Japanese health expert warned the bubble around the Olympic village had "kind of broken," while Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said organizers weren't ruling out a last-minute cancellation of the Games amid rising Covid-19 cases.

That febrile environment has ensured that Tokyo has a tough task not to be the first 'no-fun' Olympics.

READ: Olympic athletes battle 'long Covid: 'I'm really struggling to exercise still'

The athletes' village at the Olympics Games is typically viewed as a place where thousands of the world's best athletes from more than 200 countries congregate and get to know each other a little bit better, as well as sharing stories and experiences.

It's even developed a reputation for hedonism, with one athlete describing it as "a pretty wild scene" and condom ambassadors on duty at the 2016 Rio Summer Games.

However, at this Games, organizers are asking athletes to dine alone and maintain social distancing from others. In a TikTok video on Wednesday, Australian water polo star Tilly Kearns detailed the team's rigorous health protocols in the village's canteen -- athletes are only allowed 10 minutes to eat their food.

Large numbers of condoms have been given out at the Games since the 1988 Seoul Olympics to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. This year, organizers are planning to give away about 150,000 condoms -- but only once athletes check out.

Kunihiko Okamoto, vice president of Okamoto Industries, which was asked to supply some of the condoms by Games organizers, said the number of prophylactics was reduced due to the pandemic.

"Before the pandemic, we thought the Olympics are a great opportunity to showcase our products -- it is important to raise more awareness around STDs. But during the pandemic, and given the situation, we feel there are more important things in the world than talking about the importance of condoms," said Okamoto.

READ: Brisbane officially announced as host of 2032 Olympics

As athletes settle into their new accommodation at the Olympic Village, many are testing out what's on offer.

Paul Chelimo, a runner for Team USA, claimed on his Twitter account that the "beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes."

"Beds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports," he added.

However, the idea that the beds with cardboard frames would be for "anti-sex" purposes and would collapse under the weight of more than one person was quickly debunked by one Olympic athlete.

Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan posted a video on Twitter of himself jumping up and down several times as he tested out his bed's sturdiness, before claiming: "It's fake! Fake news!"

Tokyo 2020 says the beds will be "turned into recycled paper after the Games."

"We are promoting the use of recycled materials for procured items and construction materials at the Tokyo 2020 Games," the Games' official "Sustainability Pre-Games Report," said.

READ: Six Polish swimmers sent back home from Tokyo following admin error

Despite the Covid-19 protocols, coronavirus cases in Tokyo -- currently under a state of emergency until August 22 -- show no signs of slowing.

Tokyo reported 1,832 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, its highest daily increase since January 16, according to Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

"Without the proper measures in place, it will only take one person to bring in the virus and spread it, especially in places like the athlete village," infectious disease expert Nobuhiko Okabe said at a news conference Friday.

"We have to do what we can to make sure an outbreak doesn't happen, and we really need the cooperation of all the athletes and delegations to make this work," he added.

Olympic organizers have not included any specifics about sex in the playbook outlining Covid-19 countermeasures, though social distancing protocols would make it more challenging.

But Maki Hirayama, a sociologist and expert on sexuality at Meiji University, argued athletes who've been preparing to compete at the Games will likely still be looking for ways to let off steam -- even amid the pandemic.

"(Humans) need a release, and all the top athletes of the Olympics had to focus on their training ... and we cannot live only with concentration; we need a release. Sexual activity can provide (people) the biggest release," she said.

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No fans or sex? Tokyo has tough task trying not to be the first 'no-fun' Olympics - Action News Now

YESTERDAY was the 10th anniversary of the death of Amy Winehouse. Ive just sat through another documentary that spins your head and heart around, making you wonder who (and what) was to blame for the singers terrible, sorrowful demise.

But before I re-enter that maelstrom, I am happy to begin in a more grounded place. In the London leg of my life, I do my vocal rehearsal days in a complex called Mill Hill Studios. There is an iconic stencil of Winehouse on the wall outside one of the rooms. Turns out, this was the place she started putting her bands together, and did so till the very end.

It is a lovely, well-kept environment, run by a variety of diamond-hearted geezers. They have their careful, tactful stories about Amy.

One of them tells how, just before her death, she was planning a very stripped back, jazz-tinted album, but as a four piece, drums, vox, bass and keys/guitar, with some sax or clarinet as appropriate. Basically, a step away from the big wall-of-sound production on Back in Black

And the talk is like that: all about musicianship, no psychodrama. As if the most respectful thing to do is to concentrate on the compositions and performances that came from her mouth, fingers, body and soul, for as long as we had her. And as for the rest Well, to be honest, it seems like theres a battle of blame narratives going on. Last nights BBC documentary Reclaiming Amy is primarily narrated by Amys mum, Janice Winehouse-Collins. It explicitly sets out to place the singer in circles of care, whether close family or friends, who were ultimately unable to handle her addictive condition.

Its clearly an attempt to answer the Oscar-winning 2016 documentary Amy. This film indicts the celebrity press, an exploitative and parasitic music business and to some degree her father, Mitch, as among those who failed to properly look after her.

I resist going much deeper into these minefields. It is undoubtedly the case that the absurd shock of her 27-year-old demise, and the size of the talent that was extinguished, sends out a spray of fragments (and protagonists). Kaleidoscopes will shuffle these testimonies around for decades. The potential patterns of responsibility (and evasions of it) are endless.

But the truth is also that Winehouses own art proceeded on the basis of cheeky, flirty but also shocking self-revelation. When her blockbuster album Back To Black came out in 2006, the rise of confessional culture and reality TV content (amplified by social media) was beginning its inexorable rise.

Big Brother was regnant on Channel 4, libido and drunkenness tumbling through each days programming. The music critic Alexis Petridis recently noted that Facebook opened to everyone over thirteen with a valid email address four weeks before Back to Blacks release; Twitters tipping point came five months later.

READ MORE:Runrig documentary There Must Be A Place offers insight into legendary band

So the world was ready for Winehouses artistic candour about her barely held-together lifestyle. (A final zeitgeist point might well be that these frothy jets of hedonism and confessionalism were being fuelled by oceans of credit all to come crashing down in the following 18 months).

But you maybe have to live inside some of her songs for a while, to realise how powerfully she conducts this open-heart surgery. For some of the festival sets were playing this year, Hue And Cry is putting a cover of Back To Black in the full-band songlist, graduating from a piano-vocal version.

Great pop songs can take you to another harsh world, but so beautifully that you can cope being there. What a world in Back To Black. We know, biographically, that Winehouse was in a dangerously co-dependent, half-open relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, inspiring all of these songs.

The lineaments of that relationship are brutally laid out in the first lines: He left no time to regret/Kept his dick wet/With his same old safe bet. The second verse, like some kind of Camden Town John Donne, uses drug paraphernalia (the penny is a fragment of crack) as a metaphor for their blasted relationship: I love you much, its not enough You love blow and I love puff Life is like a pipe and Im a tiny penny Rolling up the walls inside How can you sing this as a man?

There are precedents. Sinatra was notorious for hanging out at Billie Holliday gigs, imagining himself taking the suffering role in her songs. Though if you shift the lyrics of Back To Black around and rewrite for the male role, the song goes even darker: a story of male power setting the parameters, observing the ruins, even amidst mutual brokenness.

Last nights BBC documentary certainly wants to reclaim Amy from any victim framing. Her excesses and appetites are mostly rendered as intrinsically motivated, not extrinsically triggered. Her closest male schoolfriend recalls her in escapades involving mooning bare bums and raised middle fingers.

Winehouses often tearful coterie speak of her physical fragility, but also her strong willpower, impervious to advice or intervention.

Her parents strongly assert that she was in the grip of addiction, as a disease and condition. They have even set up a foundation to assist the recovery of young addicts. When asked at an interview in her full bee-hived and flick-mascarad splendour about her fears, Amy answers: What am I scared of? Myself.

THOUGH I tend towards Winehouse not being the victim of her circumstances, there are some formative elements which most performers will recognise. The much criticised father, Mitch, himself a wanna-be wedding-band Sinatra working as a cab driver, was clearly a template for his performing daughter.

I enjoyed the limelight, I cant deny it, he says in the BBC doc. But Mitch also reveals that he tried, at the height of his daughters self-destruction, to have Amy sectioned (her charm sent the examining doctors away). The death of a beloved grandmother is also cited as a destabilising influence, as much as the standard explanation of drugs and drink. There was so much more, says her mum Janice. She resonated at a different frequency to anyone else. It often feels like the Amy we know has been lost.

Reclaiming Amy does enough of the necessary job of putting her performances and songwriting front and centre. In retrospect, shes an odd mix: cartoonish in her fashion choices, wriggling awkwardly like a teenager on a school dancefloor, but with a voice that erupts from her like lava, Aretha and Dinah and Ella and god knows who else comprising the flow. Yet the verbal scenes she paints come from bad romance, North-London style.

READ MORE:Pat Kane: Amy Winehouse wasnt lost in the music, she was lost to the music

Its obviously intriguing to envision a less fissile Winehouse, what she would have settled into. Adele-like serenity? One of the saddest moments in the BBC doc is when Amy sees her own future as a mother with a few kids, which her friends tearfully corroborate. One idly imagines that these might have been her next most beloved creations.

But theres a line from Rehab, that spookily defiant megahit about her resistance to all helpers, which I cant forget. Fleeing from the hands of experts and doctors, she trills: Theres nothing you can teach me/That I cant learn from Mr Hathaway. That, I presume, is the soul titan Donny Hathaway, whose covers she often took to entirely new levels in her performances.

Maybe this girl wasnt just lost in music, but lost to music. The business of show supports the flaming arcs of the mercurial and the unique. But often without a net. And often with the net being deliberately evaded. Rest in process, Amy Winehouse.

Reclaiming Amy is available now on BBC iPlayer

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Pat Kane: Amy Winehouse wasn't lost in the music, she was lost to the music - The National