A12B| Tuesday, December 1, 2020 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
GREATER
NEW YORK
WATCH
NEW JERSEYGovernor Announces
Tighter RestrictionsNew Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy
said the state will tighten re-
strictions on outdoor gatherings
and will shut down indoor sports
as the number of cases of
Covid-19 continue to climb.
New Jersey reported 3,
additional infections on Monday
and a test positivity rate of
11.34%. Nearly 3,000 people with
Covid-19 or suspected of having
the disease are currently hospi-
talized.
Outdoor gatherings will be
limited to 25 people, excluding
outdoor assemblies for wedding
ceremonies, funerals, memorial
services and religious and politi-
cal activities. The state previ-
ously capped outdoor gatherings
to 150 people.
Organized indoor sporting ac-
tivities for youths and adults will
also be suspended beginning
Dec. 5 through Jan. 2. More than
100 cases of Covid-19 have been
tied to youth hockey, according
to the New Jersey Department
of Health.
—Joseph De AvilaCONNECTICUTArts Groups Will Get
$9 Million in GrantsConnecticut will be giving $
million in grants to more than
150 nonprofit arts organizations,
including theaters and sympho-
nies, to help them offset losses
stemming from the coronavirus
pandemic, Gov. Ned Lamont said
Monday.
The grants from the state’s
Covid Relief Fund for the Arts are
funded by aid from the federal
Cares Act that was approved in
March for coronavirus relief.
The grant program is aimed
at helping performing-arts cen-
ters, art schools and performing
groups that need the money to
stay open and that have had to
curtail operations during the
pandemic. Qualifying groups re-
ceive a base grant of $5,000,
and the state also matches 50%
of funds they raise.
—Associated PressManhattan wine store
owner Tom Geniesse is busy
filling online orders and boxing
up holiday shipments, but no
matter how many e-commerce
platforms he joins, internet
sales can’t make up for the de-
cline in foot traffic outside his
shop on West 19th Street.
Mr. Geniesse designed Bot-
tlerocket Wine & Spirit for in-
person browsing by both wine
lovers and neighborhood regu-
lars, with one display pairing
wine suggestions with takeout
menus from nearby restau-
rants. But the pandemic has
quieted the once-bustling
neighborhood, as many resi-
dents decamped to the suburbs
and few office workers stop in
to pick up a bottle or two.
While retail wine sales are
up 19% this year nationwide,
according to research firm
Nielsen, Mr. Geniesse said his
revenue is down about 35%.
“That normal, daily, neigh-
borhood wine-store business
has evaporated,” he said. “Nine-
teenth Street was really hap-
pening and vibrant. Now it’s not
a ghost town, but it’s definitely
a shadow of its normal self.”
The Flatiron and Union
Square neighborhoods were
thriving before the pandemic,
with residents, office workers,
tourists and college students
supporting its restaurants and
stores. A study last year by
the New York City Department
of City Planning found that,
while other parts of Manhat-
tan struggled with skyrocket-
ing real-estate prices and high
storefront vacancy, the Flat-
iron and Union Square retail
corridor was relatively stable.
In 2018, just more than 9%
of the district’s storefronts
were vacant, compared with
nearly 26% on Canal Street
and 14% in SoHo.
A follow-up survey con-
ducted in July showed the ex-
tent of the pandemic’s impact.
The number of inactive store-
fronts in the district, including
those that were closed and va-
cant, jumped 36%, according
to the planning department,
which attributed the closures
in part to the decline in com-
muters and tourists.
James Mettham, executive
director of the Flatiron 23rd
Street Partnership, said more
businesses have reopened
since the summer and foot
traffic is improving. “It is
moving in the right direction,
it’s just been gradual,” he said.
A recent Wall Street Journal
analysis of Foursquare foot-
traffic data found that pedes-
trian activity was still down
50% across the Flatiron, Union
Square and Chelsea neighbor-
hoods compared with February.
That is an improvement from
the spring, when foot traffic
fell 75%, but still slower than
some outer-borough neighbor-
hoods such as Morris Park, in
the Bronx, and New Dorp, on
Staten Island, where pedestrian
activity had rebounded to pre-
pandemic levels by September.
The Flatiron is missing many
of the gym-goers who flocked
to the neighborhood in recent
years. Last year there were
about 60 gyms and fitness stu-
dios in the area, up from 36 in
2014, according to the busi-ness-improvement district,
which also said one out of ev-
ery five storefronts in the dis-
trict was wellness focused.
Gyms were one of the last busi-
nesses allowed to reopen in
New York, and indoor group fit-
ness classes are still prohibited.
“Fitness is just one of those
businesses that is just really
difficult to reopen in a pan-
demic, let alone in an area with
such a workforce-dominant cli-
entele,” Mr. Mettham said.
Sales at Gotham CoffeeRoasters on West 19th Street
have improved slightly: They are
down 60% compared with 85%
this spring, chief executive Chris
Calkins said. He has stayed
afloat through his mail-order
business, federal grants and
loans—and because his landlord
reduced his rent by 30%.
“We’re still bleeding money,”
he said, “but unless things get
worse, we’re good until June.”
Boarded-up businesses add
to the neighborhood’s gloom.
Dozens of establishments were
damaged by looting or vandal-
ism after protests in June, and
many owners, fearing further
unrest, put plywood back up
ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Jennifer Falk, executive di-
rector of the Union Square
Partnership business improve-
ment district, said she re-
cently sent a note to business
owners in her zone urging
them to remove their plywood
to show the area is open for
business. Despite the difficult
year, Ms. Falk said all the ele-
ments that made the neigh-
borhood thrive before the pan-
demic leave it well-positionedto rebound when warmer
weather and a vaccine arrive.
A dozen businesses—mostly
restaurants and grab-and-go
eateries that had planned to
launch before the pandemic—
have opened in the Union
Square neighborhood since
March, Ms. Falk said, and the
Union Square Greenmarket
continues to draw shoppers.
Moreover, all of the develop-
ment projects that were in the
pipeline pre-pandemic are still
set to move forward, she said.
Mr. Geniesse expects the
neighborhood to go through a
difficult period, with many
shops closing and business
owners entering bankruptcy.
But if rent prices drop enough,
he thinks “New York die-hards”
will spark a retail rebirth.
“It’s a little bit like when a
forest fire comes through and
everything looks just deci-
mated—it’s remarkable how
quickly things come back,” he
said. “Yes, you’re seeing sort
of the charred remains of New
York street life and retail. But
I think out of that comes some
really great stuff.”BYKATEKING
Pandemic Squeezes Business District
Some Flatiron District businesses boarded up their storefronts ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Below, Tom Geniesse, owner of
Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit, said his revenue is down about 35% but he remains hopeful for a neighborhood rebound next year.ANDREW SENG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)GREATER NEW YORK
NY