Check out this edition of LI Main Street News moving through the 11th week of quarantine. This issue for day 73 of the economic shutdown covers a new downtown profile, communities helping communities segment, information on new NYS regulations for the gradual reopening, info on upcoming relief efforts and more quotes from Village officials and Chamber leaders opposing the removal of local zoning.
presented by Vision Long Island and the Long Island Main Street Alliance May 27th, 2020
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Quotes of Day
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Helping Main Street through the
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At this time of uncertainty, we are beginning to see a number of downtowns being shuttered as bars, restaurants, and any place where multiple people congregate are running up against fears of and caution at spreading the Coronavirus. While this is a socially responsible action that will help to save lives, in the short term these actions are having a number of adverse effects on our local communities. Vision Long Island and Long Island Main Street Alliance members have collected a number of experiences from local restaurants and service businesses, but before we go into that we would like to encourage everyone reading this to find a way to responsibly patronize local establishments. Many stores are offering curbside pickup or online shopping to help them get through this difficult time. And your favorite restaurants are also currently open for business with takeout available. We also urge you to consider gift cards in order to purchase something at a later date for yourself, or perhaps to give as a present. Local shops are in a capable position to provide you with what you need in the short-term. Many will also be willing to accommodate you if you contact them ahead of time with requests that will minimize contact and help to lower the spread of this virus. Vision has connected to over 600 small businesses in nearly 50 downtowns as they weather the economic storm through the Coronavirus. We encourage people to responsibly patronize these and other open establishments who need your help in this time of crisis. Many of these businesses have been there for local organizations and philanthropy – they now need our support. In the meantime, here is the featured downtown for today. For a complete list of downtowns profiles, please check out our website here.Southampton, BridgehamptonThe Town of Southampton encompasses an area of 140.2 square miles, 18 hamlets, and seven incorporated villages. Southampton and Bridgehampton are just two of the beautiful hamlets in the township. Long considered a seasonal community, the increase of year-round, permanent residents has contributed to the energy and distinctiveness of these areas. A wide range of local organizations take an active interest in these communities, whose goals include preservation and protection of important waterways and open space and the economic well-being of local marine, agricultural and tourist businesses. Keeping the economy strong in these downtowns takes effort, even without the disruptive effects of NY Pause. High rents, elevated costs of food and maintenance services, a seasonal market and changeable weather all complicate the ability of any of these east end hamlet or village businesses to yield a healthy profit. The COVID 19 shut down has made it even more difficult for businesses to prosper. The Southampton Chamber of Commerce continues to reach out to remind residents that local businesses need their help during this challenging time, or they won’t be around after this unsettling period ends. “Please remember the local restaurants who support your charity events, golf outings, school functions, Chinese auctions and miscellaneous fundraisers with generous donations of gift certificates.” The Chamber concludes, we are in this together and businesses appreciate your support. Below are a list of many Southampton and Bridgehampton businesses open for take-out, curbside and/or delivery. 75 Main Almond Restaurant Coast Grill Fellingham’s North Sea Tavern Panera Bread Paul’s Italian Restaurant Pellegrino’s Pizza Bar & Restaurant Southampton Publick House Ted’s Deli Union Burger Bar Bobby Van’s Catena’s Inc Food Market Clamman Seafood Market Goldberg’s Bagels Golden Pear Café Golden Pear Café Le Charlot Open MInded Organics Seans Place Shippy’s Pumpernickels Sip n Soda |
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Rocky Point“When you’re in a pandemic, the phrase ‘it takes a village’ takes on even greater significance.” – North Shore Youth Council As Rocky Point students continue with distance learning, donors both near and far have been eager to lend a helping hand so that all students have the tools they need to succeed. Recently the Rotary Club of Rocky Point and North Shore Youth Council (NSYC) have lent Chromebooks to students, and OLA of Eastern Long Island donated 100 Acer Chromebooks to the Rocky Point School District to assist with online education during the COVID-19 crisis. “We are grateful for the generosity and kindness of these organizations for helping our students have this crucial access to succeed in their school work,” Rocky Point Superintendent of Schools Dr. Scott O’Brien said. “These partnerships help to not only advance our students’ ongoing education; it encourages and strengthens school-community connections.” The North Shore Youth Council stated, “We’re honored to have such wonderful relationships with our communities and to help support students’ remote education and well-being in a variety of ways so they achieve greater success in their lives.” Students without devices in their homes were able to pick up the Chromebooks recently as they move forward in their educational digital instruction. |
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NYS Gives Long Island Go-Ahead to Reopen Economy at Phase OneLong Island has met the necessary metrics to enter phase one of economic reopening according to Governor Cuomo. Unfortunately, there continues to be an enormous amount of confusion out there concerning this. There is no comprehensive reopening today but rather the first steps taken to reopen. NYS will allow Long Island communities to have select categories of businesses reopen in addition to the industries already allowed to work if they are considered an “essential” businesses. Phase one will allow for construction, manufacturing, and wholesale supply chain businesses to reopen, as well as many retailers for curbside pickup, in-store pickup, or drop off. Retail categories will be mostly limited to clothing and shows, electronics and appliances, web and mail-order, florists, jewelry, luggage, and sporting goods. Here is a tool that will help businesses be able to determine whether they are available to reopen. Huntington Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci said, “The Phase I reopening comes just in time as the Town Board acted last week to help accelerate our local economic recovery with a collaboration of ideas with our local business leaders and approving measures like the extension of building permits set to expire between March 12 and July 31 for six months to relieve the burden on construction that has been delayed for over two months, and the allowing of parking spaces to be reserved by businesses in our largest downtown to enable easier curbside pickup and delivery. We are also working with small businesses on the closure of street blocks where feasible to enable more walk-able open outdoor spaces for local merchants.” “Good to see early steps taken to end the extended shutdown,” said Eric Alexander of Vision Long Island/LI Main Street Alliance. “Local small businesses, downtowns and local municipalities across Long Island are all ready to get back to work safely. Hopefully some restrictions that hurt Main Street businesses, particularly retail, can be loosened in short order as well. The sooner our communities can reopen safely, to protect our public health, it will bring back to life the ailing economic health most working (or not working) people are experiencing.” Read https://forward.ny.gov/ to review the regulations and affirm their industries safety guidelines. You can read more at Huntington Now. Governor Cuomo Calls On U.S. Senate to Pass New Coronavirus Relief BillThe following is an update from Governor Cuomo’s website: Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today called on the U.S. Senate to pass a coronavirus relief bill that helps all Americans and provides unrestricted fiscal support for states. The next bill should focus on funding state and local governments, working families, state testing and tracing efforts and a real economic stimulus with no handouts to corporations who do not protect their workers and only enrich executives or shareholders. The House of Representatives has already passed a bill that includes $500 billion for states and $375 billion for locals; Medicaid funding for the most vulnerable; increased SNAP food assistance; 100 percent FEMA federal assistance; funding for testing; and repeals SALT cap to help states most affected by COVID-19. Governor Cuomo also reiterated his call for the U.S. Senate to repeal the SALT limitations. The states most impacted by COVID-19 represent more than one-third of the national GDP. They also send tens of billions of tax dollars more to the federal government than they get back, and the dollars they send are then redistributed to other states and big corporations. These very same states that have been most impacted by COVID-19, are also the states that were hit hardest by the cap on state and local taxes, the politically motivated first double tax in U.S. history that was implemented by the federal tax law in 2017. The Governor also renewed his call for Congress to pass the ‘Americans First Law’ to help prevent corporate bailouts following the COVID-19 pandemic. First proposed by the Governor on May 10th, the legislation states that a corporation cannot be eligible to receive government funding if it doesn’t maintain the same number of employees that the corporation had before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor also urged President Trump to support a real public infrastructure program and to advance infrastructure projects in New York — including the LaGuardia AirTrain, the Cross-Hudson Tunnels, and the Second Avenue Subway expansion — to help supercharge the economy. The Governor also announced that Long Island has met all seven metrics to begin phase one of reopening today, joining the Mid-Hudson Valley, Capital Region, Western New York, Central New York, North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley Regions. “We understand that states are responsible for reopening, but at the same time, the federal government has a role to play and must do its part as we work our way through this crisis,” Governor Cuomo said. “Washington is now debating their next bill that would aid in the reopening and the recovery. Prior bills have helped businesses and their interests and that is fine, but now they must also help the state and local governments that fund schools and hospitals. There cannot be a national recovery if the state and local governments are not funded – that is a fact. The recovery from this virus is not about politics – we are fighting a virus and the virus is not a democratic or republican virus – and the federal government must act now to pass a federal coronavirus relief bill that is honorable and decent and does the right thing for all Americans.” Finally, the Governor confirmed 1,129 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 364,965 confirmed cases in New York State. You can watch the Governor’s full press conference here. |
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Calendar of EventsRadio Zindagi presents VOICES program on May 28thRadio Zindagi will present Voices this coming Thursday, May 28th at 6 pm. The event will feature Lionel Chitty from Nassau County’s Office of Minority Affairs, Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Laura Maier, and Vision Long Island / Main Street Alliance Director Eric Alexander. The event will take place on zoom with meeting id 88338693916 and a password of 196160. The INN Organization will Hold Curbside Food Drive on May 30thThe INN organization will hold its first ever curbside food drive this coming Saturday, May 30th from 11 am to 2 pm at the Mary Brennan INN soup kitchen, 100 Madison Avenue in Hempstead. This will be a safe, no-contact drive where donors will place donations on a table with a masked volunteer standing at a safe distance. The volunteer will then retrieve the donation after the donor leaves. If you’re interested in donating you can view a full list of items they are accepting here. For any questions, please call 516-732-6009. The following is a list of upcoming and ongoing calendar events. Check back on each publication for updates: • Virtual Walks: The Health Education Council will be holding Virtual Walks every Monday at 12:30 pm EST and Wednesday at 3 pm EST, with a Spanish language virtual walk each Friday at 3 pm EST. If you’re interested in taking a walk with friends while still practicing social distancing you can head to the the website here to sign up for a virtual walk. A Spanish speaking version is available here. You will then receive a zoom link and all you’ll need is a smart phone and a good pair of shoes and you’ll be in business! • LIBN invites you to join their team every Friday at 2PM on libnow, LIBN’s live end-of-week recap, where they take the pulse of the Long Island business community and chat with experts on the state of their industry. This Friday, we’ll chat with District Attorney Timothy Sini and Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, President & CEO of Family & Children’s Association. Participate in an interactive Q&A where YOU tell them what your business needs to know to stay ahead of the curve, as Long Island inches toward going back-to-business. You can register for the event here. • Risky Business: Support and Resources for Small Businesses in Wake of COVID-19 Join the New York Urban League as we host our next Virtual Town Hall. This session will provide an open forum for business owners to hear strategies to survive this time and thrive into the future, and hear about resources to support their businesses. We will also provide information for individuals to learn how they can support small business owners and become true advocates for entrepreneurship. The event will take place on May 28, 2020 06:00 PM. You can register for the event here • A forum series on suburban labor organizing and worker power in the COVID pandemic and beyond will be presented by Hofstra Labor Studies and the Center for Labor and Democracy in collaboration with Long Island Jobs with Justice and A.L.L.O.W. (Advancing Local Leadership Opportunities for Women). The event will take place on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Advance registration is required: RSVP HERE. Registrants will be sent an event link to attend prior to the event. Free and open to the public // Capacity: 300
• Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Long Island Advancement of Small Business presents ZOOM Video Conference “Office 365 Unleashed for Small & Medium-sized Businesses” 8:00AM to 10:00AM RSVP at www.liasb.com or call 516-473-7202. Registration is Free, but you must register for this event. |
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New York State Launches NY Forward Loan FundYesterday, New York State opened pre-applications for the New York Forward Loan Fund. Loans from this fund are available to small businesses, nonprofits, and small landlords in New York State that did not receive a loan from either the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for COVID-19 in 2020. New York Forward loans must be fully repaid over a 5-year term with fixed annual interest rates of 3 percent for small businesses and landlords. Small businesses may apply for the lesser of $100,000 or up to 100% of the average monthly revenues in any 3-month period from 2019 or the first quarter of 2020. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as industries and regions reopen however, priority for New York Forward Loans will be given to industries and regions that have been reopened. Resources are available to assist in preparing applications for small businesses, landlords and nonprofits in industries and regions that have not yet reopened. To view more details, including eligibility requirements and how to apply, click here:
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CDC Guidelines on Coronavirus PreventionAs concern about the ever-expanding impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) grows, we can minimize or prevent the spread of coronavirus by taking these steps:
These are everyday habits that can help prevent the spread of several viruses. CDC does have specific guidance for travelers. For more information see the CDC website or call the NY State Coronavirus hotline to speak with a representative 888-364-3065
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