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Earlier this week, Food and Wine unleashed a scathing article on multi-million dollar funded delivery apps like Grubhub (Seamless), Postmates, UberEats, or Doordash (Caviar).

Amidst the pandemic, there has been a resurgence of supporting small businesses in NYC. While consumers think that they’re supporting local restaurants by ordering delivery/takeout — the apps are taking a WHOPPING 20 – 30% commission from restaurants (which are already struggling to survive). The struggle is felt across all businesses, included famed restauranteur, David Chang of Momofuku who said he had to lay off over 800 employees from his 16 restaurants this past week.

RESTAURANTS BY THE NUMBERS

New York restaurants accounted for $51 Billion in revenue last year and over 865,000 jobs or 9% of all employment in the state.
Over 50% drop in restaurants spend since late March compared to 2019
New York received $20 billion of the $350 billion in the Small Business Administration’s emergency coronavirus relief fund. The funds ran out within 5 minutes of launch.

While many apps have stated that they’re “deferring fees” from small businesses…restaurants will still be on the hook for those fees later on. Sadly, experts think that 75% of restaurants won’t be able to survive this pandemic.

In response to the fees, a TJ Hyder, manager of Benny’s Burritos stated:

“Our margins are minuscule, we only do delivery because our restaurant has been doing it for 30yrs…on average we see about a 3% profit in deliveries from using the apps if there’s no increase in product costs in imported items like avocado”

While apps like Postmates, Doordash, and UberEats send their own delivery personnel, some business owners have stated that it’s the only way to offer delivery since they do not have any staff at their restaurants. Additionally, for couriers, it’s a way to make money. Seamless and Grubhub however, only offer “exposure” to their 3 million+ customer base.

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TJ Hyder responded,

“It’s a double-edged sword, but they do not have to charge these ridiculous rates because the guests end up paying for it. Many restaurants increase each product price on their menu by $1-$3 in order to survive these ridiculous commissions charged by these companies.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Mayor Breed dropped a 15 percent cap on commissions from food delivery apps. Grubhub in return, dropped this tone-deaf email to its users asking people to repeal the cause.

New York could follow in SF’s footsteps with a 10% cap, but no word yet. All in all, there’s no pretty answer. While yes, you can delete the apps, you might be f***ing over some businesses that don’t have delivery people or access to the audience or couriers in need of work.

Chef/Restauranteur Sean Olnowich had this to say:

“To abandon the apps is basically shooting yourself in the foot. Stick with the apps, try to steer people more towards Doordash / Caviar, and encourage people to push their local city council members, Mayor, local congressman, etc to push the bull through to put temporary caps on the delivery fees”

Here’s how you can you actually support small businesses

Call up the restaurants and order DIRECTLY from them.
Buy merch or gift cards for future use.
Donating to a restaurant staff’s Venmo or GoFundMe, or a fund to feed frontline workers.
Or by calling your representative (If the restaurant is only selling via delivery apps, Caviar seems to be the fairest option.)

Here’s a list of some restaurants still open and offering delivery/takeout options in Chinatown, and Flushing.

On a positive note: Some restaurants are finding clever ways of staying in business and doing good. A restaurant in Brooklyn kept its lights on by partnering with a senior citizen home to prepare meals for over 400 seniors who have to remain indoors. Spots like Regina’s, 886, Ho Foods and more are using donations to prepare foods for hospital workers.

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This article originally accompanied a live info session with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. You can view the recording here. Our host Aaron Frager of BBBS NY gave a wonderful rundown – be sure to rewatch or share with anyone who may be interested.

DO THE RIGHT THING…BECOME A MENTOR

You know how the story goes. Someone is lost on the subway, and instantly, five strangers come together to give directions and make sure they get off the right stop. It’s part of the New York DNA to help each other.

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WHAT CAN WE DO?

That’s why we’re partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC to find mentors to make the next generation of New Yorkers, great!

What is the application process like?

APPLY: Use the form here.
BACKGROUND CHECK: They will pay for this, though if you want to donate, you are able to pay for this yourself). This process can take 2+ months.
TRAINING: If selected, you are given two 90 minute trainings (virtually) about working with the littles.
MATCH: Based on your requests, BBBS will match you with a little (these can be age, demographic, interests, etc)

How long is the time commitment?

Once selected, “Bigs” are expected to sign on for a minimum of a year. While that sounds long, lots of “Bigs” end up establishing a great relationship and wind up mentoring for years, and keep in touch even after the program is over!

Once selected, Bigs and Littles meet approx. 4 hours every other weekend. Due to Covid, everything is virtual, but once appropriate – you can explore the city, go to museums, attend Big Brothers Big Sisters sponsored events & hang out.

Do I have what it takes to be a mentor?

If you are a good person, which I imagine you are, then YES. You are not expected to be their parent, or teacher, just a consistent adult presence in their life that they can turn to. You remember when you were a teen right? Sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone else., ya feel me? Plus you can talk about your career path, school + other life experiences.

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When Twitter Fingers Become Trigger Fingers
Since March, governors have been left to fend for medical supplies for their states as Coronavirus cases piled up. The madness was exacerbated when Trump refused to utilize the Defense Production Act to produce ventilators and supplies (but was ok to keep the meat industry despite Corona concerns).

Amidst the search, NYS called for any business who was able to produce materials to do so, and they would be paid accordingly. Governor Cuomo allowed the state to pay for medical supplies on-demand before an order was completed to speed up the process. Of course, the search for vendors was amplified on no other reliable source than, good ol’ Twitter.

But Wait! There’s More!
3 days after a tweet by electrical engineer Yaron Oren-Pines in response to Donald Trump’s call for supplies in late March, a deal was signed for 1,450 ventilators at a price of $47,656 per ventilator. That’s TRIPLE the standard retail price of high-end versions! But none of the ventilators ever showed up.

We Got DUPED
Nearly a month later, New York has terminated the contract, and the state is now trying to recover the $69 MILLION DOLLARS it paid the Silicon Valley electrical engineer. Between March 19 and April 27, NYS wrote out over $735 million for medical supplies – most of which were given to firms with little or no apparent experience in medicine. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but this is just sad.

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This article first appeared in our super dope WTF IS HAPPENING IN NYC newsletter that simplifies the news for New Yorkers. We cover the Coronavirus, local news, and all things New York City in one quick 5-minute email. Sign up here!

Since 2011, 33 year old Svante Myrick has been the Mayor of Ithaca, New York. Voted into office at the ripe age of 24, he was Ithaca’s first Black mayor and the youngest mayor in New York State HISTORY.

Yesterday, he announced an ambitious campaign to abolish the entire city’s police department and replacing it with a reimagined city agency, much of which is attributed to the “DEFUND THE POLICE” protests of the past year.

AND THEY SAID MILLENNIALS WERE LAZY…

Mayor Svante Myrick will propose replacing the city’s current 63-officer, $12.5 million a year department with a “Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety” which would include armed “public safety workers” and unarmed “community solution workers,” all of whom will report to a civilian director of public safety instead of a police chief. Under the proposal, all current officers would have to re-apply for a position with the new department. – GQ

In its most simplistic form, the new proposal would separate responsibilities so that armed officers can handle traditional crimes and criminals (like shootings & robberies, for example) and have unarmed professionals handle situations like a car crash, rescue the kitty in the tree, or noise complaints from that annoying neighbor of yours.

“This plan would abolish the police department while not abolishing policing” – Mayor Myrick

The plan is definitely controversial. The very statement “Defund the Police” has a divisive nature, and already naysayers in Ithaca (think police unions) are against the whole concept but the idea for this was made with input from community groups, focus groups and the police themselves!

One of the major tenets we found of the new arrangement would be the creation of a Community Justice Center where, “The work associated with each recommendation will be trackable through an online tool that allows community members to provide input and sign up for process updates”.

Instead of having no outlet to voice your frustrations, or attending a hard-to-find community meeting, you could simply…sign up on a website to see what was happening and submit your needs? Minds are BLOWN.

MILLENNIAL MAYORS SHOULD BE A THING…

Ithaca itself has only a population of 30,000, and while the proposal still has to pass City Council, Governor and the public…it’s still an interesting first step to see what and how police reform can look like. We think it’s refreshing to see younger faces in politics. A few fun facts about Mayor Myrick:

• He ran and won to serve another four year term as Mayor of the City of Ithaca, leading with a commanding 89% of the vote in 2015.

• In February 2016 he released the Ithaca Plan: a Public Health and Safety Approach to Drugs and Drug Policy that garnered international attention for its forward thinking

•His first budget included a radical overhaul of City government that merged departments, streamlined processes, and was able to successfully close a $3 million deficit- all while delivering the lowest tax increase in the City of Ithaca since the year 2000.

Read the full proposal below…it’s pretty interesting and well worth a read.

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Oh here’s to a hot and long long looooooooong summer!

President Biden announced in a town hall on Tuesday that every single American adult who wants a vaccine will be able to receive one by the end of this Summer!

Before even stepping FOOT into office, you may recall that President Biden was already working with Dr. Fauci and experts on an ambitious plan to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. Currently, we’re at approx. 56 million vaccinated and nearly halfway through Biden’s 100 days. We’re actually kinda on track…that’s nice for once!

Last week, President Biden finalized plans to purchase over 200 million vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which in addition to our current dosages would account for 300 million vaccinations across the US.

BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR NEW YORKERS?

Let’s look at some stats first…is New York capable of handling the distribution?

•At our current pace, NYC is averaging about 300,000 doses per day. Mayor de Blasio thinks we could be hitting 500,000 doses per day with adequate supply.

•New sites are being built all across the city including Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, York College in Queens, and 35pop up centers across public housing, churches and community centers.

•New York City updated its vaccine scheduler in10 different languages including Bengali, Chinese, Spanish, Polish and Russian.

•Once the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved, NYC will deliver single dosages to homebound seniors.

•NYC received $50 billion in Stimulus relief aid of which $1.6 Billion will be used for vaccine, testing, tracing, and flexible local health funding ($810M for NYS and $810M for NYC).

In our optimistic minds, we think that we just may make it happen after all! It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the doom and gloom in the news but look at all the small wins that are happening!

WILL VACCINES MEAN WE ARE ALL GOOD?

We still have to continue to wear masks and keep our distance post-vaccination though, medical researchers don’t know for sure whether people who have had the vaccine can still transmit it to others (ie. whether they prevent asymptomatic spread). That testing is still taking place.

In the meantime, we’ll be daydreaming about sunset drinking at Dumbo House (with our masks on, obviously).

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