BounceU, Popular Birthday Spot In Farmingdale, Closes Forever

FARMINGDALE, NY — Facing an uncertain future in the age of coronavirus, a Farmingdale business where children jumped on bounce stadiums and stuffed themselves with birthday cake and pizza, is closing its doors for good.

In a note to customers posted on its website, BounceU on Carolyn Boulevard told customers it has thrown its last party.

"Due to the Coronavirus, our owners have made the very difficult decision to permanently close our location," the company wrote. "We have been trying our best to plan to open in the future but it does not seem possible."

The business said it did not want to take any chances for customers or workers to open again in the future.

"We want to thank all of you for being loyal customers over the years. Our team at BounceU of Farmingdale hope that you and your families are staying safe and healthy during this time," the announcement said.

A voicemail message left with BounceU wasn't immediately returned.

Public records showed BounceU has been in business since at least September 2011.

Members of the community were quick to react to BounceU's closure.

One person wrote in a Facebook post: "So terrible! So many local business will close permanently because of this lock down."

Another wrote: "First kzam now BounceU. Who is it going to be next. This is really sad."

Still others place the blame squarely at the feet of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ordered all nonessential businesses closed statewide in mid-March. The move led to massive layoffs and a spike in unemployment claims. New York's unemployment rate rose to 14.5 percent last month, approaching levels not seen since the Great Depression. By comparison, that number was 4 percent in April 2019.

Cuomo on Thursday warned a "staggering" number of small businesses will close due to the pandemic.

While some regions of New York have been allowed to reopen, Long Island remains on lock down.

Farmingdale has 146 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease, according to Nassau County's interactive map tracker. However, several nearby communities have far more, including Levittown and Hicksville, which have 979 and 963 confirmed cases, respectively.

Overall, New York leads the nation in cases with about 356,000. Over 28,000 New Yorkers have died of the COVID-19 disease.