Times Square Goes Dark To Highlight Struggling Small Businesses

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Billboards in Times Square will go dark Wednesday night to call attention to the failure of federal assistance programs to support small businesses such as restaurants, mom-and-pop retailers and non-profits affected by the new coronavirus outbreak.

Starting at 9 p.m., the billboards that light up the world-famous tourist attraction will be shut off for one full minute, a spokesman for the Times Square Alliance said. The alliance coordinated the protest with billboard companies, the New York City Hospitality Alliance and the Business Interruption Group, which is made up of leaders in the restaurant and non-profit industries.

"In both the media and our public consciousness, an empty Times Square has become emblematic for how swiftly and severely the social, cultural, and commercial activity of not only our city, but also the main streets across this country have ground to a halt amidst this global pandemic," Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, said in a statement.

A video featuring speakers such as Whoopi Goldberg, Chef Eric Ripert of New York fine-dining staple Le Bernardin and the humanitarian Rabbi Marvin Hier will play following the billboard blackout. Speakers will urge the insurance industry to "do the right thing" and honor business interruption claims and push for legislation to support small businesses through the economic impact of the coronavirus.

"Businesses like mine in New York, and businesses large and small across America paid year after year for insurance to protect the livelihood of our business families and suppliers that are part of us. We are at a critical inflection point in which the insurance companies and the federal government can change the course of history, our citizen’s economic health and well-being on a grand scale," Ripert said in a statement.

Members of the Business Interruption Group said that existing federal government efforts to support small businesses such as the Paycheck Protection Program passed in the $2 trillion CARES act have proved ineffective. The program was designed to provide loans to help small businesses retain workers or rehire workers laid off due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Associated Press. Critics of the program said huge loan amounts were granted to big businesses and publicly traded companies that are better positioned to ride out the virus than most small businesses. Some large companies such as Shake Shack ended up returning eight-figure loans.