Coronavirus Could Kill Third Of NYC Small Businesses, Study Says

NEW YORK CITY — A third of New York City's small businesses could never reopen after the coronavirus — and that's just the tip of a bad news iceberg headed the city's way, according to a new study.

The study — "A Call For Action And Collaboration" — released this week by the Partnership for NYC outlines a raft of economic challenges from the pandemic facing the city.

"It will be far more difficult to restart and repair the economy than it was to shut it down," it states.

The findings are just as stark:

• Up to 33 percent of the city's 233,000 small businesses may never reopen.
• The current 18.3 percent unemployment rate will up to one million, largely Black and Hispanic households living hand-to-mouth to feed themselves and pay rent.
• As many as 520,000 jobs vanished from the small business sector.
• An already-overburdened affordable housing system will see a shortage of units rise from 650,000 to 760,000.
• The state and city stand to lose a combined $37 billion in tax revenue, setting the stage for cuts in government services and potential tax increases.

Getting out of the crisis will require the wide adoption of "rigorous" health and testing protocols, as well as expanding the health care system's capacity, the study found.

"This is not just a matter of spending more money," the study states. "New York spends nearly 80 percent more than the national average per capita on health care. What is required is greater attention to a better integrated system of community-centered patient care, driven by policy and funding guidelines that ensure equitable health outcomes for all communities."

The study also calls for a variety of public-private partnerships and other efforts to help businesses and jobs bounce back. Those include raising taxes on the top 1 percent of earners, setting up community-based child care programs and live-work and federal incentives for certain neighborhoods.

The study can be read here.