BY CATE CORCORAN
Mass layoffs are looming if states and the federal government do not take drastic measures immediately. The repercussions on individuals, families, businesses of all sizes, and the economy will be severe. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, local politicians, entrepreneurs, laid-off workers and others are calling for the government to suspend payments of all kinds, including rents, mortgages, loans, payroll taxes, sales tax and utilities.
In Brooklyn and beyond, layoffs started Friday, chiefly concentrated among restaurants and event businesses. Clinton Hill restaurant Vini e Olii and the Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg and Crown Heights’ Berg’n shut their doors, among many others. Late Monday, layoffs spread to other businesses, such as Alamo Draft House and McNally Jackson. The bookseller, which earlier this month opened a second Brooklyn store at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn, laid off 80 Monday, workers detailed in a post on Medium. They have set up a McNally Jackson Support Fund on PayPal.
Read the full story at brownstoner.com.
