In pics: New York City bars, restaurants pursue adaptation to survive
The months of pandemic have meant nothing but change for the New York city’s restaurant and bar owners, who have had to deal with limits to what kind of service they could offer
Associated Press
December 13, 2020 / 02:26 PM IST
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The months of pandemic have meant nothing but change for the city’s restaurant and bar owners, who have had to deal with limits to what kind of service they could offer, how many people could be inside when indoor dining was allowed to return, and how to adjust to the rise of outdoor dining. That roller coaster of change is still continuing, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that indoor dining could be shut down as soon as Monday if coronavirus hospitalizations don’t stabilize. (Image: AP)
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Olivier Conan didn’t see how it was going to work, keeping Barbès, his Brooklyn bar/performance space, open through the pandemic when live performances and crowded spaces have been at the top of the DON’T list. “The whole idea of this place is the opposite of social distancing. It was social proximity,” he said. So, Conan adapted — taking his approach of curating what he wanted to expose his customers to and turning it from music to wine. The venue has recently turned into a bottle shop, focusing on small producers and wineries. “Honestly, that’s what will keep this place surviving,” he said. (Image: AP)
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Hanna Cheek clears space on a shelf while organizing storage for wine and liquor in the now-idle performance space at Barbès, a popular neighborhood music venue and bar converted to a bottle shop on Tuesday on December 1, 2020, in New York. (Image: AP)
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Barbès retail manager Hanna Cheek carries boxes to the curb after storing a wine shipment in the former music venue's now-idle performance space on Tuesday December 1, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Image: AP)
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Bartender Alex Wright sanitizes a table before opening Barbès, a popular neighborhood music venue and bar converted to a bottle shop and mostly-outdoor bar during the the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday December 1, 2020, in New York. (Image: AP)
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A band member, left, joins Olivier Conan, center, as the pair strum baglamas, stringed instruments from Greece and Turkey similar to lutes, outside the entrance to Barbès, a popular neighborhood music venue and bar that Conan recently converted to a bottle shop on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Image: AP)
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Customer Koray Calistan, has a drink at Barbès, a popular neighborhood music venue and bar converted to a bottle shop to survive the winter during the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, in New York. (Image: AP)
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The industry has been hit hard, with closures and lost jobs. Wade Hagenbart has closed down a restaurant he had just opened in late 2019, as well as Angry Wade, a Brooklyn bar he started 20 years ago, leaving him with his Gueros restaurant focusing on takeout. “Everybody got hurt, there’s not one person who hasn’t, from the landlord to the dishwasher, everybody is getting hurt by this pandemic,” he said. (Image: AP)
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Wade Hagenbart was committed to his restaurant future, though, and said he was hoping to find good spaces for new restaurants when the pandemic has passed. Wade Hagenbart, right, lifts the top off a wooden support barrier for a tent he's constructing for outdoor dining Guero's, the tiny but popular taco and margarita restaurant he co-owns in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, in New York. (Image: AP)
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A pedestrian passes The Dram Shop bar, which is only open to private parties during the coronavirus pandemic in order to survive the winter on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, in New York. (Image: AP)
