Less than a decade after surviving Hurricane Sandy, our local businesses have had to deal with another disaster. Here are how some are faring:
NY Printing & Graphics
NY Printing & Graphics (on 481 Van Brunt St., across the street from Food Bazaar) has been open for 18 years and survived Hurricane Sandy but has struggled with the new set of challenges posed by coronavirus.
“We had to shut down for about 2.5 months after the outbreak and followed all of the guidelines,” Susan Saunders, the business’ owner said. “It was hard not to come in to work everyday and it’s nice to be back now. However, since opening back up there have been a lot of small orders but not many big ones and business has not been the same.”
A lot of the bigger orders came from nonprofits doing fundraising, big companies hosting events and restaurants that needed menus. Coronavirus brought all of that to a halt, which means NY Printing & Graphics has been forced to rely on smaller orders to survive.
[slideshow_deploy id=’12344′]
“One of the reasons we were able to survive Sandy is not everyone was affected by it so we were still able to rely on some of our bigger customers,” Saunders said. “Everyone has been affected by this pandemic, which has made it really tough for us.”
Right now, Saunders is looking to get through the pandemic one day at a time and hopes that better days lie ahead.
“I started out working in Tribeca in 2002, just after 9/11, so we’ve been able to get through some tough times before but we’re not out of the woods yet,” Saunders said. “We’re not in a position to look too far ahead yet but I’m really thankful just to be working again right now. Business has been slow but steady since reopening, so we’re hanging in there.”
Despite the difficult stretch, Saunders is trying to stay positive.
“I hope that everything can turn around and that things can get back to normal soon,” said Saunders. “I’m so grateful for the business we’ve had during the pandemic because every little bit of business makes a big difference for us right now.”
Mark’s Red Hook Pizza:
Mark’s Pizza, which opened in 1991 has been a staple of Red Hook; however, the pizzeria has struggled during the pandemic according to Tony Kokale, who owns Mark’s Pizza.
“It’s been tough, rough, stressful, you name it, but I’ve never lost hope and I know my regular customers will support us, not all the time but at least once a week,” Kokale said. “I’ll support them back.”
He’s lost a lot of business during the pandemic and had to let go of some employees but has still found a way to keep his workers safe and stay open during the pandemic.
“Even before the pandemic we always made sure to stay clean and stay safe,” Kokale said. “It wasn’t something we had to be told twice about but this is different. It’s tough to know who you can trust and right now, anytime someone coughs, you worry.”
Employees are following protocols by wearing masks and social distancing and there is hand sanitizer for workers and customers to use. Still, it’s impossible to completely eliminate the risk of coronavirus.
“We’re living day by day, so right now there are no plans for the future,” Kokale said. “It’s tough because with the pandemic you never know what’s coming next and we hope that customers will come in and the phone will ring. I’m scared for the future… My landlord raised the rent so it’s been a very tough time but I’m very grateful for the crew and everything they’ve done.”
While Mark’s Pizza wasn’t as crowded as it usually is when I grab a slice or pass it on Van Brunt Street, there were a few customers who came in to get food and chat while we spoke. Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, customers and workers were still able to share a laugh together and catch up.
One woman asked how much her food cost, to which Kokale replied “eight dollars,” but when he saw her counting see if she had enough money added “or whatever you can afford.” The woman was able to come up with the eight dollars and also left a tip.
“I love this neighborhood,” Kokale said. “There are lots of good ones, some bad ones, some crazy ones, just like any neighborhood. It’s small though, and everyone knows everyone. That’s what I like. Right now I can’t look ahead but I hope it’s going to be a very bright future.”
Wet Whistle Wines:
While most businesses have suffered and struggled to get business during the pandemic, many liquor stores have seen increases in business, and that has been the case for Wet Whistle Wines.
In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, Cory Hill considered closing his store, but instead decided to keep it open with many safety precautions, including only allowing one customer inside at a time and keeping additional masks to give to any customers who needed one. He initially was the only one working at the store and came in seven days for a total of 60 hours per week but now has a few workers including Eben Freeman, to come in and help out.
“It was hard working alone but I’d rather work for myself than someone else,” Hill said. I thrive as an entrepreneur and looking at all of these fantastic wines makes me excited. Getting wine deliveries is like Christmas!”
Not only has Hill been able to keep his business afloat, he has thrived despite the challenges faced during the pandemic.
“People have been staying at home and drinking and fewer people have been going to restaurants, which means more people are coming in here,” Freeman said. “The shop has been doing well and we’re now moving towards Thanksgiving and Christmas, which should be busy.”
Despite their success it’s still difficult for Hill and Freeman to see so many other places struggling.
“My business is up but it has been bitter sweet,” Hill said. “I used to work as a bartender and it’s tough to see bars and restaurants struggling.”
Hill also spoke about his close ties with Red Hook and explained why he likes the neighborhood.
“I’ve been in Brooklyn since 1987 and know this neighborhood well even though I’m from Park Slope,” Hill said. “I knew Sunny Balzano and started going to Sunny’s Bar 30 years ago. This neighborhood is awesome. People know their neighbors and stop to talk to each other. No one is in a hurry.”
While Wet Whistle Wines has had plenty of business and is expecting even more during the holiday season, Hill is hoping that other shops start getting more business too.
“We’ve been through this before,” Hill said. “I remember growing up whenever we had to wash the dishes, my grandmother would boil water and poor it over the dishes. She did that out of habit because that’s what she had to do to survive the Spanish flu. A lot of people think we’ve never dealt with anything like this before but we have. We’re very resilient and I don’t just mean New Yorkers, I mean the human race. We’ll manage.”
Fort Defiance
“Coronavirus changed everything for us,” said Nora Lidgus, a manager at Fort Defiance, located at the corner of Van Brunt St. and Dikeman St. in Red Hook. “But I’ve never seen someone adapt as well as [St. John Frizell, the owner of Fort Defiance] did even though he was in a tough situation.”
Fort Defiance opened 11 years ago and is known for being a cafe and bar but has changed direction during the pandemic.
“Immediately after the pandemic we were closed for a couple of weeks but then St. John decided to open up the window so people could order and pick up food,” Lidgus said. “We have some chairs and tables outside so we could stay open in a safe way. Then people around the neighborhood starting asking St. John if he could order some vegetables so they could get their groceries and things snowballed from there. In June he decided to continue this way and become a grocery store in addition to cafe and bar.”
Fort Defiance will soon be moving one block over to the corner of Van Brunt St. and Wolcott St., where there will be a much bigger home goods section so they will be able to continue to grow the grocery store. For now, Frizell has added more shelves to Fort Defiance’s current location in order to keep more items in stock.
Despite all of the changes in the neighborhood, I still pass by people sitting outside the cafe who stop to chat and grab a bite, just as they did before the pandemic.
“For a moment after we first opened up again it was really quiet but I think people have been very safe here, and we’re seeing more people with the grocery store, because they can shop here regularly instead of just coming to the cafe or getting a drink,” Lidgus said. “We also can do personal shopping for people who are worried about coming in, which I think has helped and sales are getting higher every week.”
Lidgus also spoke about Red Hook’s unique community and how that contributed to Fort Defiance’s ability to not only survive, but thrive during the pandemic.
“I’m not originally from Red Hook, but this is where I feel a really strong sense of community, Lidgus said. “People stop to talk and know each other, which is different from a lot of other neighborhoods. With the grocery store, we see so many of the same people regularly.”
In large part, it was the community reaching out to Frizell and telling him what they needed, which led him to start getting groceries and eventually led to Fort Defiance becoming a grocery store. After a rough stretch, Fort Defiance is once again doing well.
“I think of it as an all-purpose store, instead of just a grocery store [because of the bar and cafe],” Lidgus said. “We’re also getting ready for Thanksgiving and we’re going to have a full menu so between that and getting ready to move and expand the grocery store, it’s an exciting time.”
Seaborne
Coronavirus created a lot of unforeseen problems for Seaborne, located on the corner of Van Brunt St. and Commerce St. In order to limit the damage done, Lucinda Sterling, who has owned Seaborne since it opened in January of 2016 acted quickly so she could stay open while keeping customers safe.
“As soon as I found out that we could do cocktails to go, I was on it and we were able to avoid closing,” Sterling said. “We also applied for a permit for a patio and because we had everything necessary for the permit we were able to get that going right away too.”
Despite acting swiftly and being able to stay open, Seaborne has struggled because of the pandemic.
“We don’t have a true kitchen so we couldn’t go on serving food in the way we usually do and our menu flip flops regularly” Sterling said. “It has been very, very challenging and our sales were cut down to about 10 percent of what they used to be. There’s no real pattern to sales other than there’s more business on Friday and Saturday nights. I also owned a bar [Middle Branch] in Manhattan which had to close because of the pandemic.”
Still, having Seaborne open has plenty of benefits for Sterling, who lives on the floor above Seaborne with her young child.
“It has been really nice to not have to worry about commuting into the city during the pandemic,” Sterling said. “It’s also nice to have control over my hours and working here is definitely convenient. I also enjoy seeing the same people from the neighborhood, the regulars. Locals have been our bread and butter.”
Sterling also spoke about her experience living in Red Hook and what the community means to her as well as her hopes for the future of Seaborne.
“I’ve lived in Red Hook for the past four years and I love this neighborhood because it’s small and because of the mom and pop feel to it,” Sterling said. “It doesn’t feel so urban and it feels like people really know each other. One thing I want to let people in Red Hook know is that we’re a liquor store also and we had really high hopes for liquor distribution at the end of last year but still have plenty that we haven’t sold.”
Sterling, who has worked as a bartender added that “Even though it’s been tough lately I still have hopes that it will pick up!”
Red Hook Lobster Pound
Red Hook Lobster Pound (on Van Brunt St. between Verona St. and Visitation Pl.,) a staple of the Red Hook community since it opened 11 years ago, was one of many restaurants hit hard by the pandemic.
“Immediately after the pandemic we had to go to takeout only and that was really tough because we had to lay off most of our staff except for our managers,” said Susan Povich, co-owner of the Lobster Pound. “It was really tough here at first but we made it through. We were always cautious and used masks even before they city told everyone to wear them.”
Business improved for Povich and the Lobster Pound once the city allowed outdoor dining. They have a 40 foot store front and the city has allowed them to add 20 feet on each side of the restaurant giving them 80 feet to work with. They set up a tent with tables, which brought in more customers and allowed them to bring back more staff members.
“It was great for us during the summer,” Povich said. “We haven’t had all of the employees we used to have so we cut the menu down but business was up during the summer. Now things have gotten tough again though. Business is always down here in the winter but it has been so much worse because of the pandemic.”
Due to the lack of business, Povich is planning on making some changes for the winter.
“We’re going to just keep some tables out in front of the restaurant instead of the big tent,” Povich said. “Hopefully we’ll get through this and then have a huge street front dining once the weather gets warmer. I’m really excited for that and I’m already starting to plan it.”
In addition to the Lobster Pound, Povich has also started a new business: the South Brooklyn Buying Club.
“We have high quality organic products from different farms that can be picked up here in Red Hook or at a designated location,” Povich said. “Orders just have to be placed by 5 p.m. on Mondays and can then be picked up the following Saturday or Sunday. Right now we have about 50 regulars but we’re looking to get the word out to get some more. The winter is going to be tough so any business for the Lobster Pound or the Buying Club will make a difference for us.”
