According to this source, even though some of Milk Street’s business has bounced back since the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street protests began a few months ago, many of the NYPD barricades still remain on and near Wall Street despite the closing of Zuccotti Park as a campsite for the movement.
Marc Epstein, the owner of Milk Street Cafe, claims that his sales are still $2,000 – $4,000 lower a day than before the protests began.
As a community, there are two things we can do here. We can lobby Mayor Bloombergs office, and we can eat there.
(Im not writing about the plight of this restaurant over the plight of others. I personally think they got a bad deal and the City of New York / the NYPD is not cooperating with the small businesses to make sure theyre not adversely affected. I fully understand the security concerns the city and mayor have, but at this point, numerous business will either close or lay off more workers due to the barricades.)
Its truly a shame that this hit the restaurant only months after it opened in a large beautiful location. If theres one thing this teaches us is that when opening a restaurant anywhere, one must take in all factors and parties, and in this case its the local government / politics.
Let us know what you think about the situation by commenting below.
(Photo credit to the NY POST)
OWS needs to be finished already. Petition the Mayor’s offfice, and let’s keep this restaurant from closing. Small businesses also bring in revenue for the city, and for this situation to continue is lose-lose for all..and over what? A badly organized, barely cohesive, so-called “protest”
A shame indeed. Marc is a good person and runs a fine establishment. I enjoyed MSC in Boston for many years and was glad to see him expand to a new market on Wall Street. The #occupy folks have demonstrated the unintended consequence that results from thoughtlessness — they have hurt the very type of small business-owner that they claim to support. Had they thought about the movement carefully and productively, perhaps it would be remembered for something good. Unfortunately history will record this protest as a drain on societies resources and the loss of good opportunities. One only has to see how many of the protester are wearing nikes, north face jackets, gap shirts, and live in EMS-purchased tents to see the hypocrisy in their message. A shame that Marc’s business is one of the many victims.