Photos by Media Origin/Michael Scro
Long Islanders rallied Friday in downtown Huntington to push for the reopening of businesses.
George and Marge who have lived in Huntington for 40 years, said the shutdown resulting from the Covid-19 epidemic is harming every business. He operates a parking garage in New York City and said, “We’ve been closed since March 15th and we’re dying out there – everyone is going out of business.”
“The landlords still want their rent, and people can’t support their families – it’s a really bad, sad situation,” she said.
Others worried about the long-term effect of the shutdown.
Candy, a resident of Mt. Sinai said, “I’m here because once we start losing these small businesses, they’ll never come back. I come here in the summer. I hate to see it now–it like a ghost town.”
Daniel Pedisich, owner of Konoba restaurant, said Town Hall needed to find a solution (listen to audio below), and pointed to other communities that are developing ways for restaurants to open for outdoor dining.
Others disputed the seriousness of the epidemic, with one woman saying that she thoughts hospitals were exaggerating the toll for money and the the virus was no worse than the flu. Another cited a child’s suicide in the Midwest as an example of the harmful effects of the shutdown.
Daniel Pedisich, owner of Konoba restaurant in Huntington, speaks about the frustrations of local business owners
Photos by Media Origin/Michael Scro