Yahoo News New York mayor Bill de Blasio turns back on bakery manager pleading for help after business hit by pandemic
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was caught on camera turning his back on a bakery manager pleading for help amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr de Blasio, 59, had been visiting Chinatown to promote businesses in the area, as part of his efforts to revive the faltering New York economy.
“We’ve been taking a hit since January,” the manager of 46 Mott, later identified as Patrick Mock, told de Blasio, who at first appeared to be listening to his concerns.
“We lost our Chinese New Year, our busiest day of the year of our community. The most festive holiday that we have.
“Then COVID happened. Now, we’re all hurting so bad. What we need is people’s confidence,” Mr Mock added, in a video shared online by a New York Post reporter.
The two men then exchange a few more words before de Blasio begins to turn his back. It is unclear from audio what was said.
“We need help, we need more confidence,” Mock can then be heard telling de Blasio. The mayor responds with “that’s very unfortunate” as the starts walking away.
New York has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with thousands of people losing their jobs as businesses close stores in the Big Apple.
JC Penny, Kate Spade, Subway, and Le Pain Quotidien are among some of the retailers to have recently pulled down the shutters at some outlets for good.
A bakery manager tells de Blasio that his business is suffering from reduced foot traffic in Chinatown: “We’re all hurting.” pic.twitter.com/9qCLi2IOXX
— elizabeth meryl rosner (@elizameryl)
Meanwhile, New York’s labor commissioner says the state is ready to rapidly ramp up its unemployment system again in case the pandemic surges again.
Officials recorded an unemployment rate of 15.7 per cent in June, up from 3.9 per cent in June 2019.
“We are ready,” state Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said during a Thursday legislative hearing. “We know that should the second wave come, we know where the pain points are.”
New York has paid $40 billion in unemployment benefits to 3.3 million citizens in over five months, up from $2.1 billion in benefits processed in all of 2019.
Over a third of the state’s unemployment claims came from workers in particularly hard-hit industries: retail, accommodation and food services, and health care and social assistance.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
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