It’s no easy task living in New York and being a conservative. The city is chock full of leftists that aren’t afraid to go after folks that dare oppose left-wing orthodoxy. We saw this during the campaign when a gay business owner was trashed and forced to apologize for daring to host a dinner for Ted Cruz.
It’s de facto policy that you’ll be attacked and discriminated against if you’re a conservative business owner and open your mouth about. And one NYC restaurant owner is experiencing this phenomenon firsthand.
As reported at the New York Post, NYC steakhouse owner Willie “Jack” Degal has come under fire for his criticisms of the impending minimum wage hike. Degal has been a critic of the move for some time, citing the negative effect it’ll have on restaurants in the city. But he took his antipathy for the move a step further recently, as he criticized his customers and employees during an interview on national TV.
Degel, who runs Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse and starred in Food Network’s reality television show “Restaurant Stakeout,” discussed the minimum wage issue on “Fox & Friends,” and he had some harsh but true words.
He said that he can’t just pass the rising costs on to his customers because they’re simply “not educated” about the economics of running a restaurant, and that such a move would be greeted negatively.
He also said that it’s harder than ever to retain a consistent wait staff, as they have a “sense of entitlement.” Needless to say, his Twitter feed blew up immediately.
“Omg! I would never patronize a place that thinks so little of its staff,” jacottrell tweeted. “Calling your staff entitled and prefer when they were servants? Good grief man!”
“This makes me sad,” tweeted sdusn06. “We go have brunch there at least once a month Guess We will find another place.”
It’s very clear that these snowflakes don’t own businesses themselves. It’s clear what he means by entitled, which waiters often are, as they cry about not getting enough tips and how they don’t even get paid minimum wage, which is a grossly dishonest. Waiters legally can’t make below minimum wage, yet they often complain about it, ignoring that fact and how they clearly make well above that thanks to the tips they receive, which is how the whole tip system is designed. For Degal and other restaurant owners, they’ll now have to pay them that higher wage to start, even though they were already eclipsing it with tips.
Highlighting just how bad things already are for NYC restaurants, the amount of vacant food service space in Manhattan has never been higher, according to real estate experts.
From 96th Street to Lower Manhattan there are 3,700 available food service spaces, which is more than twice the average number for a normal market, according to James Famularo, senior director of Eastern Consolidated.
“One could conclude that more restaurants are closing than opening,” Famularo said, referring to the Costar data he crunched.
“I’ve never handled more closures than in the past year,” said Carolyn Richmond, chair of Fox Rothschild LLP’s Hospitality Practice Group.
Rising minimum wages, rents, and other costs have resulted in restaurants eliminating traditional positions like busboys and have seen the broader adoption of automated technologies like kiosks.
This is what happens when policies are passed based on “feelings” rather than economic or common sense. The leftists that enacted the policies did so knowing what the ramifications would be, but they’re far more concerned with the votes it’ll earn them from the lower class than the long-term effects.
Source: New York Post