Nearly one-third of all small businesses in Jew Jersey and New York have closed their doors permanently thanks to the COVID pandemic and the government-mandated shutdowns that quickly accompanied it.
According to TrackTheRecovery.org, a Harvard database keeping a record of the economic impact of the COVID shutdowns, a full 27.8 percent of small businesses in New York have not reopened since they were forced by the government to close in April. In New Jersey, 31.2 percent remain closed as of Nov. 16.
And unfortunately, those figures could get even worse. In mid-October, New York City’s comptroller estimated that roughly half of all bars and eateries in the city would close their doors permanently by March due to the shutdowns. Business owners themselves estimated that number could be even higher, reaching upwards of 75 percent.
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Nationally, Harvard's tracker has found that 29.8 percent of all small businesses have not reopened since the initial shutdown earlier this year.