00:00.300 --> 00:02.820 Sean Murray: Today on deBanked News, The Roosevelt Hotel in New 00:02.820 --> 00:06.420 York City is closing. Let's go over to Johny Fernandez, who is 00:06.420 --> 00:07.890 over there right now. 00:18.390 --> 00:20.550 Johny Fernandez: Hey, Sean, so right behind me is the Roosevelt 00:20.550 --> 00:24.600 Hotel. Now it survived the Great Depression, World War II, and it 00:24.600 --> 00:27.810 was also home to Broker Fair 2019 but at the end of the 00:27.810 --> 00:31.320 month, it will close its doors forever. A hotel spokesperson 00:31.320 --> 00:34.500 says this decision came after suffering pandemic related 00:34.500 --> 00:37.950 losses. They say the iconic hotel along with most of New 00:37.950 --> 00:41.790 York City has experienced very low demand and as a result, the 00:41.790 --> 00:45.090 hotel will cease operations. It says there are currently no 00:45.090 --> 00:48.390 plans for the building beyond the scheduled closing. The hotel 00:48.390 --> 00:51.270 will be added to the growing list of staple New York City 00:51.270 --> 00:54.300 businesses that have closed as a result of COVID. 00:54.630 --> 00:58.500 Speaker: It's so sad that this place is closing because it's a 00:58.500 --> 01:03.780 New York icon. This ------ this -------, a lot of movies were 01:03.780 --> 01:04.830 filmed in this place. 01:05.040 --> 01:08.730 Johny Fernandez: The Roosevelt opened its doors in 1924. It was 01:08.730 --> 01:12.720 named and built to honor the nation's 26th President Theodore 01:12.720 --> 01:16.560 Roosevelt. It was constructed during the prohibition and later 01:16.560 --> 01:19.710 became the modern trend of featuring designer store windows 01:19.740 --> 01:23.490 on the street from later on. The building was purchased by the 01:23.490 --> 01:26.910 limited investment branch of Pakistan International Airlines, 01:27.120 --> 01:32.010 or PIA in 1999. The hotel has appeared in a number of movies, 01:32.010 --> 01:35.280 including Maid in Manhattan, Malcolm X and The Irishman. 01:35.430 --> 01:38.790 Usually the hotel appears packed with guests and employees, but 01:38.790 --> 01:41.790 back in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more 01:41.790 --> 01:45.270 than 7 million jobs were lost because of the shutdown and also 01:45.270 --> 01:48.990 because of travel restrictions. And as of September, here in New 01:48.990 --> 01:53.400 York City hotels fell below 40% capacity. According to the 01:53.400 --> 01:56.700 State's Department of Labor, there were roughly 500 people 01:56.700 --> 01:59.970 employed by the hotel when management issued furloughs back 01:59.970 --> 02:00.570 in March. 02:00.660 --> 02:02.880 Speaker: They've been really open through the whole pandemic 02:02.880 --> 02:06.690 but it had like minimum people working a couple of co-workers 02:06.690 --> 02:10.560 were here, I'm still trying to digest it, you know, because I 02:10.560 --> 02:13.920 know the pandemic is not the fault because the pandemic came 02:13.920 --> 02:18.120 and you know, disrupt everything but they just leave us hanging 02:18.120 --> 02:21.720 like in the air. I put my daughter through school, I put 02:21.720 --> 02:24.960 my son in dental school with this place. It was a blessing 02:24.960 --> 02:28.350 for me, you know, so it made me kind of sad now. 02:30.090 --> 02:31.770 Johny Fernandez: Like I mentioned earlier, the Roosevelt 02:31.800 --> 02:34.860 is near and dear to deBanked. This was actually the home to 02:34.860 --> 02:38.310 Broker Fair 2019 where Sean Murray spoke in the same 02:38.310 --> 02:41.700 ballroom where Michael Douglas delivered his famous "Greed is 02:41.700 --> 02:42.480 Good" speech 02:42.510 --> 02:45.150 Sean Murray: funding small business, clarifies, cuts 02:45.150 --> 02:49.590 through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary 02:49.590 --> 02:50.040 spirit. 02:50.100 --> 02:51.960 Johny Fernandez: Murry played off that speech by putting his 02:51.960 --> 02:55.470 own spin on it in front of a sold out crowd. He said funding 02:55.470 --> 02:58.710 a small business, for lack of a better phrase is good. But 02:58.710 --> 03:01.260 unfortunately, the Roosevelt did not receive the funding it 03:01.260 --> 03:04.920 needed. And it will close its doors forever. Reporting here in 03:04.920 --> 03:07.890 Manhattan. I'm Johny Fernandez with deBanked News. Sean, back 03:07.890 --> 03:08.430 over to you. 03:09.060 --> 03:11.760 Sean Murray: Thanks, Johny. It may not just be hotels we're 03:11.760 --> 03:13.980 losing here in New York, analysts were originally 03:13.980 --> 03:16.380 predicting that one out of every four restaurants in New York 03:16.500 --> 03:19.140 would go out of business as well. However, when we talked to 03:19.140 --> 03:22.140 Jared Weitz, the CEO of United capital Source, he thought the 03:22.140 --> 03:24.060 number was closer to two out of four. 03:24.060 --> 03:26.790 Jared Weitz: They actually estimate that one in every four 03:26.790 --> 03:29.550 restaurants is going to drop off, I'm saying it's going to be 03:29.550 --> 03:33.480 two. So I'm actually going higher based upon what you're 03:33.900 --> 03:37.860 just mentioning. And I would also just dovetail into saying 03:38.970 --> 03:42.570 landlords have given six to eight month reprieve to a lot of 03:42.570 --> 03:46.110 restaurants during this time, and that term is going to end 03:46.110 --> 03:49.950 soon. So you're going to go back to having to pay whatever rent 03:50.580 --> 03:54.690 while you're at 25 to 35% capacity and serving. And it's 03:54.690 --> 03:58.680 going to be a little more difficult for fine dining or, 03:58.710 --> 04:02.220 you know, catering halls or bigger, you know, places like 04:02.220 --> 04:07.050 that to have a larger staff or to have a higher rent. 04:07.350 --> 04:09.420 Sean Murray: The city council later passed a bill that gave 04:09.420 --> 04:12.420 restaurants the ability to charge an extra 10% to their 04:12.420 --> 04:15.960 customers for COVID relief. So they basically gave them 04:15.960 --> 04:18.720 permission to raise their prices, which presumably they 04:18.720 --> 04:21.630 already could have done. So we'll see if it has any effect. 04:21.900 --> 04:25.650 Sad news about The Roosevelt and until next time, I'm Sean Murray 04:25.680 --> 04:26.790 with deBanked News.