83% of New York City restaurant owners couldn't pay full rent in July, report shows

The potential for a novel coronavirus-induced rent crisis became evident early on in the outbreak, when The Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton sent a letter to all of the company's landlords informing them that the company would not be able to make rent payments for its nearly 300 restaurants on April 1. 

Four months later and this crisis has significantly deepened as the virus relentlessly lingers, causing restaurants in numerous markets to re-close or reduce capacity for a second time. New York City serves as a pacesetter for the U.S. restaurant industry, with the most restaurants, coffee shops and specialty-food stores per capita prior to the pandemic. This means the city is likely to be disproportionately affected from mass restaurant closures, so far estimated to be around 17% nationally.  

July’s rent report, combined with New York's unemployment numbers, could exacerbate this crisis sooner than later in the city. In March and April, New York City emerged as the first epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. and is one of the city’s hit hardest. From January to June 2020, the unemployment rate in New York City fell by 469%, according to WalletHub, and as of June, stands around 20.4%.