It is well known that the USA is just as complicated as it is colorful. In times of the Corona crisis, however, this can have dangerous effects. In addition, decisions about measures and closings are currently made ad hoc – and vary from city to city. While there is still a lot of activity in other cities, in New York, for example, all bars and restaurants have been closed since last Sunday.
Info from the New York pharmacy
Albert Trummer’s pharmacy, in which there was a prescription for everyone, is now closed. The native Austrian still has one recommendation ready: a sip of house absinthe every morning, disinfection from the inside, so to speak. Perhaps – without guarantee – this may help against the corona virus. But nobody escapes the corona crisis. Because it hits particularly dramatically in New York, where the health system is a class system and aid loans are only taking effect very slowly.
Bar manager Trummer sees the situation as serious, but not hopeless. For him there is firstly luck in misfortune and secondly alternative projects. He knows that he is one of the privileged few. In an exclusive interview, he told us exactly how the situation in the USA is currently and what it means for Trummer.
Interview with Albert Trummer
Hello Albert, how are you doing right now?
Albert Trummer: I’ve lived in New York for 18 years. We have seen a lot here, 9/11 for example. I opened the pharmacy in 2008 when everyone said you couldn’t open a business in the financial crisis. I was about to unlock my new concept, the studio, but had to struggle with the New York bureaucracy for a year and a half. Due to the current situation, I ended up not opening. Such is the situation. Then, in the last two weeks, I fled to Florida, to Miami, so to speak.
That means: Everything is closed in New York and you stay in Miami for the time being.
Trummer: Yes, everything in New York has been closed for over a week and a half. It was foreseen. I have good contacts in Miami through other company contracts, I also lived here once, and then came here. Unfortunately, in Miami they overdid it so much that there were beach parties until a week ago. I passed hotels – there were 500 people at the pool. Actually, at the beginning there were only instructions to simply lock at eight or nine o’clock. But people didn’t stick to it. And now everything is closed. Now you are not even allowed to walk on the beach, now everything is sealed off. Such is the situation in Miami.
And in New York?
Trummer: It’s really bad in New York because people don’t pay much attention to the whole thing and tend to say: This is for the older people and nothing happens to me anyway. We’re watching television now, and New York is where the numbers are growing the most. Because, of course, the people there live tightly together. New York has survived a lot over the past decade. But I think after that [Anm. d. Red.: der Corona-Krise] it will be difficult. The main income of New Yorkers are still the catering industry and their subcontracting companies. There are over 20,000 bars and restaurants in New York. I don’t even know how much the producers lose because there are no restaurants open at the moment. That must go into the trillions.
New York has seen a lot in the past ten years. But I think it will be difficult after the Corona crisis.
Bar manager Albert Trummer on the economic effects of the Corona crisis
How long are New York closings in effect?
Trummer: The president wants to unlock again immediately. I think the same thing happens to us in New York as it does in Italy. That’s why we’re all gone. In Italy they took it lightly in the beginning. If you compare the curves: what is happening in New York now and what happened a month ago in Italy looks exactly the same in New York. Three weeks ago we didn’t even have 1,000 infected people, now there are 20,000.
Are there subsidies or help from the state for entrepreneurs who have to shut down their business?
Trummer: The big guys will probably get that. There’s not much for the little ones unless you’ve saved a little. You can request “zero loans”, that is, loans that do not pay interest. That is subsidized by the state. But the list of submissions will be so big that if you submit now you might get money in October. And who knows how many can survive that long. My advantage is that I never unlocked the studio. And that my investment is now in a new, ready-to-use local concept. As a result, I probably only have to argue with the homeowner about the rent. But it doesn’t decrease the value. That means, taxes, personnel costs and other running costs are of course eliminated with me. Fortunately, I don’t have to fire anyone now. I was lucky in bad luck, I have to say.
Suppose Donald Trump reopens stores after two weeks. Do you unlock then?
Trummer: We do not follow Trump. We are guided by the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. He is primarily responsible for security in New York. And I don’t think he’ll be unlocked in a few weeks. Because, as I said, we all fear that New York will become the second Italy.
How are you doing now?
Trummer: I’ve now also thought about what to do now, and I’ve always added my herbs to a lot of spirits. I am now trying to give tips online. For over two weeks I have been making my own house absinthe and swallowing it every morning and evening. Because I think: if the virus is in your throat, you have to somehow wash it down. And I haven’t had anything until now. Apart from that, of course, I also try to do other things that you can no longer really do in catering.
I make my own house absinthe and swallow it every morning and evening. If the virus is in your throat, you have to somehow wash it down.
Albert Trummer is adding to his medicine cabinet in view of the corona virus
Which for example?
Trummer: I’ve been working with a Viennese distillery for years. We developed a product that would have been ready now, a herbal liqueur. I would now like to bring it onto the market. So I see that I have other ways to occupy myself and that I find another profession through alcohol. I don’t think there’s anything unlocking in New York for the next three months.
Here, too, it is not entirely clear how long it will ultimately take.
Trummer: Yes, the only difference is that if you say something to people in Germany and Austria, they’ll stick to it. In Miami and New York I get warnings, but at the same time I see 1000 people at a beach party. The fact that everything is currently delayed is partly due to the people. For example, I was really only at home for the last two weeks. I am not afraid. But I think if everyone just gave two weeks of rest now, the world would look a little better. You just have to deal differently.
Is that what you do in Miami?
Trummer: Yes, the first warnings were issued in New York two weeks ago. And there you infect 1000 people in the subway. It’s inevitably New York. Wherever you go, there are metropolitan areas everywhere. So I closed my operations and flew to Florida with my son who works with me. But many are in the misfortune that they had to lock up overnight.
What is their situation like?
Trummer: Millions of restaurant people have been laid off. 80 percent of Americans only live on their Paycheck, which they get every two weeks. And now comes the disaster that they can no longer shop or go out. After the Corona crisis, there will certainly be a financial crisis. Many people do not save at all, but live from day to day. The situation will be particularly bad in New York. Many companies will no longer open at all. Tom Colicchio just said in an interview that it will wipe out the whole bar and restaurant floor in New York. After the crisis it will be like after the war. Everything has to be rebuilt. Many are not yet aware of what will happen there.
Millions of restaurant people have been laid off. Many companies will no longer open at all.
Albert Trummer on the effects of the corona crisis
It’s a little like facing the crisis but not realizing how dangerous it actually is.
Trummer: Yes exactly. The sun is shining outside and everything is looking good. Many simply have no symptoms. Many are sick without knowing it and infect others.
That is also suspected here.
Trummer: Many then did not want to lock up. In the beginning there were restrictions like here in Miami: Please close at eleven o’clock, they said, and do not gather with more than 50 people. But then at one you see people and the terraces are always full. That must be pure greed for profit. But the world sees the pictures through Instagram. And everything has been closed since Sunday.
That seems to be happening everywhere right now.
Trummer: Yes, and it will get worse. The governor says that it will be the same with us as it is in Italy and that we have to do everything because of that. In Europe you still have a relatively good health system. But there is no health system here. Things will get very bad for 70 percent of the population who do not have or cannot afford a health system. Here they say: Those who cannot afford it will have to die. That’s really bad. You can also see that the government really doesn’t know what to do.
What’s your plan
Trummer: Our losses are limited. We survived 9/11 with the restaurants. I opened my pharmacy in 2008. You develop a survival instinct. And I think we’ll somehow survive that too. But things will change in the restaurant business, especially in New York, which is a world gastronomic capital. This is a huge shock for everyone. Many restaurants have invested in the millions. If they have only closed for a month now, you can add up the effects. Many will also run out of staff because people are leaving New York or going back to Europe entirely. It’s horrible to see such a great city wiped out. It can take years for everything to recover. In the near future, we all just have to find something meaningful to do. Then we’ll somehow manage it.
Read the big story about Albert Trummer here
You can find all the current developments around the Corona crisis here in our Gastro Live Ticker
–
