One of the best things about New York is the great restaurants.
But a lot of these restaurants now are hiking prices and reducing employee hours.
The reason?
The new $15 minimum wage.
The New York Post reports:
A once-growing industry is contracting, according to an online survey conducted by the New York City Hospitality Alliance, an association representing restaurants in the city.
Last year, “full-service restaurants recorded a 1.6 percent job loss, which is the first recorded annual loss in two decades,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the trade group.
The survey also said about a third of respondents will eliminate jobs and most will raise prices this year because of the new $15-an-hour law backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state officials, which took effect on Dec. 31, 2018.
A total of 76.5 percent of full-service restaurant respondents reduced employee hours, and 36 percent eliminated jobs in 2018, the survey said.
Also, 75 percent of limited-service restaurant respondents reported that they will reduce employee hours, and 53 percent will eliminate jobs in 2019 as a result of the wage increases, according to the survey.
In defending the minimum wage hike, Governor Cuomo said that all New Yorkers "deserve to make a living wage."
Ironically, the unrealistic minimum wage will prevent a lot of New York food servers from doing just that.