The Barstool Fund - Johny's Luncheonette
Fund update… Over 53k people have donated. More than 5.4 million dollars raised. Massive thank you to everyone.
Up next: Johny's Luncheonette (New York, NY)
Johny’s Luncheonette is a small, old-school New York City favorite that serves lunch counter classics (including breakfast) all day.
Reader Email
Hello Barstool,
I am writing you today to ask for your help with the survival of my small luncheonette in NYC. I’m sure you’re receiving thousands of email, but I figured I’d give it a shot. I’ve been in business for over 20 years in NYC. I grew up in the business, my dad had a place similar down the street for 30 years. He taught me everything I know, mainly to never give up!! He just passed away last week. This year has been nothing but a smack in the face, between Covid and all the shutdowns and restrictions and now that my dad has passed, I have lost all hope in trying to keep afloat and pay rent. My business is down 65-70 percent. My place is barely 500 sf and I pay an enormous amount of rent. Once the federal money ran out and now that the weather is colder, it’s been so hard paying everything, from insurance and taxes to employees and vendors.
There are no more tourists or working people waiting outside to get in and sample food on my menu, a menu that’s part of a dying breed of eateries in NYC, “ the luncheonette”. The sad thing is the reality of the death of my business. I’m sick of the back and forth with my landlord, kissing his ass, agreeing to his terms all the time. We had an agreement in the summer where I thought I’d be able to pull this through the wringer. It turned out to be worse than I expected. Now I’m 2 months behind on rent going on three on January 1st. My personal name is in my lease. If close, I may also loose my house that I bled for all of my life to have! I pretty much built it with my bare hands every day after work and every day off I had for years. Now it’s in jeopardy because of something that wasn’t my fault. I can go on for hours, but I won’t. I won’t because I know I’m not alone. We are the hardest workers, the most passionate workers in this country. It’s not fair to us. I worked so hard to build my business. The only thing I need now is help.
John
