You can tell their leftists…
The Occupy Wall Street movement has forced at least one local restaurant to lay off 21 employees.
The constant protesting and police barricades has forced the Milk Street Cafe to lay off 21 employees.
CBS Local reported:
The Occupy Wall Street movement, which says its goals include improving the economic lot for 99 percent of Americans, may have some explaining to do to some cafe workers now out of a job.
Mark Epstein, owner of the Milk Street Cafe at 40 Wall Street, just let 21 employees go.
The reason? The barricades police have set up throughout Wall Street as a consequence of the ongoing demonstration.
In June, he opened the New York branch of the Boston shop, which has a 30 year history. Epstein says he leased the space on Wall Street because it was next to a pedestrian plaza – and his was the only restaurant along that plaza.
“The opening was perfect,” Epstein told CBSNewYork.com. “The food was delicious, the customers were happy, and the line was out the door.”
Customers kept coming back, Epstein said.
“Everything was going in the right direction. Sales continued to grow. We started to build our catering business. Costs were going down. I felt that by October or November we would break even.”
Then the Occupy Wall Street movement launched.
“I came one Monday morning and I found the exit by the 2 or 3 subway station closed. I saw all these barriers – barricades – all up and down my street,” Epstein said. “At first I thought nothing of it, but after a week… it’s been six or seven weeks now.”
Six or seven weeks of marches and occasional clashes between police and protesters. So the barricades have remained in place.
“The end result of it is that it completely destroyed the pedestrian traffic on Wall Street. Completely destroyed it,” Epstein said. “It is a desolate, police-controlled area.”