The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Gift Cards

Rescue Main Street Initiative Promotes Gift Card Purchases

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How a Great Idea Caught Fire in Towns Around Westchester 

Reasons our Author, a Greeley Junior, Launched it in Chappaqua

By Matthew Cohen

Walking along the streets of downtown Chappaqua two weeks ago and seeing all the shuttered stores, I thought to myself: what a stark difference from just a month ago.

After a years’ long haul,  we finally got our town back after the conclusion of the ‘Streetscapes’ construction project, and enjoyed Grand Opening festivities to celebrate our new improved downtown.

And now, this?!!

It seemed particularly sad to me, here. I couldn’t help thinking, “Will all the stores be able to re-open after the quarantine? Will they be able to survive?”

As a resident, and as a high school student, it does instill a feeling of helplessness when you can’t help the storeowners that you and your family and friends have come to value and rely on.

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Soon enough, as this awful pandemic stretches on and on, and maybe will longer than anyone anticipates or even still can, I discovered Rescue Main Street. The idea was born by the firemen of Yonkers. It was so successful in Yonkers that a cousin of one of the firemen, Greg Doran of Pleasantville, decided to bring it to his town, too.

When I saw how popular it was in Pleasantville, a light bulb went off, and I thought what a great idea to bring to Chappaqua.

Rescue Main Street Chappaqua aims to increase local business when they most need it. It is not charity; it might be viewed more like a Secret Santa with the purchase of mostly $50 gift cards. More than a few residents expressed the idea that they might purchase more than one gift card, keep some, trade others.

The whole idea is that people can spend much needed money for the merchants now–and then shop later!

It definitely feels like a win-win and I encourage more gift card purchases for the storekeepers and restaurants hurting that you want to see survive the COVID-19 lockdown.

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Here’s the beauty of this too, and the hidden bonus here. If you get a card for somewhere you’ve never been, maybe that will become your new favorite place too.

I’m very excited by the response so far. People have been extremely supportive and the merchants are very grateful and expressing their gratitude. The enthusiasm on the group Facebook page is real and touching. People are buying multiple cards from many different stores. I hope we can keep it going to be able to make a difference for the small businesses of Chappaqua.

After all, this is our town and we want our small business owners to be here when we are ready for it after this is all over too!

VISIT: https://www.facebook.com/RescueMainStreetChappaqua 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2899147436979628

Matthew Cohen is a Jr. at Horace Greeley High School. He can’t wait until he can watch sports again, he especially missed March Madness! He loves basketball, baseball, football and hanging with his friends.

“Restaurant Relief” Site Seeks to Help Hard-Hit Local Restaurants

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One-stop website lists Northern Westchester restaurants’ gift-card vouchers–so customers can “buy today, eat later”

Mount Kisco, NY– March 24, 2020 – Restaurants have taken a big hit from the Covid-19 crisis, as they’ve had to suspend their businesses and lay off hourly staff. Most restaurants don’t have two to three months of capital in the bank to weather this storm.

With that in mind, the Mount Kisco–based website designer Laura Kelly had an idea: What if local patrons could pay for a dining experience at a favorite local restaurant now–then enjoy it later, when the restaurant has reopened?

This week, Kelly launched RestaurantRelief.net, a one-stop site that makes it easy for northern Westchester diners to support their favorite restaurants by buying digital gift cards today when the restaurants most need support, to be redeemed later. The site has already pooled together restaurant listings and gift-card links for 18 eateries in Mount Kisco, Pleasantville, Croton-on-Hudson and other northern Westchester towns. Kelly plans to continue adding restaurants’ gift-card links to the site. “All area restaurants are welcome, and it doesn’t cost them anything to be included,” she says.

Before launching the site, Kelly discussed the idea with a number of local restauranteurs and got enthusiastic feedback from owners such as Bobby Epstein, who runs Kisco River Eatery and Muscoot Tavern. “I just had to furlough 20 people,” Epstein said. “These people rely on a paycheck, and this support would help me give them a stipend.”

Kelly is spreading the word about Restaurant Relief through local press and via social media platforms such as Nextdoor.com. “There are thousands of us in northern Westchester who love to go out to eat in our communities and have gotten to know the people working in those restaurants,” she says. “While we’re all cloistered at home with our smartphones in hand, I wanted to find an easy but meaningful way to show support when it matters most to these folks.”

RestaurantRelief.net will be adding to the list of northern Westchester dining gift-card links. Since not every area restaurant has a digital gift-card or voucher program already in place, RestaurantRelief.net will offer free tech assistance to help restaurants quickly set up secure digital gift card transactions. If a restaurant wants to be listed on the site or wants help with a digital gift-card offer, contact info@restaurantrelief.net.

This story is courtesy of Restaurant Relief.

Local Restaurants Close to Patrons, Offer Takeout and Delivery During Pandemic

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March 17, 2020–As the governors of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey work in tandem to try to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus, restaurant businesses, in particular, were asked yesterday to act fast to implement changes.

Restaurants in all three states were asked to close 8 p.m. yesterday, and until further instruction, will be limited to providing food for pickup and delivery.

During this time, restaurants and bars will be allowed to sell alcohol for off-premises consumption. It is hoped that this measure will provide much-needed revenue to those establishments.

According to New Castle’s web site, Meals on Wheels will continue.

We reached several restaurant owners who moved quickly to make changes in light of all the new concerns regarding COVID-19 transmission.

Ignatio Blanco, owner of Ibiza Kitchen, located on King Street in Chappaqua, said he and his staff were working all day yesterday to transition to offering pickup and delivery options only.

“The prices will be cut in half,” Blanco said. “People are having a tough time right now.”

Bistrol 146 owner Marcello Torres said. “We’re going to do takeout, curbside pickup and I may have delivery,” he said, explaining that he’s in discussions with a current employee to see if he can start delivering food.

A couple employees had already left Bistro 146 before the new rules went into effect, Torres said. They have to care for their children who are now home from school, explained. Other staff members may be laid off.

“I don’t know what to do,” Torres said. “It’s sad for all of them.”

Bistro 146 will also suffer the loss of a lot of food that won’t be used up or last until the doors open to patrons again, Torres said. “I hope everyone knows what to do, and does it. Perhaps then we’ll be able to re-open in two weeks – I just don’t know.”

There is not yet a date for these establishments to re-open. In the meantime, Governor Andrew Cuomo has urged New Yorkers to stay home as much as they can, and when out to try to maintain a 6-foot distance from other people to halt the spread of the virus.

“It seems like it’s going to be for a while,” Blanco said.

At Winston in Mount Kisco, Manager Jimmy Branigan commented: “Well, like the rest of the nation, we are digesting something new that’s never happened to us before and doing the best we can. We want to take the proper steps to ensure our staff and guests stay healthy. We hope to get through it as quickly as possible but we understand that this is a pandemic our generation has never seen before.”

Winston is offering takeout and a promotion–a 15% discount with a purchase of $100 more for a gift card.

Large chains might be able to weather the pandemic more easily, closing to patrons for an indefinite period of time may be extremely difficult for local restaurants with individual or few locations.

Also closing: gyms and movie theaters, as well as casinos. Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville already announced closure some days ago, through March 31. They will be issuing refunds to patrons who pre-purchased tickets, the web site said.

The National Small Business Association released a new poll today that shows 3 out of 4 small business owners are “very concerned” about the impact of the coronavirus on their businesses, and 49 percent have experienced decreased customer demand.

Various media outlets such as Forbes and Eater have suggested the purchase of restaurant gift cards as a way to support local restaurants during this time.

It’s also a good time to order t-shirts and other merchandise some local restaurants sell.

Blanco said he does sell gift cards, by phone or on his restaurant’s website. Torres said local residents can also purchase Bistro 146 gift cards.

As for how community members can support his business, Blanco said “Any way is a good way.”

“I hope everything comes to a good end,” Torres said.

Publisher/Editor’s Note: We will be updating this article as time permits too.