CB 8 Small Business Opening Survey

Small Businesses: Please complete our Small Business Forum Questionnaire

Community Board 8, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, East Midtown Partnership, East Sixties Neighborhood Association, East 86th Street Association, and the Madison Avenue B.I.D. are working together to help our local business owners and managers as our city moves towards reopening.

We want to hear from you! Share with us your thoughts and concerns about eventually reopening your stores and businesses. We plan to take your comments and build an information program with experts able to address reopening our local economy.

So that we can make these sessions as helpful to you as they could be, please check the top ten topics of discussion that you would like to see addressed during our Small Business Reopening Sessions.

Please take a few minutes to check the boxes of the ten topics of greatest interest.

Thanks!

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* 1. Sanitization of Merchandise Questions

How do I sanitize our merchandise after a piece has been tried on by a customer?

How do I sanitize our merchandise after a piece has been returned by a customer?

Do I need to change the way for customers to try on pieces at my store? What are the best practices?

How do I maintain the changing room at my store?

Is there any contactless way of "trying on" eyeglasses? How can opticians sanitize eyeglasses after they are tried on by a customer?

How do I sanitize non apparel merchandise handled by customers such as toys and artwork? Are these items only touched by store personnel?

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. Wellness for Employees & Customers Questions

Should I require customers to wear a mask when entering my store, and if so, how do I enforce that?

Do I need to do daily wellness checks for my employees, and if so, how do I do it?

Should I give wellness checks to customers entering my business, and if so, how do I do it?

What personal protective equipment should my employees wear?

What PPEs should salon workers wear when it is impossible for clients to wear masks (ie when getting a haircut)?

Is there a standard set of health/cleanliness requirements that all businesses must adhere to that are specific to Covid?

Should stores install plexiglass around cash registers?

What are the best practices for tailors handling clothing that customers have put on for alterations?

What if a customer claims she/he contracted the virus in my store, perhaps when trying a garment on?

Where do I purchase PPEs and sanitizing items at a fair price?

Do discarded PPEs have to be sanitized?

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. Outreach to Clients While They Are At Home or Concerned About Entering My Store Questions

How can I better communicate with my customers who do not wish to shop in a store due to health concerns?

Are there any best practices for home delivery of purchases to the local neighborhood?

My store is not very large. How do I start off by making it by appointment only?

Should there be a clear communications plan in writing re recovery for employees and customers?

Other (please specify)

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* 4. Queueing & Store Planning Questions

How do I safely have my customers queue outside my store so that it is not too crowded? How do we handle social distancing by pedestrians if there is a queue in front of the store?

If while queueing up outside my store, restaurant or bar, someone is hurt in an altercation. Am I responsible?

Will my customers be able to smoke outside next to a queue of customers waiting to get into my store, restaurant or bar?

What requirements do I have to make sure that customers are properly social distancing in my store?

How do I rearrange the plan of my store to make it better conducive for social distancing?

Are there any requirements or best practices for altering the restrooms in my business? Are there low cost ways of fitting bathrooms to fully touchless appliances?

To better maintain social distancing, is there any part of my business that I can conduct on the sidewalk in front of my store?

How do I accommodate customers who wish to have curbside pickup? Will the NYPD allow my customers to wait in a fire hydrant zone while I bring out the merchandise?

Can commercial loading zones / commercial parking zones be amended to allow for customer curbside pickup?

How do we add contactless payment to our POS?

What are the best practices for store hours upon reopening?

Will there be any neighborhood re-opening celebration that we can be part of to promote the re-opening of my store?

Should policies be different for more vulnerable shoppers?

How can I minimize my business costs in making these changes?

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 5. Personnel-related Questions

If my store opens and my staff refuses to return because of fear of the virus, do I have the ability to terminate them, and if so, will they still qualify for unemployment insurance, and does that go against my unemployment insurance rating?

If my employee claims that she/he got sick with the virus while at work, does that person qualify for Worker’s Compensation?

Are there any special Covid-related OSHA requirements that I must follow?

If one of my employees gets sick with the Coronavirus, must I tell all the workers about this? Is this an invasion of the sick employee’s privacy?

Are there any specific rules related to bringing back staff on furlough?

I had to lay off my staff. Does the city government provide any assistance in finding new workers if my former staff members choose not to return?

Are there special arrangements we should make to allow employees to commute without using public transportation, such as paying for Citibike, garages or parking or hire cars?

Are there special sick leave policies related to the Covid crisis?

I have workers who are on Visas or are international students. What happens to them?

What about missed annual pay increases? Bonuses? Hazard pay?

We have union workers under a collective bargaining agreement. Do these agreements hold given that COVID is beyond an employer’s control?

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 6. Lease-related Questions

Is there any free or low-cost legal assistance I can get for better understanding the requirements of my lease?

Is there any free or low-cost technical assistance I can get for discussions with my landlord regarding my lease payments?

Other (please specify)

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* 7. Funding-related questions

Is there still any low cost financing available to assist my business? If so, what are the credit requirements given that my sales are way down?

Other (please specify)

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* 8. Restaurant-related Questions

Will there be a standard for the number of guests allowed in our restaurant?

Are there any requirements about guests sharing a table?

May we still have self-serve drink, utensil and condiment stations?

May we still have salad bars and buffets?

May we utilize printed re-usable menus (and other common tabletop items including table tents, flower vases, ketchup, candles, salt and pepper)?

What are the requirements for posting that no one is allowed in the restaurant who is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or a fever over 100.4?

If we state that masks must be worn except when consuming food, how quickly must customers put their masks back on after actively eating?

May we extend the seating of our sidewalk café to allow for better social distancing?

How do we best sanitize dining tables after being utilized by a guest?

What types of table coverings (if any) are now recommended for use?

Should restaurants in New York utilize card readers as in Europe, where the server brings them to the table for the customer to pay?

Other (please specify)

CB 8 Small Business Opening Survey

Small Businesses: Please complete our Small Business Forum Questionnaire

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* 1. Sanitization of Merchandise Questions

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* 2. Wellness for Employees & Customers Questions

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* 3. Outreach to Clients While They Are At Home or Concerned About Entering My Store Questions

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* 4. Queueing & Store Planning Questions

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* 5. Personnel-related Questions

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* 6. Lease-related Questions

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* 7. Funding-related questions

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* 8. Restaurant-related Questions

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* 9. Did we miss something? Please mark below any additional topics you would like to see addressed in our sessions.