NEW YORK CITY, NY – Whenever New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio enacts a public policy that directly impacts businesses in the city, he never consults with the actual business owners.
De Blasio, who will soon be leaving office implemented a vaccine mandate for private businesses just days before his term in office expires.
“If you listen to a lot of the small businesses in the New York area, what they’re saying is everybody is on the same page that they want everyone to be safe. A lot of businesses are very pro-vaccine. They want everyone to be safe. But where the issue is, is they’re never consulted,” Portnoy said. “There never is any communication with the private sector on the best way to roll it out, the best way to ensure that people are safe while not putting these small businesses, restaurants, bars, what have you out of business, and de Blasio just doesn’t seem to care. So that’s one major issue. The fact he does this, you know, on the way out the door like two days or three days, whatever, before he’s going to be out of office, it’s… a totalitarian dictatorship-type move again.”
Portnoy’s Barstool Fund raised $41 million during the pandemic to help small businesses get through draconian COVID-19 pandemic lockdown policies implemented nationwide by elected officials.
“Everybody wants everybody safe. New York City to thrive. But it seems like de Blasio just doesn’t care about anybody or what anybody thinks except himself,” Portnoy said. “So I think that is the most frustrating part, and it’s been that way through the local government here from the beginning, that they only care about themselves, making themselves look good and doing”
Portnoy’s philanthropy during the pandemic went far beyond New York City, reaching into nearly every corner of Main Street USA.