By Naveen Saggar
Buying a chicken has never been more painful for Charles Aliaga.
According to Mr. Aliaga, who owns Romeo’s Italian restaurant in Jackson Heights, chicken prices have doubled in the past two years, forcing Mr. Aliaga to change prices in order to keep his lunch and dinner specials profitable.
With the Covid pandemic still in recent memory, rising prices have crippled many local businesses, forcing them to close. “I’ve seen family-run restaurants that have been open for 40, 50 years have to close, because the cost of business is just too high, they aren’t making any money,” says Mr. Aliaga.
Mr. Aliaga added that the government has played a crucial role in his business’s recovery. Receiving monetary funds from the government, a result of the inflation reduction act “really saved us”, and is one of the crucial factors in his restaurant.
All over the world, businesses have raised prices in order to combat rising costs, forcing consumers to pay more for what they need. Government institutions have attempted to solve this problem with policies such as the American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, and Affordable Care Act, but it’s only partly reaching the people it’s supposed to be helping.
Chris, a pharmacist at Ulterra Pharmacy in Jackson Heights says that while the Affordable Care Act lowered prices for consumers, it allowed insurance companies to take advantage of his business, resulting in massive losses. “It’s still very costly for us to buy medications”, he says, and the insurance companies don’t compensate us for our losses”.
The government’s attempt to lower inflation seems to have succeeded, with inflation at 2 year lows, but yet the stories of these small businesses seem to say otherwise. This discrepancy between what the government says and the situation on the streets highlights the discontent these business people feel toward the government.
Ian, a pharmacist at Franks Pharmacy, thinks that the government should “definitely be doing more” because insurance companies often have policies that make prices more than what they’d be without insurance. This negatively affects both parties, as the customer has to pay more and the pharmacy gets paid less.
Many business owners believe the election provides a new opportunity for them to receive the help and representation they deserve. If Kamala Harris was to be elected, Ian thinks that it would have a “deep impact, a very deep impact” on the Jackson Heights community, a very ethnically diverse neighborhood.
Antonietta, an Italian immigrant who works at a Libertea & Coffee Co. doesn’t see a difference either way. “I don’t think they don’t care about us very much”, she said, although she did seem to think that Ms. Harris would have a favorable effect on the community, saying “I think she’s great”.
Antonietta’s dreams of one day owning her own Italian restaurant, and thinks that she doesn’t need the government’s help to do so.
Since the pandemic, nearly 4500 businesses have closed, which means that there are now many new ones in their place.
Omar, an Ecuadorian native who immigrated to the United States about 8 years ago, works in a new bakery called Totorico Restaurant. While prices are high, they are manageable, and he has actually seen prices go down substantially on ingredients such as flour, although prices on items such as cake and brownies still remain high.
Omar attributed his bakery’s success to the local population, where there are “lots of different types of people”, who help spread his base of customers, leading to more people coming in the door.
Omar also thinks that Mrs. Harris, a candidate who comes from a diverse background, would have a positive effect on the community and help bring more people to his restaurant. If she’s elected,“It’d definitely bring more people in”, he says.
While businesses like Omar’s provide hope that a new, better and less costly future is possible, many businesses like Chris’s pharmacy continue to deal with high prices.
As long as the government fails to address the struggles of some small businesses, these enterprises will continue to face difficulties, potentially leading to further closures.
“They don’t care about us at all”, admits Chris. “It’s been a struggle”. Naveen
Saggar lives in New Jersey and is a staff writer for the Opinion.
