Struggling Theater District restaurant owners yesterday said they may have to begin laying off workers as the theater stagehands’ bitter strike entered its third week.
But talks between the stagehands’ union and producers resumed, and appeared headed toward a settlement as both sides negotiated into the early morning hours. “No one is walking away,” one source said.
Still, business owners caught in the middle were glum.
“I don’t sleep anymore,” said Carlos Ribeiro, owner of Brazil Brazil, a popular after-show eatery on West 46th Street’s Restaurant Row. “If it keeps going like this, we’ll have to lay off people.”
Hours before what would have been the opening curtain for Sunday matinees, Ribeiro’s restaurant was empty.
Manager Antonio Zelarde-Dielma said sales have dropped nearly 80 percent since the walkout, and the long Thanksgiving weekend was brutal.
“It’s sad. Everyone is trying to work hard for the holidays,” said Zelarde-Dielma, whose restaurant is offering 15 percent discounts to lure business.
Meanwhile, reps from the producers and stagehands’ union began meeting mid-morning at a law firm. A source said the negotiators had settled “the big issues” and were continuing to hammer out details stalling a final agreement.
The source said talks between Local 1 and the League of American Theaters and Producers were expected to go through the early hours.
Earlier last night, a union spokesman conceded the walkout, which has shuttered 26 shows for two weeks, has been hard on everyone. Some estimated the Thanksgiving holiday alone represented a $30 million hit.
“Both teams are losing millions of dollars the longer we wait,” Local One spokesman Bruce Cohen said. “Everybody wants to get back to work.”
Yesterday’s talks were the first since negotiations broke down a week earlier, dashing hopes the dispute could be settled before the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday.
“I’m sure the strikers don’t want to be on strike,” said Ellen Yap, who was having lunch with her husband, Richard, at Angus McIndoe restaurant on West 44th Street.
“I support them. I feel bad for all the people who spent all their money to come to New York to see a show.”
Yap and her husband had their choice of seats at the restaurant, which has been hit hard by the labor dispute.
On a busy day, waiters move nearly 500 plates of food, according to a manager. Since the strike, waiters carry only about 120 orders.
At the bar, there were nearly more waiters than customers.
“My money has been cut in half,” said waiter Brian Kaufman, 26.
He had been earning nearly $100 in lunchtime tips and twice that during the dinner rush.
After lunch yesterday, Kaufman’s tip count was $20.
“The season had just started,” Kaufman said. “We were making tons of money. Now I’m just saving for bills. I was comfortable, and now it’s tight.”
A judge’s decision to raise the curtain on “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” which is playing at the St. James Theatre next-door to the restaurant, gave the business a boost, but it is hardly enough.
“It’s been helpful,” said owner Angus McIndoe. “But one show is not going to save you.”
Additional reporting by Brian Hamacher