NY1 For You: Sandy Damage May Shutter Red Hook Restaurant
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A small business owner in Red Hook hit hard by Hurricane Sandy said he might be forced to close his restaurant for good if he doesn't get help. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following report.The road to recovery is not paved for small business owner Scott Natale, whose Red Hook restaurant, Vern's Kitchen and Pub, was open less than a year before it suffered a major blow from Hurricane Sandy.
"We got destroyed," Natale said. "There was, like, five feet of water here at least. Floated everything. All the refrigerators, they got toppled over and filled with salt water. Everything in here, all of my equipment, all of my fixtures, was ruined. All of the perishable product was ruined."
Natale estimated about $20,000 worth of flood damage, none of which was covered.
"Insurance denied us," he said. "We don't have money to rebuild."
Now, the small business owner, who still has loans from opening his business, said his last hope of getting approved for a small business loan is fading.
"I'm a new guy," he said. "I have no tax returns. I've been struggling trying to build a new business in a rough economy by myself, and now I'm not afforded the same help as everybody else. At least it feels that way."
For now, Vern's Kitchen is closed and Natale is praying for a miracle to save his livelihood.