NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – GrubHub announced Friday that it is temporarily suspending commission fees for restaurants, and a Brooklyn restaurant has begun taking the temperatures of its customers amid the coronavirus outbreak.
On Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all businesses with capacities of up to 500 to reduce their occupancy by 50 percent – that includes restaurants. Officials have also recommended residents adhere to “social distancing” to stop the virus from spreading.
Aware of the rules’ impact on the restaurant business, GrubHub warned that dine-in traffic could drop by as much as 75 percent in the coming weeks and is moving to help businesses that use its delivery service.
The company said it won't collect commission fees for independent restaurants, pledging to forgo up to $100 million during the coronavirus outbreak.
"Independent restaurants are the lifeblood of our cities and feed our communities," Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney said in a statement. "They have been amazing long-term partners for us, and we wanted to help them in their time of need. Our business is their business -- so this was an easy decision for us to make."
Grubhub has also created a fund that will enable proceeds from its Donate the Change program to go toward charitable organizations that support restaurants and drivers impacted by the coronavirus health crisis. The program will allow diners to round up the change from every order and donate it to the Grubhub Community Relief Fund -- with donations from Grubhub+ (and Seamless+) members matched by the company. Grubhub has been raising more than $1 million dollars per month through Donate the Change.
Meanwhile, a restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn has begun taking the body temperatures of all its customers.
Grace Rauh posted a photo Friday of a sign outside Sushi Katsuei.
“Warning: For everyone’s safety, all diners, vendors and counter personnel’s body temperature will be verified upon entry,” the sign reads.
Aye Aye Swe, one of the restaurant’s owners, told Eater New York that business has been slow.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Swe says. “Customers are worried. So am I.”
According to Eater, tests will be given via a laser thermometer that doesn’t make contact with people’s bodies.