The Keys can reopen a little starting Monday. But without tourists, is it worth it?
The Florida Keys on Monday will allow restaurant dining rooms and retail stores to reopen at 25 percent capacity and with social distance rules under the governor’s order.
But in Key West, where the almighty dollar comes from a couple of million tourists who visit each year, can business owners survive on only the locals?
And many of those locals are out of work, still waiting on their first unemployment check, and had rent due Friday.
Opening at 25 percent capacity won’t do much for the current economy either, said Marcia Weaver, who owns Frita’s Cuban Burger Cafe, 425 Southard St., which can seat about 30 before the state restrictions. And that includes the outdoor garden.
“There’s only so many locals to go around,” said Weaver, who has stayed open since Key West restaurants were ordered March 17 to close dining rooms, and hanging on with takeout and delivery.
The limited capacity puts many places in land-strapped Key West, where space is at a premium, at a risk of losing money.
“I am not opening Monday,” said Ann Jonas, owner of Sarabeth’s, 530 Simonton St. “I cannot afford to do so. Who’s here? I don’t think there’s enough people in town with money.”
Instead, Jonas said she plans to start doing takeout only next week with a simplified menu.
Amigos Tortilla Bar will remain closed, no takeout or delivery. The math doesn’t add up to a profit.
“That means I could have 9.25 people in the restaurant at all times,” said Eric Sindone, one of the owners of Amigos, 425 Greene St., which is steps from Duval Street. “There’s no tourists. We’re a tourist-driven economy.”
The governor’s order also says no counter seating. That’s 90 percent of Sindone’s eating space.
Amigos hasn’t done takeout or delivery like other Key West restaurants. Sindone has heard it’s hit or miss from others in the food business.
Sindone, who owns the CrossFit Mile Zero gym in New Town, said his gym, at about 5,000 square feet, is in a better position to reopen, given the space he can put between clients.
Bars, salons, spas and gyms will remain closed, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news briefing Wednesday evening that outlined his plan to gradually reopen Florida. Elective surgeries may resume. Schools will continue online only.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are not included in the gradual opening that starts on Monday, with those metropolitan counties leading the state in COVID-19 cases.
“To be honest, it’s too soon,” Sindone said of the restaurant reopening. “How many tests have been performed?”
In the Florida Keys, which has about 74,000 residents, 1.6 percent of the population has been tested for COVID-19 as of Thursday. Monroe County has reported three deaths, 11 hospitalizations and 79 confirmed positive cases.
“We’ve proven the county is healthy,’ said County Commissioner Michelle Coldiron of Marathon. “We crushed the curve.”
Keys leaders said they are reopening businesses to locals, not tourists. They want to keep it that way by keeping in place the two checkpoints on U.S. 1 and County Road 905 that turn away non-residents who don’t work or own property in the Keys.
“The curve is quite flat,” said Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi, who added that as of Thursday no one in the Keys was in the hospital due to the deadly disease.
He credited locals maintaining proper social distancing, but also said the highway checkpoints have helped.
“I think we need to maintain the checkpoint for awhile,” Gastesi said.
As of Thursday, 8,360 vehicles have been turned away at the checkpoints since they went up March 27, county spokeswoman Kristen Livengood said. Those likely include the people who help keep Keys stores and restaurants humming.
Yoni and Jessica Haim run five retail stores on Duval Street, including the beachwear shop Shaddow and Fish, 1024 Duval St., and Truval Village Market Place, 1007 Duvat St.
They welcome locals but say it’s the tourists who pay the bills.
“No business on Duval would be able to survive if it were only locals,” said Yoni Haim. “Duval Street would not exist.”
The couple lost all but one of their 30 employees. Some went to Miami. Others left the country to return home.
Reviews from locals on this first phase of reopening Florida were mixed.
Some Keys residents welcomed the return of open dining rooms, while others said they wouldn’t be going out for dinner starting next week.
“No way,” said Karen Ludwig-O’Leary, of Key West. She and her husband have counted 50 days of self-quarantine so far.
They have grown children in New York and Tampa and they don’t want to risk being separated from them due to COVID-19.
“We will do whatever we can to remain healthy just in hopes of seeing our children again,” she said.
Others were excited at the prospect of sitting down at a restaurant table again.
“My husband and I will definitely be part of that 25 percent going to restaurants when they open,” said Nikki Hayes of Big Pine Key. “We will comply and maintain social distance, of course, but it’s time to get out.”
Hayes has multiple sclerosis but said it’s important for her to get outside. She’s already been to Smathers Beach in Key West, which reopened Monday.
“We need fresh air,” Hayes said.
Key West on Monday reopened its beaches and parks with the restriction that people keep six feet away from one another, unless they are immediate family members, and gather in groups of less than 10.
Susie Scrimshaw, of Key West, said she also will be in that number when dining rooms open Monday.
“I’ll be part of that 25 percent in a heartbeat,” Scrimshaw said. “I’m not scared. My days of silverware washing are coming to an end.”
On Monday, the city will follow the governor’s order by allowing some non-essential businesses to open, said Key West City Manager Greg Veliz.
“We are sensitive to the concerns of our residents that believe that this decision may be too soon,” Veliz said. “However, rest assured it is not without a great deal of planning and attention to the protection of our residents.”
It’s unfortunate that the Keys’ northern border, Miami-Dade, isn’t ready to reopen, said County Commissioner David Rice of Marathon. DeSantis’ order excluded Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties due to their high number of COVID-19 cases.
“We may have to move a little slower than we could if we were unconnected to the mainland,” Rice said.
Weaver, who runs Frita’s, said the state is only taking baby steps right now. Those are the same words DeSantis used, adding he’s taking a slow and methodical approach to reopening.
And in the Keys, the business owners wait.
“It’s going to be a long road,” Weaver said.
During the pandemic, she’s been making face masks and printing tote bags to help pay the bills.
“It’s not a money-maker.” Weaver said of the pandemic version of her restaurant. “I did it because I have some people working and their landlord has not worked with them at all. They need to make money to live.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
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