As Predicted The $15 Wage Is Killing Jobs

(The New York Post) Just as predicted the $15 minimum wage is killing vulnerable city small businesses with the low-margin restaurant industry one of the hardest-hit as it also faces a separate mandatory wage hike for tipped staffers. In Sundays Post Jennifer Gould Keil reported on the death of Gabrielas Restaurant and Tequila Bar closing after 25 years. It struggled all year to find a way out gradually laying off most non-tipped employees including some chefs only to find that quality suffered and customers fled. Owners Liz and Nat Milner finally hung it up. Other eateries share the pain. In an August survey of its members the NYC Hospitality Alliance found more than three-quarters have had to cut employee hours more than a third eliminated jobs last year and half plan to cut staff this year. Its death by a thousand cuts" the Hospitality Alliances Andrew Rigie told The Post since theres only so many times you can increase the price of a burger and a bowl of pasta."