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CNN Live Sunday

Money Matters: Restaurant Recession

Aired April 27, 2003 - 17:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to look into some right now about your money and the economy struggle to break out of the doldrums. There is, perhaps, no better example right now the way consumers have tightened their belts, and how the economic impact from 9/11 still lingers than by taking a survey of the New York restaurant scene.
Here is CNN's Whitney Casey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Nobu, a lunchtime crowd that these days most posh New York City restaurants starve for.

DREW NIEPORENT, RESTAURANT OWNER: For us to make this restaurant busy at lunch time, all the time took a great deal of vigilance ...

CASEY: However, restaurateur Drew Nieporent says the rest of his haute cuisine restaurants aren't faring so well. Down the street from Nobu ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Montrachet.

CASEY: Nieporent's 18-year mainstay, a perennial three-star French restaurant once booked solid is now usually half empty. A block away, Lala, a restaurant that in response to 9/11 changed its menu from Middle Eastern to Mediterranean cuisine. And in the same neighborhood Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Grill, half empty or half full, whichever way you slice it, New York has a dose of financial indigestion.

CRISTYNE NICHOLAS, NYC TOURIST BUREAU: Part of it is that the international visitation to New York City has decreased quite a bit since 9/11. And sure, there are lots of wealthy people in New York City, but we count on the 8 million international visitors, as well, that, you know, stay a long time, spend a lot of money, like to go out and eat.

CASEY: Once popular, pricey restaurants like the Russian Tearoom and Lespinasse now defunct, a striking turnabout for a city that has recently as 2000 epitomized the nation's gilded age.

(on camera): Not so long ago, the restaurant industry here in New York was a $12-billion-a-year industry, then came 9/11 and this new, tough economic atmosphere. According to the National Restaurant Association, business is down some 25 percent from where it was last year. And here in New York alone, more than 15,000 restaurant workers have lost their jobs.

NIEPORENT: It is the uncertainly that scares the people away. If the economy is going to be kept active and vibrant, you have to go out and spend your money. Whether it's in shops, or on an airplane or in our restaurants.

CASEY (voice-over): Spending that's just not there. New York's empty tables reflect a broader economic crisis in the city. Unemployment stands at almost 9 percent. Not quite the '70s drop-dead environment that nearly led to the city's ruin, but close. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is battling a $3.8-billion deficit and is threatening to close more firehouses, and cut the size of the police force to its lowest level in a decade. The result? Drew Nieporent says less people wanting to visit New York City. And pretty soon, restaurants like Nobu having to cut its four-week reservation list.

Whitney Casey, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 27, 2003 - 17:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to look into some right now about your money and the economy struggle to break out of the doldrums. There is, perhaps, no better example right now the way consumers have tightened their belts, and how the economic impact from 9/11 still lingers than by taking a survey of the New York restaurant scene.
Here is CNN's Whitney Casey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Nobu, a lunchtime crowd that these days most posh New York City restaurants starve for.

DREW NIEPORENT, RESTAURANT OWNER: For us to make this restaurant busy at lunch time, all the time took a great deal of vigilance ...

CASEY: However, restaurateur Drew Nieporent says the rest of his haute cuisine restaurants aren't faring so well. Down the street from Nobu ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Montrachet.

CASEY: Nieporent's 18-year mainstay, a perennial three-star French restaurant once booked solid is now usually half empty. A block away, Lala, a restaurant that in response to 9/11 changed its menu from Middle Eastern to Mediterranean cuisine. And in the same neighborhood Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Grill, half empty or half full, whichever way you slice it, New York has a dose of financial indigestion.

CRISTYNE NICHOLAS, NYC TOURIST BUREAU: Part of it is that the international visitation to New York City has decreased quite a bit since 9/11. And sure, there are lots of wealthy people in New York City, but we count on the 8 million international visitors, as well, that, you know, stay a long time, spend a lot of money, like to go out and eat.

CASEY: Once popular, pricey restaurants like the Russian Tearoom and Lespinasse now defunct, a striking turnabout for a city that has recently as 2000 epitomized the nation's gilded age.

(on camera): Not so long ago, the restaurant industry here in New York was a $12-billion-a-year industry, then came 9/11 and this new, tough economic atmosphere. According to the National Restaurant Association, business is down some 25 percent from where it was last year. And here in New York alone, more than 15,000 restaurant workers have lost their jobs.

NIEPORENT: It is the uncertainly that scares the people away. If the economy is going to be kept active and vibrant, you have to go out and spend your money. Whether it's in shops, or on an airplane or in our restaurants.

CASEY (voice-over): Spending that's just not there. New York's empty tables reflect a broader economic crisis in the city. Unemployment stands at almost 9 percent. Not quite the '70s drop-dead environment that nearly led to the city's ruin, but close. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is battling a $3.8-billion deficit and is threatening to close more firehouses, and cut the size of the police force to its lowest level in a decade. The result? Drew Nieporent says less people wanting to visit New York City. And pretty soon, restaurants like Nobu having to cut its four-week reservation list.

Whitney Casey, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com