Chinese restaurants in New York State have encountered "internal and external troubles", and the operators lamented that it is difficult to survive

Chinese restaurants in New York State have encountered "internal and external troubles", and the operators have lamented that it is difficult to survive. News from China News Service: Chinese restaurants that have flourished all over the United States are the livelihood of new immigrants in the United States...

Chinese restaurants in New York State have encountered "internal and external troubles," and the operators have lamented that it is difficult to survive. China News Service: The Chinese restaurants that are popping up all over the United States are one of the important industries that new immigrants in the United States rely on to survive. However, in recent years, the prosperous Chinese restaurant industry has faced serious difficulties. Owners are struggling in the economic recession and operating on tenterhooks amid intensified federal and state enforcement penalties. Many local restaurants are being transferred at a price but without a market. Industry insiders say that Chinese restaurants are at a crossroads, and where to go is an unavoidable question facing them. Since the financial crisis broke out in 2008, the economy has not recovered, and the catering industry is one of the industries that has been hardest hit. Mr. Li, who opened a Japanese restaurant in the Benson District of Brooklyn, New York, in 2008, and whose customers were mainly white, said that after the financial crisis, his business dropped by half. Lin Cifei, who once ran a Chinese restaurant in the Bronx, said that there were three Chinese takeout restaurants in the neighborhood where he was. Recently, when he returned to the old place, he saw that only one was operating poorly. On the one hand, there is a sharp decline in turnover, and on the other hand, the price of food ingredients continues to rise. Mr. Li said that oil, the most commonly used oil in restaurants, has increased from 17 yuan per barrel to 36 yuan. The cost of ingredients used to account for 30% of the cost, but now it has risen to 40%. However, restaurants only dare to increase prices by 25 cents or 50 cents, which cannot keep up with the price increase of raw materials. If Chinese restaurant owners are struggling to cope with declining sales and rising food ingredients, then the tightening of federal and state penalties on illegal employers will be a serious external threat to the Chinese restaurant industry. Chinese restaurant operators in New York are still frightened by the actions last October by federal law enforcement agencies in Long Island, Connecticut and other places to track down illegal immigrant employees in Chinese restaurants and employment agencies. An owner who was charged in this operation said that Chinese restaurants are an important industry for illegal immigrants to survive in the United States. In the past, inspections in other states were tight, but inspections in New York were loose. Many undocumented people hid in New York to work. Now, employers who hire them face the risk of jail time. Although some restaurants still hire illegal immigrants, they are always on guard. New York State’s Labor Theft Prevention Act, which took effect in April this year, has increased penalties for employers’ unpaid wages. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases where employees sue their employers. Lawyer Chen Heng said that in some of these cases, it is true that the bosses severely punished the employees, and in some cases the employees made malicious complaints. However, because the Chinese employers have always neglected to comply with labor laws, after being sued, they could not produce proof in court that the workers did not work overtime and that they were not owed wages. Even if there was no violation of the law, they could only suffer the consequences. Mr. Li said that his Japanese restaurant was recently sued by a Hispanic employee who worked in the restaurant in 2008 for unpaid wages. Mr. Li said: We did not owe him wages at all. If we did, would he sue again in a few years? He himself said that he came to him after seeing an advertisement about a Hispanic lawyer who specializes in helping people ask for wages and does not charge money if he fails. As soon as he arrived, he demanded that we pay 20,000 yuan, which was obviously malicious extortion. But the restaurant didn't clock in, so we couldn't produce evidence that he didn't work overtime, so we could only admit that we were unlucky. Amid internal and external troubles, many people who want to enter the industry have become more cautious, and the transfer rate of Chinese restaurants has dropped significantly. Mr. Li said that he wanted to transfer his restaurant three years ago, but until now, he has been unable to sell it.