These New Yorkers Are Grateful—Even During a Pandemic

With Thanksgiving coming, I recently reached out to dozens of New York City business owners—some thriving but most still struggling—to ask what they are grateful for in 2020, aka the worst year ever. Boy, did I get an earful!

Several cited informal support groups that emerged early in the pandemic. Fonda Sara, owner of Brooklyn flower shop Zuzu’s Petals, is grateful for a circle of 20-plus neighborhood shopkeepers who met weekly on Zoom while struggling to keep their boutiques, day spas, salons and yoga studios afloat during the spring lockdown. “We were all in the same boat,” Ms. Sara says.

They traded insights on how to negotiate rent reductions, apply for PPP loans, retain employees and transition to online sales.

“They were incredibly generous and supportive of me as an older business woman,” says Ms. Sara, who bought her shop in 1974. “Just speaking to them and seeing their faces was a comfort.”

Many say they won’t forget the support of customers who stepped up their patronage in a big way. Robby Schnall, co-owner of Brooklyn housewares and gifts shop Woods Grove, is still marveling at one customer who transformed from a regular to a super-supporter.

After the customer heard Woods Grove was struggling in the lockdown, the man embarked on a continuing shopping spree, sending regular emails to order merchandise for delivery: puzzles, vinyl records, organic soap, coaster sets, a USB lighter, Andrew Cuomo and Anthony Fauci rocks glasses, a cigar ashtray, a cast-iron dog nutcracker, stoneware and wood food-storage containers, hand-painted china plates, vintage Japanese dolls…

“He purchased four popcorn makers that look like the Death Star from Star Wars—one for every member of his family,” Mr. Schnall says.

The customer’s 54 purchases helped Woods Grove cover expenses at a time when sales were down 90%, Mr. Schnall says. “And he was doing it in a way that didn’t offend. He was buying things and supporting and having fun at the same time.”

Many business owners said they also are grateful for how their employees came through, including Jonathan White, executive vice president of White Coffee, a family-owned, 80-year-old roasting and packing company in Queens. In mid-March, three-quarters of the company’s production crew came down with Covid-19.

“An employee had a baby shower and everyone came and hugged her goodbye,” says Mr. White, who got a mild case himself. “Not a good idea.”

With only a dozen of the plant’s 45 production workers available, everyone who was able stepped up, Mr. White says. Warehouse guys manned packing machines. Executives delivered coffee to hotels. The purchasing agent took on a double role as the production supervisor despite his two-hour commute.

“You could see they were exhausted, they were stressed, but they never said no,” Mr. White says. “They went above and beyond.”

Many nonprofits, meanwhile, were blown away by support from donors. An example that really stands out to Daniel Gallant, executive director of the Nuyorican Poets Café on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, was an unsolicited email that arrived from a local venture capitalist just three days into the lockdown.

The man wrote to say he had performed at one of the cafe’s poetry slams 18 years ago—an experience he never forgot. He offered not just the technical expertise of himself and his brother to help move the cafe’s events online, but a generous donation to fund the transition.

The cafe was soon Zooming a full schedule of live performances to a global audience. “The support that comes from out of the blue from people who value our work and want to express confidence in us—that’s something extra special,” says Mr. Gallant.

It’s not often that people thank the government, but many business owners are feeling grateful for their PPP loans, including Gino Fava, owner of Liverpool Carting Co., a small, two-truck commercial trash-collection service based in the Bronx.

When he first heard of the program, he was skeptical. “I’m never going to get that,” he told his accountant.

He was blown away, after applying, to find a big deposit in his business checking account. “It was something from left field. I didn’t expect to get a check for $150,000,” he says. “Whoever was behind it, thank you very much!”

The loan allowed him to continue paying his office staff of two and his seven-man truck crew through the lockdown when 90% of his clients were closed and had suspended payments. “I never expected anything like that,” says Mr. Fava, adding that most of his business has since returned.

My favorite stories involve the small, odd gestures New Yorkers made to support and uplift one another.

Ron Raznick, owner of Manhattan-based retail package supplier RTR Bag, recently met his longtime freelance accountant for dinner at a diner. Afterward, while they were walking to the bus stop, the accountant pulled a surprise gift from her purse to celebrate Mr. Raznick’s recent, hard-won uptick in sales: Two rib-eyes and a flank steak from Ottomanelli Bros. butcher shop on York Avenue.

“She knows this dawgg loves his steak,” Mr. Raznick says.

He was so happy with the gift, he serenaded her in the rain with Sinatra’s “Autumn Leaves.”

“It was one of the nicest things and funniest that anyone has ever done for me,” Mr. Raznick says. “It was just a random act of support and friendship. Something we all want.”

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad year after all.

Write to Anne Kadet at Anne.Kadet@wsj.com