A Los Angeles restaurant owner’s plea for help went viral after a video showing her, on the verge of tears, closing her business’s outdoor patio due to California’s newest COVID-19 restrictions while a movie set with tents, tables, and chairs was allowed to set up less than 50 feet away.
“I’m losing everything. Everything I own is being taken away from me. And they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio,” she added, on the verge of tears.
“Look at this. Tell me that this is dangerous. But right next to me as a slap in my face, that’s safe. This is safe. 50 feet away,” she said gesturing to the elaborate outdoor catering setup.
Bar owner in Los Angeles CA is livid to see that mayor Garcetti has approved an outdoor dining area for a movie company directly across from her outdoor dining area (which was shut down) pic.twitter.com/jkUP2CWg35
— Jake Coco 🙏🏻💙🇺🇸 (@jakecoco) December 4, 2020
Angela Marsden has owned the Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, for more than 10 years. Now, according to ABC 7, Marsden is not even sure she will be able to reopen her businesses due to orders handed down by politicians like Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Despite taking out a loan and spending approximately $80,000 on adapting her restaurant to an outdoor dining model, she was forced to close when new COVID-19 health requirements from the state and the city banning outdoor dining were imposed.
“People wonder why I’m protesting. And why I have had enough,” Marsden said. “They have not given us money and they have shut us down. We cannot survive. My staff cannot survive.”
“This is dangerous. Mayor Garcetti and Gavin Newsom are responsible for every single person that doesn’t have unemployment, that does not have a job, and all the businesses that are going under,” she said.
According to the New York Times, the movie set in Marsden’s viral video is a catering site for NBC’s “Good Girls” and is allowed by the city with a permit.
“Obviously, Mayor Garcetti has approved this being set up for a movie company,” Marsden said.
Marsden, joined by other business owners who were shut down, planned a protest at the home of L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who recently fell under fire for dining at one of her “favorite” restaurants just hours after she voted to prohibit outdoor dining for three weeks due to fears of COVID-19 spread.
“We need your help. We need somebody to do something about this,” she continued.
Marsden recently set up GoFundMe for her restaurant which has already raised more than $100,000.
