Barcade Jersey City staff COVID relief fund

We’re not stoked to do this but with the drop in business leading up to the  bar and restaurant closure combined with the indefinite loss of work on our parts we don’t have a lot of options at this point.

Barcade Jersey City’s staff has been a part of the DTJC neighborhood for the past 9 years and we’ve been here through all the changes the area has gone through in that time. We opened our doors during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and having everyone gathered here to face hardships and the unknown in good company was an honor for us. We were even happy to ramp up our sanitation practices a few weeks ago to assuage fears when we were all starting to get nervous about what was approaching but didn’t know just how different things were going to become. Have you ever sanitized 80 pounds of arcade tokens before? It’s a doozy!

We want very much to be here with you when this blows over and we return to some level of normalcy, but the truth is we may not be able to make it to that point without your help. Our income slowed to a trickle earlier this month as the cautious began their isolation early on, and it stopped completely when we closed indefinitely last week. 

State assistance websites have famously crashed regularly since tens of thousands of members of the workforce suddenly found themselves out of work with very little forewarning and no idea when it might resume again, and some
of us still haven’t been able to apply even as bills and rent draw near. As bartenders we are by nature reassuring and hospitable. When you sit down we ask how it’s going, and attempt to guide your time under our roof to a point where your answer would be more positive if we asked you again on the way out. Part of the code amongst service staff is to leave your troubles at the door so you can adequately focus on the guest experience. While we may tell you a little about ourselves, you’ll never catch us venting when you ask us how it’s going, but in this instance, since we’re not behind the bar and have no idea when we will be again, we’ll shoot you straight, it’s not going very well, it looks like it’s going to get worse before it gets better, we’re embarrassed to have to be doing this, but we absolutely have to be doing this, and we would be appreciative of and humbled by anything you might be able to do to help.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and No Drinks on Games!