Sinkhole stink affecting business

Businesses surrounding the gaping 92^nd Street sinkhole say the stench is driving away customers.

Michael Deliso, barista and manager at Paneantico Bakery and Café, said that due to the smell and the noise, the restaurant has been unable to seat people outside since the hole formed on June 28.

“The outdoor café that we pay [the city] for yearly can’t be used,” he said. “We are losing money.”

Danny, the owner of Artisan Food Valley, said business has decreased by 20 to 25 percent since the construction started.

“There’s no parking,” he said. “The noise and the smell are all contributing factors, but the smell is the big one.”

A shift supervisor at Starbucks, who was not able to give her name due to corporate policy, said that the coffee shop, which is directly adjacent to the site, is losing nearly a thousand customers a day.

“They shut off the water, so sometimes the bathroom doesn’t work,” she explained. “We just have to wing it.”

But Peter C., the owner of Nino’s Pizza said that business has gotten better since the sinkhole formed. “It’s been bringing people in, like construction workers and diverted traffic,” he said.