How they and their relatives back home will survive

return to the island either to weather out the economic doldrums in New York. The president of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina, closed the island’s borders to incoming flights last week in an effort to keep coronavirus at bay.

Grocery store employee Alexi Mendoza, 46, said he expected the economic impact on both the Dominican Republic and Washington Heights to be devastating.

“This is really going to affect the economy here and there,” he said. “A lot of people travel to Santo Domingo because of spring break, and it’s going to destroy business. And a lot of people can’t work, and can’t send money back.”

Dominican native Jose Grullon, 44, moved to upper Manhattan when he was 10. The owner of a small clothing store on Broadway and W. 174th St. is patriarch to a family of five, but his wife is still sending cash back to relatives on the Caribbean island.

His business is down 80% in the three weeks since coronavirus first appeared on the city’s radar, and on Saturday, he stood outside his shop in a face mask and gloves, waiting for customers who were now nothing more than ghosts.

He’s waiting on a tax rebate, but Grullon says that money is already targeted for his wife’s family back home.

“We are going to have to shut down starting on Monday,” said Grullon.

“We are wondering if the government is going to step in. We’ve heard we will get $1,000, and many people are going to depend on that — or we’ll have to break into our savings.

“The only problem is many people don’t have savings.”

Barber Harold Colon, 31, sends money to support a 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter back in his native land. It was easy before the pandemic arrived, when he was taking home $1,500 a week.

But his take dropped to just $345 in Week 3 of the crisis, and a new order by Gov. Cuomo shuttered his La Fama Barber business this weekend. And while things are bad in New York, the situation in the Dominican is different but just as difficult financially.

“It’s been affecting us all week, but now it’s bad,Brother,” said Colon. “Now [my weekly profit] is going down to zero. So yeah, this situation is getting bad.”

He’s already sent down money twice in recent day to help out his Dominican family, and he knows his business could remain closed for weeks if not months. Yet Colon remains implausibly upbeat amid the chaos in his native land and his adopted home.

“Money isn’t everything, and you just have to keep that in perspective,” he said. “While I’m losing my money, my health and my family’s health is more important.”