‘DEFINITELY A HIT’
People’s United layoffs worry Bridgeport merchants, leaders
BRIDGEPORT — Downtown establishments and community leaders are worried about the loss of hundreds of jobs from one of that neighborhood’s — and the city’s — landmark employers.
“A lot of business comes from across the street,” said Ralph Silano, co-owner of Ralph-n-Rich’s Italian restaurant on Main Street, referring to the People’s United Financial headquarters. The bank’s new owner, M&T Bank, has announced it will eliminate 747 positions.
Of that number, 661 are in Connecticut’s largest city.
The news has rocked a downtown looking forward to a potential economic boost from Wednesday’s official opening of a new amphitheater along the harbor that has been in the works for four years and was initially supposed to open in 2019.
While Ralph-n-Rich’s at just over three decades old is one of downtown’s longest-serving restaurants, El Pueblito, three blocks from the People’s tower, was started eight years ago.
“We have a lot of customers from there,” said Angelica Mazo, El Pueblito’s manager. “That’s sad to hear . ... We survive because of people around here getting lunch (or) sometimes when they get out of work they come to take some food home.”
Pre-coronavirus pandemic, 1,350 staffers were assigned to the People’s tower before health and safety precautions resulted in many working remotely from home. Lauren Coakley Vincent, head of the Downtown Special Services District, which improves and markets the neighborhood, estimated about 200 had been staffing the headquarters during the health crisis.
Now with the job cuts, Vincent said, “Maybe we gain back a couple hundred but not the level of return we were certainly hoping for and would look forward
to really getting the downtown economy back up and running and super strong.
“I’m sure something good will happen from this merger,” Vincent said. “But losing that number of people coming back to the building is definitely a hit.”
State Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, is an attorney who works downtown. He also represents the Black Rock area of the city near the Fairfield border and knows friends, family and constituents impacted by M&T’s decision.
“I think particularly a city like Bridgeport that does not have a ton of large commercial tenants, the potential loss of hundreds of people who come into the city on any given day and may stop for a cup of coffee or lunch or a drink after work, not coming is a huge blow to the local economy,” Stafstrom said.
Star of Istanbul on Markle Court is just around the corner from People’s. Owner Helim Yildiz began serving his Turkish fare there in 2012 and estimated the bank’s workforce makes up “half of my customers” for either dine-in or take-out. Yildiz called the cuts “very bad.” When M&T announced its acquisition of People’s in February, many in Bridgeport expressed concern, but there was some hope the new owner would aid local businesses by doing away with the tower’s cafeteria,which critics have long-alleged was competition for the lunch crowd.
Tiny Cellar owners Jacqueline Martoral and Javier Ceja were looking for a different kind of boost from People’s. The pair in June opened the fine wine and liquor shop on Fairfield Avenue.
“It’s a big headquarters. A lot of people in the area come out for their breaks or lunchtime or after work and they’re looking to buy or spend locally,” Ceja said.
“So we’d be missing out on that corporate audience,” Martoral said.
Kelvin Ayala is a Bridgeportbased business consultant and used to own Moe’s Burger Joint on East Main Street.
Ayala said, “I’ve always felt the economic impact of the employees in that building has been overstated because of the fact they had a cafeteria” but acknowledged the job cuts are “absolutely a major concern — that’s a huge layoff number.”
He questioned what Ganim’s administration was doing about the pending eliminations. The government center and Ganim’s office are two blocks from People’s on State Street.
Ganim’s administration did not return requests for comment.
Ayala said were he mayor he would be proactively talking to M&T about the vacant space within People’s headquarters and leasing it as soon as possible to bring more bodies downtown.
“It’s tough because it’s a private company,” Ayala said. “(But) let them know, ‘Listen, this is a great community, they deserve better.’ ... Dialogue about how to fill that building, bringing in more tenants, and how they can maybe retain more of that workforce.”