As President Donald Trump’s declaration of a crime emergency in D.C. comes to an end, one local restaurant owner is hoping the change will help reverse a drop in business.

Andy Shallal, founder of Busboys and Poets, said his D.C. locations saw a 5% decline in revenue during the federal law enforcement surge, which is an especially tough hit during August, a month that’s already slow for restaurants.

“We’ve seen a drop by 5% for the D.C. locations across the board. So it’s been tough, no doubt,” Shallal told WTOP. “With the margins of restaurants being so small, quite a substantial drop.”

However, Trump has said that diners have voiced how safe they feel going out to eat during the surge, saying in mid-August that restaurants have been “busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

Shallal

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