NEW YORK - Brian Haggerty owns Cross Island Collision in Queens Village. Because auto body shops are considered an essential business, he’s been allowed to stay open during the pandemic. But business has been anything but good.

“The less people driving, the less accidents we have. The less cars we fix, the less employees I have," Haggerty said, while sanitizing a car that was ready to be picked up by a customer.​

Haggerty estimates he’s lost about $600,000 in business because of the pandemic. At times he wondered if he would have to shut down for good.

What You Need To Know

  • The owner of Cross Island Collision, Brian Haggerty said operating during the coronavirus has been the greatest challenge of his career

  • Haggerty estimates he’s lost about $600,000 in business because of the pandemic

  • At one point he went from 21 employees to just himself

  • In spring, he got the federal Paycheck Protection Program loan. He is hoping the federal government can agree on another stimulus bill

“A few months of not doing anything, it made you think where the future was going to be,” he said.

At one point he went from 21 employees to just himself. To stay open, he adopted new safety protocols. Blocking off his waiting room with caution tape and spacing out the times when his clients could drop off and pick up their vehicles. Once Governor Cuomo allowed the city to reopen in phases, he saw business start to come back. He’s brought back 16 of his workers.

“Business is off, we’re back to three quarters of what we were in March," Haggerty said.

Back in the spring, he got a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan for $163,000.

"As the business started to come back it allowed my employees to come back, get off employment and back to work. What we hope is this loan turns into a grant, that we won’t have to pay it back,” Haggerty said.

He is hoping Democrats and Republicans in Washington can agree on another stimulus bill.

"The virus was not our fault, as a small business owner, which I think is the backbone of America’s economy. We’re looking for the government to help us,” Haggerty said.

Through the pandemic, Haggerty’s business has been operating with the garage doors open but it’s going to be extremely tough as the weather gets colder.

“We’re worried about the winter and the pandemic coming back a second or third time and less cars on the road and how it’s going to affect us again," Haggerty said.

“A lot of the tools we use are temperature sensitive and eventually the front door gets closed and we hope people still realize we’re open,” he added. “We’re struggling but we’re putting it together the best we can."