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Carnegie Hall Got Rescue Aid, But Not Your Favorite Food Cart

Many microbusinesses were shut out of a U.S. relief program that doled out $521 billion in loans

Evelia Coyotzi, owner of Evelia's Tamales, in the Queens borough of New York, on June 27. Coyotzi, didn’t apply for the federal Payment Protection Program because she “didn’t think I had a chance.”

Evelia Coyotzi, owner of Evelia's Tamales, in the Queens borough of New York, on June 27. Coyotzi, didn’t apply for the federal Payment Protection Program because she “didn’t think I had a chance.”

Photographer: Amir Hamja/Bloomberg

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Few places illustrate the disparities in coronavirus relief assistance better than New York City.

Wall Street firms, top art galleries, and the private-member club Soho House got millions of dollars in federal aid earmarked for small businesses. Evelia Coyotzi, who operates a food cart beneath the tracks of the No. 7 subway line that connects Manhattan to the outskirts of Queens, got nothing.