The loss of the extra $600 in unemployment at the same time as the shutdown of the New York State Fair is causing stress for hundreds of gig workers in the entertainment industry in Central New York.

Normally, Jeff Meyer would end his day job as manager of the MOST’s IMAX theater and go to work as a union stagehand for concerts at the Amphitheater, the state fair stages, the OnCenter or the Landmark. Other days, he would freelance live sports programming for ESPN and other networks.

He said he would make about $1,000 a week at three jobs. All three are shut down.

Meyer has not yet finalized his unemployment paperwork, but the check will not add up to his former salary without the $600 boost. The maximum weekly payment in New York is $504.

That leaves him with a mortgage, credit cards and other spending that made sense on his former income.

“It’s a very tough situation,” he said.

The federal government added $600 a week to unemployment insurance during the coronavirus shutdown. The extra boost ended last week. More than 50 million Americans have filed initial unemployment claims since the middle of March. That includes 3.2 million New Yorkers.

Next week, jobless Americans will open their bank accounts to find only their regular unemployment insurance payment.

As Republicans and Democrats in Washington debate whether and how to continue the extra insurance, much of the controversy is about whether a lower amount would encourage people to return to work.

But for many workers in the entertainment industry, there still is no work.

The New York State Fair has been canceled. There are no summer concerts. The movies are closed. Performance theaters are dark. And now fall college sports is in question.

Even big high school and college graduations hire stagehands to manage sound and lighting.

“None of these guys are working,” Meyer said. “It’s not our fault that New York state isn’t allowing Broadway shows or concerts at the amphitheater or trade shows or even movies.”

To counter the critics who say he should get a job at a restaurant or store, he says, a minimum-wage job is not going to pay the bills for someone whose skills are electrical work or carpentry, he said.

In addition to the extra $600, the federal government expanded unemployment insurance to include gig workers who would normally not qualify for benefits.

More than 1.2 million people in New York applied for Pandemic Unemployment Insurance, state records show.

As regions move through New York’s phases, workers in manufacturing, construction and other industries are starting to return to work.

But workers in hospitality and leisure, retail and arts and entertainment are among the tens of thousands who continue to file new claims each week.

Some 93,000 workers in arts, entertainment and recreation have filed initial claims in New York since mid-March, state records show. The state labor department has not provided an industry breakdown by region.

There is still a limit of 50 people at a gathering and there is no indication when Gov. Andrew Cuomo will increase the number. Concerts, boxing matches, college basketball games, trade shows and events like graduations will be the last to reopen.

“No one’s talking about the thousands of people that have no options,” Meyer said.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, a trade union, has encouraged workers to lobby their representatives in Washington to continue the $600 benefit.

Keith A. Russell, business manager for IATSE Local 9, said thousands of behind-the-scenes workers are watching every hour of the debate in Washington. An average of 50 IATSE members normally work at the state fair every day. A big amphitheater concert needs about 200 workers, he said.

“These folks want to come back to work,” Russell said. “They make more money working than taking unemployment right now, I’ll tell you that.”

There is a misconception, he said that workers are sitting at home “making a bazillion dollars on unemployment,” he said.

“I hate to tell you, those folks are losing money every day,” he said. “Honestly, they will go broke. It’s scary.”

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Contact Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com | 315-470-3186.