The case of Minas Polychronakis

After reading the story below, I found that the US government seems to be so generous...giving him a $ 1.000 weekly assistance . It is such a lot of money. I think he is so lucky to get such subsidies from the US government (tax payers money).

Here, nobody will get such treatment from government. If the Minas situation happens to one here,  he/she will get nothing.So, I was wondering, why Minas kind of still complains by saying the subsidies are not enough to make a break even.

I think he should be thankful and grateful for that $1.000 dollar.

Shop Owner Battles Back After 9/11 Destroys Business, Leaves Him $400,000 in Debt | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Minas Polychronakis has been repairing the soles and shining the shoes of New Yorkers since 1970 at Minas Shoe Repair. Today he has one big dream, and it is to be back in business at the former location of the twin towers, in the yet-to-be-completed 1 World Trade Center.

Minas Shoe Repair was one of the first tenants of the World Trade Center in 1977. For almost 24 years, Minas' shop was located in the mall at the World Trade Center on the lower concourse, near 2 World Trade. On Sept. 11, 2011, he and his family lost nearly everything when the shop was destroyed.

Lost with Minas Shoe Repair was 14 million square feet of commercial office space in Lower Manhattan. Roughly 750 companies vanished, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York. As a result, 65,000 jobs were relocated. Employment fell 5% from 2001 to 2005. More than 20,000 residents were temporarily without a home, as many small shops and retailers were gone for good.

"There was nobody around. No companies. People were afraid. They [didn't] want to come to work," Minas says, describing the first few years after the attacks. "It was bad."

At the time, he had two other smaller shops in downtown Manhattan, but neither brought in anywhere near the business the WTC store did. For years after losing his shop Minas struggled to make ends meet.

He needed $5,000 a week to break even, but he received only $1,000 a week in government subsidies.

He used his house as collateral, maxed out his credit cards, and bought supplies on credit (offering an IOU instead of credit cards). Minas eventually racked up more than $400,000 in debt.

Minas could have moved uptown after Sept. 11, but he felt an obligation to remain downtown near the trade center site.

"This area was good to me, and I feel I have to stay here," Minas says. "I had a choice after Sept. 11th to move uptown [or] midtown. But I said, 'No, I stay here.'"

In December 2003, Minas opened a new shop at 67 Wall Street, about a half-mile from the trade center site. "And again the same story. There [were] no people. I said, 'No, I am not going to give up.'"

A decade later, business in downtown Manhattan is starting to pick up. Some might even say it's booming.