Businesses owned by Black people were hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic because of a combination of geography, limited reach of a key federal aid program and weaker ties to banks, a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds. This report offers “some pretty compelling evidence about the coincidence of the health crisis and business crisis in places that have high concentrations of Black businesses and Black residents,” said Claire Kramer Mills, assistant vice president at the New York Fed. “To have the greatest impact, the next round of Covid-19 relief should be more targeted geographically to focus on the hardest-hit areas and communities that lack critical infrastructure (hospitals, banks) to ameliorate the gaps,” the report said.