Cuomo originally ended indoor dining in the city after two-plus months ahead of an expected holiday-related spike in COVID-19 positivity rates.
Perhaps some of the East Village restaurants who went on hiatus back in December will decide to return to service — indoors and out — starting on Feb. 14.Update on indoor dining in NYC:
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 29, 2021
If positivity rates hold we will reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity on Valentine's Day - February 14.
In addition to reduced capacity, mandatory safety guidelines will be in place.
As Eater and other outlets have noted, the state's own data reported that 1.4 percent of COVID-19 cases came from restaurants and bars compared to nearly 74 percent for private indoor gatherings during the fall.
And per Gothamist:
[R]estaurant owners and industry advocates have argued that indoor dining should resume in the name of regional fairness. In Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, restaurants have been allowed to operate indoors at up to 50-percent capacity, despite those areas sometimes having higher COVID-19 infection rates than the five boroughs.
Top photo of Pangea on Second Avenue from October by Stacie Joy
It is about time. It is too cold to eat outside. I hope they allow the bars to open as well and allow customers to sit on a bar stool inside the establishment and order a drink I could sure use one!!
ReplyDelete25% indoor capacity doesn't pay the bills for most restaurants. Why not 50%?? Every day another small business closes it's doors in this neighborhood and the freezing cold winter doesn't help. This continued full on shutdown is ridiculous with our improved Covid-19 rates.
ReplyDeleteToo soon, too risky, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for all of my restaurant friends to survive this especially my friends at Sathi at1 8th and 3rd Avenue. Good people struggling through this madness.
ReplyDelete@James I just had lunch there today, take out of course. They do have a very good lunch special.
ReplyDeleteI’m with the commenter that thinks it’s too soon and too risky, although 25% is a good start. I do feel for the restaurants. I take out food from my favorite restaurants whenever I can to help. This pandemic sucks and hopefully it’s over soon.
ReplyDeleteI really want everyone to make it, but you will not see me eating inside a restaurant until I'm vaccinated.
ReplyDelete9:33 Glad you like the food there. The Brothers who run the place are very good guys!
ReplyDeleteStatistics show that People are fleeing liberal cities and states.
ReplyDeleteThey are poorly governed and this is another case and point.
The fact that Long Island and westchester restaurants have been open at 50 % capacity and if you walk one block over to Queens or Bronx everything is locked down makes no sense.
8:46, one of the silver linings of this pandemic is the exodus of dullards like you. Please flee with our blessings.
ReplyDelete1.4 percent?!!!!??
ReplyDeleteI agree with 10:23am.
ReplyDeleteThose who have left are mostly the basic beckys and chads from red states who do nothing to make NYC any better - to which I say, good riddance.
Like them or not it's never good when employed taxpayers leave in droves. These people supported local bars and restaurants. They put a lot of money into the city. Everyone complained about all the tourists and now look at the economic damage. Losing hundreds of thousands of jobs is a disaster. Do people really understand the economic damage?
DeleteOkay chad.
DeleteIt's as if people don't know you can support these restaurants just same by getting take out (tips included). But no, you feel the absolute dire need to sit and dine-in, in the middle of a pandemic. And this why we will be stuck in this debacle for months to come.
ReplyDeleteYou forget that half of our neighborhood bars serve food and for them take out is not a significant revenue source. They need to be able to serve indoors and 50% would help them survive.
DeleteI have three restaurants with outdoor dining right outside my building. It's awful. Two of them are busy and all I hear is talking, laughing and music for hours on end. I can't wait until dining returns to the indoors. I think it is too early right now with the new variants. But I do hope it works out and people can get back inside by the end of the year. I don't know how much longer I can deal with all the noise.
ReplyDelete4:34 I feel for you. I used to have backyard dining (probably illegal) beneath my window. In theory it was not too bad--people enjoying a meal usually in conversational voices--but in practice it was quite annoying, like trying to read a book in a library while a couple is whispering near you.
ReplyDeleteDining has been connected to 1.4% of covid cases. Does it really make sense to punish the industry where the city’s own stats say it’s not part of the spreading problem? And no, takeout does not support anywhere near the same number of jobs as dining in will.
ReplyDelete@4:34 same. It's so fucked for longtime residents, the only people that don't care are like, college kids that don't mind loud shit outside their window constantly.
ReplyDelete