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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said dining could resume in New York at the end of the month, just a day after he said it couldn’t be done.
Restaurants will be allowed to seat diners indoors from September 30 at 25% capacity, Cuomo said Wednesday.
Cuomo said “strict restrictions” will need to be put in place in order to offer indoor dining again, including that restaurants must close before midnight.
All diners must have their temperature checked at the door, and one member of each group must provide contact information for tracing in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak originating from a restaurant.
There can also be no bar service.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that dining could resume in New York from September 30 at 25 percent capacity.
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Cuomo said “strict restrictions” will need to be put in place in order to offer indoor dining again, including that restaurants must close before midnight.
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Cuomo said if infection rates were still low as of Nov. 1, he would reassess whether New York restaurants could open at 50%.
The infection rate in New York has been below 1% for the past month.
Cuomo said the state would establish an alert system for New Yorkers to report non-compliant restaurants.
“New Yorkers themselves will help with compliance,” Cuomo said. “New Yorkers will keep New Yorkers safe.
The city’s outdoor dining program will expire in October. It is not yet known whether this will be extended.
In a statement, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged that eating at 25% capacity would not mark a full return to normal, but characterized it as a starting point and a way to stimulate the city’s economy.
“We are continuing the economic recovery in New York City by bringing dining in,” said de Blasio.
“It might not sound like the indoor dining room we all know and love, but it’s progress for restaurateurs and all New Yorkers.
The sudden announcement comes just a day after Cuomo insisted indoor dining could not resume as he argued it would double the number of bars currently open and there was no one to enforce the rules. social distancing standards.
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Restaurants will be allowed to seat diners indoors from September 30 at 25% capacity, Cuomo said Wednesday.
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On Wednesday, Cuomo said the city would provide 400 people to an existing task force made up of the State Liquor Authority and the State Police to ensure compliance.
Before Cuomo’s announcement, New York was the only place in New York State that was not allowed to welcome diners again.
He had said Tuesday he would not allow indoor catering to restart unless the city – namely Mayor Bill de Blasio – proposes a single task force to enforce the rules.
“We have seen that opening bars has created a compliance and enforcement nightmare,” Cuomo said.
“In our Upstate experience, opening a restaurant indoors caused problems. I begged the local governments to help me and they didn’t.
“I would need additional execution capacity. It could be a local police department or local health inspectors.
New York restaurant and bar owners have been clamoring for some sort of break for months.
A conglomerate of bar and restaurant owners had recently filed a lawsuit against the state for $ 2 billion in damages, claiming they were unfairly chained and barred from making money due to lack of meals at inside.
A September 3 New York state restaurant survey found that 64% of restaurants said they could not stay open if indoor dining was not allowed soon.
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