Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio renewed their commitment to keeping indoor dining in the boroughs shuttered due to a continued surge in coronavirus cases.
“The indoor dining in New York City is a New York City-specific condition,” Cuomo said during a Monday press conference. “[We are] not at this point contemplating any changes.”
Similarly, de Blasio told New York City residents, who are relegated primarily to dining outdoors in the cold, to “bundle up” and “stay warm out there.” The Democratic mayor added during a Tuesday media briefing that “indoor dining [will] reopen when it’s safe.”
The guidance from the two leaders comes after Cuomo said he sought to ease some of the state’s restrictions on Monday following California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lifting of his state’s stay-at-home order, which has been in place since November. Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker also relinquished a state 9:30 p.m. curfew on indoor dining, fitness centers, and other service industries.
Cuomo’s call to continue to keep indoor dining closed did not resonate well with New York City restaurateurs.
“Governor Cuomo’s never-ending restrictions keeping indoor dining closed at New York City restaurants, while keeping it open around the rest of the state where infection and hospitalization rates are higher than in New York City is discriminatory and is destroying the livelihoods of small business owners and workers,” the NYC Hospitality Alliance wrote on Monday. “Multiple legal actions have been filed to reopen indoor dining in New York City and we are exploring all additional legal options on behalf of the city’s restaurant industry to ensure equitable treatment and application of the Governor’s Executive Orders.”
On Jan. 14, the Empire State governor allowed certain “orange zones” within the state, excluding New York City, to offer indoor dining. Orange zones, the second-most restrictive tier, and yellow zones, the least restrictive, are permitted to allow patrons to dine inside, but red zones may not enjoy the same luxury.
A December survey found that more than half, 54%, of New York restaurant owners indicated they would be forced to close their doors permanently if federal relief did not arrive within a six-month timeline. That number dwarfed the 37% of restaurant owners who said the same on a national scale.
