BY BEN VERDE
Restaurants can no longer
open indoor seating during
Phase Three of reopening, the
governor confi rmed Wednesday
shortly after Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced the same
thing.
The delay will only affect
New York City, which will begin
Phase Three of its reopening
on July 6, the governor
said. Some regions, such as
the capital region, will move
into Phase Four, and parts of
the state allowed indoor dining
weeks ago.
“It’s going to be postponed
until the facts change and it is
proven to open,” Cuomo said
during a press briefi ng. “The
facts have to change because
at this point it is imprudent.”
Cuomo made thinly-veiled
jabs at Mayor Bill de Blasio for
making the same announcement
earlier today, allegedly
without authority.
6 COURIER LIFE, JULY 3-9, 2020
“Local governments don’t
have any legal authority to determine
openings reopening
of schools, businesses, restaurants
offi ces, that’s not what
the local governments do,”
he said. “That’s a function of
state government.”
Cuomo complained that
local governments are slacking
in their enforcement of
social distancing compliance,
citing photos of large gatherings
taken across the Five
Boroughs, and announced the
state would be forming its own
enforcement department that
will supplement local police
departments. The governor
said he fears a lack of enforcement
combined with a lack of
compliance from New Yorkers
could lead to a resurgence in
the virus.
“If you have citizen compliance
dropping, and you don’t
have local governments enforcing,
then you’re going to
Eateries will remain outdoor only for the time being, both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio said
Wednesday. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
see the virus go up, period,”
Cuomo said.
The state’s decision to delay
indoor dining comes as states
across the country are seeing
huge upticks of COVID-19
cases, with countless outbreaks
tied to crowded bars
and restaurants. An analysis
by JPMorgan found that states
with higher restaurant spending
had outbreaks of the virus
three weeks later, with in-person
restaurant spending being
“particularly predictive.”
Hospitality groups said they
respected the government’s decision,
but that more needed to
be done to prevent New York’s
eateries from going belly-up
while they operate at a reduced
level, such as rent relief and expanded
outdoor dining.
“The longer neighborhood
restaurants and bars are
forced to be close, the harder
it will be for them to ever successfully
open,” said Andrew
Rigie, executive director of
the NYC Hospitality Alliance.
“This makes it even more urgent
to forgive rent, expand
outdoor dining, and enact
other responsive policies to
save our city’s beloved small
businesses and jobs.”
STAY OUT!
Governor, mayor cancel plans
for indoor dining in city
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