FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 1, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Outdoor dining to be permitted year-round in NYC
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
editroial@qns.com
@qns
The city’s Open Restaurants Initiative,
which allows for restaurants to serve
customers on sidewalk and curb space,
will be made permanent.
During an interview with WNYC
host Brian Lehrer, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced the extension of outdoor
dining, which will now be permitted
year-round.
“I want us to go for the gold here,” de
Blasio told Lehrer. “I really want us to
take this model and make it a part of
the life of New York City for years and
generations to come.”
Restaurants can now extend their
seating past the front of adjacent storefronts
if neighboring businesses agree
to it, de Blasio added. Restaurants that
want to better heat outdoor dining
spaces by enclosing them may do so
but must keep capacity at 25 percent.
Conversely, restaurants or bars that
want to host outdoor dining in winter
must keep spaces “more open” to allow
for better airflow, de Blasio said.
Outdoor dining, which started in
response to the coronavirus pandemic,
was set to end on Oct. 31. It’s
unclear exactly how many businesses
have closed in the six months since the
pandemic reached New York City but
some estimate that over 1,000 bars and
restaurants have permanently closed
since March.
De Blasio claims that the initiative
has saved over 100,000 jobs in the
industry now that 10,355 bars and restaurants
are participating in the program,
according to the NYC Open
Photo by Dean Moses
Restaurants tracker.
The city’s Open Street program,
which closes off street blocks to vehicular
traffic, will also become permanent.
City reports uptick in COVID-19 cases in Queens nabes
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
editorial@qns.com
@qns
Th e city is keeping an eye on six neighborhoods
with recent upticks in COVID-
19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
last week.
Th e neighborhoods – Kew Gardens,
Far Rockaway, Borough Park, Midwood,
Flatbush and Williamsburg – are all located
in Brooklyn and Queens.
Midwood, Sunset Park, Williamsburg
and Far Rockaway saw upticks of the virus
in August and earlier this month. Experts
linked some of new cases in Sunset Park
to a large wedding in the neighborhood’s
Orthodox community.
“You are going to see a lot of activity
in the community to remind people of
the basics,” de Blasio said. “Wear a mask,
socially distance, wash your hands and
stay home if you are sick.”
Th is week, the city’s Test and Trace
Corp. will fl ood the neighborhoods with
robocalls and WhatsApp messages to
remind residents to get tested or stay
home if sick. Test and Trace Corp. members
will also reach out to diff erent houses
of worship in the neighborhoods to
remind congregants to avoid indoor and
outdoor gatherings and will distribute
free palm cards, masks, gloves and hand
sanitizer to businesses.
Th e city will also take out more ads in
community newspapers circulated in the
six neighborhoods to again remind residents
to always wear their masks when
outdoors, wash their hands frequently, get
tested and stay socially distanced, according
to De Blasio’s top health adviser Dr.
Dave Chokshi.
Chokshi added that new testing
“resources” will be available in at-risk
neighborhoods at both urgent cares and
community provider offi ces. Trucks blasting
audio recordings of the “four core”
messages will also drive through the
neighborhoods to help spread the word
on what New Yorkers can do to keep
COVID at bay.
Mayor de Blasio nor Dr. Chokshi did
not reveal the number of new cases, rates
of positive tests or if upticks had been
linked to large gatherings.
“I would say we look at a whole panoply
of diff erent indicators in some instances
it’s because we see the proportion of cases
going up, in others it’s because of the percentages
of test positivity that are going
up in specifi c neighborhoods and we take
all of those and create, you know, a comprehensive
picture of where we need to
be focused with respect to our hyperlocal
eff orts,” Chokshi told reporters.
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