Restaurants like St. James Gate have only been able to serve people outside.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that indoor dining in New York City will be allowed to start up again on September 30th with a 25% occupancy limit.
“All restaurants that choose to reopen will be subject to strict safety protocols, including temperature checks, contact information for tracing, face coverings when not seated and other safety protocols,” a statement from the governor’s office said. “Bar service will not be permitted, and restaurants will close at midnight.”
If all goes well, restaurants can increase capacity to 50% as of November 1st.
“The New York City restaurant industry has been financially devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a safe return to indoor dining is critical to help save these vital small businesses and jobs,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.
Here are the rules:
- 25 percent occupancy limit
- Temperature checks will be required at the door for all customers
- One member of each party will be required to provide contact information for tracing if needed
- No bar service – bars will only be used as service bars, a source of making drinks and serving them tableside
- Masks must be worn at all times when not seated at a table
- Tables must be six feet apart
- Restaurants close at midnight
- Strict adherence to all State-issued guidance
- Restaurants should operate with enhanced air filtration, ventilation and purification standards
- Limit air recirculation and allow for outside air ventilation
- Outdoor dining will continue in the interim
Let’s hope this is done cautiously and with compliance, and at this level (25%, tables 6 feet apart) helps restaurants buoy themselves.
I think similar regulations in other parts of the state have gone well, and so I hope it does here as well.
Regarding the “rules,” I don’t have a lot of faith in rules that start with “Restaurants should…” In fact, several of these “rules” seem rather vague. I hope this works!
Is it just me, or should the restaurant owner know to wear a mask over his nose?
The amount of people who wear masks below their nose is infuriating, especially when they walk by me inside a supermarket. Dr. Oz stated that you if you don’t put your mask on your nose, you may as well not weak a mask at all.
Anyone who thinks that the Bar Industry can survive these restrictions is dead wrong! I predict 25% of restaurants presently in business will fail before end of year.
Still not enough for many places to survive but it’s a start. Hopefully this quickly paves the way to 50% capacity and beyond by end of October. It’s a total farce that this is not beginning in earnest this weekend though – we don’t need three weeks to prepare for indoor dining and we’re going to lose more restaurants amid the bureaucratic delay. We need our bars and restaurants now more than ever to buoy the local economy and retain cultural capital. Hopefully Cuomo can take a break from actively trying to sink the city this fall.
In before DeBlasio contradicts Cuomo
It’s about time and Cuomo to the rescue.
If only he was so cautious when ordering seniors to senior homes…
What is crazy is asking the public to snitch on restaurants that allow more than 25% diners in.
How in hell’s name will anybody know that there are over the 25% diners inside any restaurant? Do we know how many diners is a full eatery?
Are we supposed to walk inside and do a head count?
Nice going – a city of snitch peddlers.
Sort of like…you know…un American.
Legal compliance can be simple and transparent. EVERY facility has a posted Maximum Occupancy poster. If it is 100,then 25 are allowed (forget table counting). A reality check is whether the city will have enough staff to check compliance. Should we UWS vigilante? Or, look the other way while savoring our chenin blanc?
Yes dr, you should look the other way. These people are just trying to make a living and provide for their families and have been hit very hard by all of this. You’re an adult and if you feel unsafe, you don’t have to go to a restaurant. The rest of us are also can decide for ourselves how much risk we’re willing to take on. Snitching on your fellow citizens trying to make a living makes you a communist.
Well that for sure doesn’t make too much sense…an average restaurant in New York City has 10 tables…that means they can only use 2 1/4 tables inside. That’s not gonna work… The restaurant will close up!
2 and 1/2, if you do the math. We’re doomed
Every such re-opening move is another nail in the coffins of those of us over 65 who, in addition to being seniors, have compromising conditions that make us especially vulnerable. We know when we’re not wanted. Our lives are clearly expendable. THINK ABOUT IT!!!!
Then stay home.
Oh, please. I’m in my eighties and vulnerable as heck, and will continue to do what I have been doing: staying home as much as I can, taking all possible precautions when I must go out, cooking and eating delicious meals in my own kitchen, ordering the occasional pizza. I feel sorry for the restaurant owners who are at risk of losing their businesses, and hope that the new rules, which seem relatively sensible, help them, and offer some relief to the customers who can’t live without eating out. I will choose not to sit among those diners, but why would I imagine that cautiously opening restaurants somehow discriminates against me?
Stay home. My mother is 73. She only leaves to go to the doctor or I take her for a walk outside early in the morning. I bring all her food and other needs to her apartment. Does my mother want to go to a restaurant? Museums? Of course! But she’s at great risk due to her age. Like you.
You wouldn’t be going under any circumstances. So how does indoor dining affect you that you don’t want anyone to go?
I’m sorry but the world can’t shut down because you dont feel safe. It’s best you maintain distance from people and stay home. We can’t afford to loose 60% of our businesses
Then stay home!
At this point, it needs to be up to each individual to assess their own risk level for participating in activities. It is no longer the beginning of the pandemic when we were all scared and confused (mostly by the media). We have good data from the CDC and state websites and we should use it to decide what we how we feel comfortable participating going forward.
??? Restaurants opening will somehow hurt you? If you are freaked out stay home. The death rate per capita is on par with the Asian flu in the 1950s and the Hong Kong flu in the 1960s. The 24/6 media has scared everyone way too much. Virtually no one has been dying in NYC for 3 months and it has nothing to do with restaurants being opened or closed
“Virtually no one has been dying in NYC for 3 months”
The families of the 30+ people who have been dying WEEKLY in NYC would disagree with your statement characterizing their loved ones as “virtually no one.” Yes, 30+ per week is way down from the peak of the pandemic in NYC, but these are individuals, not just statistics. And the number of individuals is down because of the precautions that have been taken. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data-recent.page
Forgot to say – I’m 77 years young.
Cheers
Another nail in the coffin?
Stay home and when outside, stay 10 feet from people & wear a mask.
That coffin will wait another 10-20 years.
Cheer up for God’s sake.
I continue to be perplexed by these standards for restaurants. Tables 6 feet apart means chairs at neighboring tables are back to back. The CHAIRS need to be 6 feet apart. How has no one noticed this????
If the tables are 6 feet apart how is it possible for the chairs to be back to back? No one sits 3 feet away from the table.
Um…I think everyone gets it. You’re taking the word tables too literally. It means the whole table/chair setup.
At 25% they are still screwed. Let them open already!
The outside dining has been great!!!
Oh— Winter ahead…
Well, we shall see, eh?
Wear the mask while eating!!!
xo
Cuomo’s measured approach seems to be working and this looks good. I have been wondering why more restaurants are not installing outdoor heaters. Some of the restaurants across from Lincoln Center have them.
Pretty sure I read somewhere that outdoor kerosene heaters are banned in the 5 boroughs.
too soon
If my rest does take out as well. And hrs of operation is till 2am and 4 am(weekends). Do I still have to close at midnight. I’ve been open for take out since the pandemic started back in March
we’ll see how this flies…
I will not go anywhere that requires a temperature check. It’s simply performative and isn’t a valid indication of covid19. One could be infected without having a fever. Also, temperature checks are a medical procedure. Are restaurants hiring medical professionals to do this?
Temperature checks are the new take-off-your-shoes-at-the-airport. It doesn’t make us safer.
The temperature check is not intrusive. You have to take your hat off if it covers your forehead. Then you put your forehead about 2 inches from a thermometer which is at the correct height. After about 3 seconds the reader digitally gives and the worker your temperature. Stop acting like they are forcing you to have a colonoscopy.
DeBlasio, Rosenthal and the Social Justice Warriors would rather see the restaurants become homeless shelters than help small businesses. Sickening.
I abhor Trump, but some of these snowflakes really make a case for needing a truly moderate centrist.
A new CDC study is linking eating indoors to positive test results:
Coronavirus-positive patients twice as likely to report restaurant visit: CDC study:
https://6abc.com/cdc-study-restaurant-restaurants-covid/6420242/
Why would anyone choose to eat indoors, knowing this?