NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Mayor Eric Adams on Monday celebrated the lifting of the city's proof of vaccination rule to enter restaurants and other venues with a trip to the East Village where he toured several businesses.
With a pep in his step, Adams gleefully greeted New Yorkers on the street as he popped into restaurants and bodegas, touting a city he now said is reopened and back alive without any vaccination mandates.
On Monday, New York City shed major COVID-19 precautions meaning masks are now optional in city schools, and restaurants and other businesses can stop asking patrons for proof of vaccination.
"We are an exciting city and we want to enjoy our city again," Adams said. "Lifting the mandate of having to check vaccines, having our children go to school without masks, these are all the symbolic and substantive things that we need to do."
Adams characterized the end of vaccination requirements as a new beginning for New York. He maintains that he's following the science, but acknowledges economic concerns, especially tourism, are a factor as well.
"People are saying, 'Well, what if there's another variant?' We don't live life based on the fear that's in front of us because 80% of the things we feared never materialized," Adams said. "We have to get our economy back and operating and tourism is a major booster for our economic stability. We have to move from being a city of nay to being a city of yay."
The mayor noted some may be more nervous to head out without any vaccine screenings, but hopes that changes.
"There's a small number of people that are going to take maybe two weeks, maybe three weeks, but people are ready to get back into their restaurants and there is no fear in doing so," Adams said. "This feels like New York. So if you're not ready to come indoors you could do it outdoors, but I've been to six restaurants this week and they are packed."
Adams kicked off his tour on 1st Avenue and 7th Street.
As he strolled through the East Village, the mayor shook hands, pet dogs, helped a delivery driver load items onto a hand truck and even made an unscheduled stop at a skate park, where he tried his hand at skateboarding, but didn't get very far.
He also stopped at a handful of restaurants including Ma La Project, La Palapa, and Dallas BBQ.
La Palapa owner Barbara Sibley said she can already sense a change in mood.
"I think it's the most important thing during COVID has always been to be in the reality and I think the mayor lifting it right now puts us in that reality," Sibley said.
Adams finished his tour with a lunch at Veselka to show solidarity with New York's Ukrainian community.
As he enjoyed some vegetarian borscht, Adams held up a napkin to reporters assembled nearby. On it, he had scrawled a message that read, "Lift the mandates."
The mayor said lifting the vaccination requirements is about showing New York is back open and moving forward. The next step, he said, is bringing workers back their offices.
Restaurants can still screen for vaccines if they want.
Related
Related
Related
