NEW YORK – Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that a vaccine mandate at all New York City restaurants is “on the table” as officials also consider new mandates for indoor masking amid the threat of the highly contagious delta variant and lagging vaccinations.
During de Blasio’s appearance on CNN Newsroom, anchor Poppy Harlow noted that the mayor applauded restauranteur Danny Meyer on Thursday for saying he would require vaccinations for staff and dine-in customers as his restaurants in the city, including Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke.
“Should we take this to mean, mayor, that you are going to try to move to have all restaurants in New York City to do the same, to mandate vaccinations?” Harlow asked.
“At this point, Poppy, given everything we’re learning about the delta variant, all options are on the table,” de Blasio said.
“I keep saying we’re climbing the ladder in terms of more and more mandates, tougher and tougher measures to make sure that people are vaccinated,” the mayor added. “What’s going to happen, bluntly, is that folks who are vaccinated are going to be able to experience all the things that they love in the life of this city and this country. And folks who are not vaccinated are going to find that too many things that they want to do they can’t do unless they are vaccinated. That has to be the reality, because people will respond to that.”
Harlow asked if de Blasio or the City Council have the power to mandate vaccinations for restaurants.
“The Health Department, especially in emergency situations like this has very real powers, can put out a variety of rules,” de Blasio said. “Any kind of public health issue can be addressed. And we're looking at all those options.”
De Blasio said Thursday that “further guidance” on indoor masking would be put out early next week. That led to criticism from City Council health committee chair Mark Levine, who called waiting on a new mandate “outrageous.”
The mayor responded on CNN, saying the city was “acting fast” on vaccinations, which he called “the thing that makes a difference.”
“That's why we put a mandate in place for vaccination of public employees. That's why we created the $100 incentive to get people vaccinated. That's why I called on the private sector in this city to implement vaccine mandates,” de Blasio said.
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