NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Indoor dining returns in New York City restaurants at 25% capacity on Friday after being banned for about two months amid a "post-holiday surge" in coronavirus cases.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that indoor dining could return two days earlier than originally planned. It had been set to come back on Sunday, which is Valentine's Day.
Cuomo said restaurants had asked to open before the holiday to help them prepare for a big rush after being shut down for indoor dining since mid-December.
"They'll be ready on that weekend and Valentine's Day," the governor said Monday. "They'll have a big Valentine's Day."
Outside the city, restaurants in the state are limited to 50% capacity.
Cuomo on Friday extended the curfew for bars and restaurants in New York state to 11 p.m. beginning on Sunday. The curfew had previously been 10 p.m. The governor said the change reflected a continued decline in COVID hospitalizations and infection rates.
"Our decisions are based on science and data and we adjust as the virus adjusts. The infection rate and hospitalizations have continued to significantly decline," Cuomo said. "Accordingly, we have adjusted with arena and catering hall openings with rigorous testing and limited capacity indoor dining openings in New York City. We will also move the restaurant and bar closing hour from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. statewide on Sunday."
Hundreds and hundreds of restaurants have closed in the city amid the pandemic, and hundreds more are in danger of shutting their doors even as indoor dining resumes.
Jeffrey LaPadula, general manager of PS Kitchen near Times Square, told 1010 WINS that he welcomes the 25% capacity limit but if his restaurant doesn't get to 50% by early spring, it's going to be in trouble.
"It would just be nice to sort of know what we can plan for. I think it would be amazing if we can get to 50% by, let's say, March 1. I think that would really help us a lot," LaPadula said. "Hopefully that's where it's going, but I think they're cautious about releasing that type of information, because they don't want everybody to get ahead of ourselves. They want to see how things go slowly."
At PS Kitchen, 25% capacity indoors means about 20 customers at a time. They've been booking up appointments fairly quickly, but the future for them and other restaurants still remains uncertain.
