BUFFALO (WBEN) - On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State will adopt the CDC's most recent masking recommendation starting Wednesday, meaning vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear masks in most settings.
"We have to get back to life and living and we have to do it the way New Yorkers do it: Quickly and robustly," said Cuomo.
However, there's a sense among some local business owners that the new guidance, which doesn't really specify an instrument for enforcement, is actually putting them in a bind.
"I was just on a call with a lot of New York State restaurateurs, and our heads are spinning," said Ellie Grenauer, co-owner of the Glen Park Tavern. "We expect that there are going to be changes as we progress, which is good, but our heads are spinning because the onus falls back on us again. How are we going to make this happen without making people feel uncomfortable?
"Our business has been the mask police for the last year-and-a-half, and now we're being asked to be the vaccine police," she continued. "I feel it just creates an uncomfortable atmosphere."
Grenauer decided that she's going to keep people socially distanced at her establishment while using the honor system for the masking guidance.
Nick Pitillo is the owner of Osteria 166, and he shared several concerns about the guidance, citing the lack of practical enforcement as the main worry, but also concerns about fines and penalties if its deemed they're not following safety protocols established by the state.
Pitillo was asked if he's also going to use the honor system, and as of Monday afternoon, he is unsure as to how to proceed.
"If I had confirmation that they weren't going to come in and fine us, I think that's probably how it's going to end up," said Pitillo. "I'm still gravely concerned about repercussions and the fines and things like that that would come with it..."
The new guidance also pertains to gyms, and even though she's in a completely different industry as Grenauer and Pitillo, Catalyst Fitness Owner Amy Bueme shares much of the same concern.
"As of right now, on Wednesday, we are going to do the honor system unless the government gives me more stipulations, help, or guidance," she said. "I want to be able to say, 'Please do the right thing.'
"I can't plant mask watchers or stalk somebody to say, 'You're not vaccinated; you're not vaccinated,'" Bueme added. "It would be crazy for me to be able to patrol."
