NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – New York City restaurants can reopen for indoor dining at 25% capacity on Friday, about two months after they were forced to shut their doors amid rising coronavirus numbers.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that restaurants could open indoors two days earlier than originally planned. The return had been set for Sunday, which is Valentine’s Day, a traditionally busy period for the restaurant industry.
"They have made the point that they'd like to open a couple of days earlier so they can be ready for Valentine's Day, get the staff oriented, get supplies into the restaurants and that's a reasonable request," Cuomo said during his Monday briefing. "They can go to 25% on Friday and they'll be ready for that weekend and for Valentine's Day."
It will be the first time restaurants are welcoming in customers inside since mid-December, when indoor dining was banned amid surging coronavirus cases around the holidays.
Outside the city, restaurants in the state are limited to 50% capacity. All restaurants statewide still must close by 10 p.m.
Restaurant owners have said every little bit helps after a brutal 11 months in which hundreds upon hundreds of eateries have closed across the boroughs.
“You’re trying to balance two vital concerns economic concerns and public health concerns,” Cuomo said this week.
Since indoor dining was banned, restaurants have been serving customers outdoors amid frigid temperatures, as well as offering pickup and delivery.
Andrew Rigie, of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said 25% capacity is a start.
“It couldn’t come soon enough. Our small businesses have been decimated,” Rigie said. “Twenty-five percent is not going to save the industry. Some places are actually waiting until we get to 50% to try to reopen. But it’s better than nothing.”
Cuomo has gotten some blowback for the move, since coronavirus numbers are higher now than they were two months ago when indoor dining was banned, although the numbers have been steadily dropping in recent weeks.
“Everything is a risk when we’re living in this world. But generally restaurants are working very hard with air filtration systems, the long list of safety protocols,” Rigie said.
Rigie said he is encouraging the restaurant workforce to get vaccinated, though appointments are still hard to come by.
Many higher-end restaurants have said they won’t be reopening indoors, either because the math doesn’t work for them at 25% capacity or they’re afraid rules may change again.