New York City may partially reopen indoor dining for Valentine’s Day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.
Cuomo shared a state-wide positivity rate of 4.65% and added that if the infection numbers hold, he will continue moving forward with the borough dining initiative.
“New York City restaurants, on our current trajectory, can reopen indoor dining at 25% on Valentine’s Day,” Cuomo said. “The restaurants want a period of time so they can notify workers, they can get up to speed for indoor dining, order supplies, etcetera.”
Update on indoor dining in NYC:
If positivity rates hold we will reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity on Valentine’s Day – February 14.
In addition to reduced capacity, mandatory safety guidelines will be in place.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 29, 2021
Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio renewed their commitment to keeping indoor dining in the city shuttered due to a continued surge in coronavirus cases Monday.
“The indoor dining in New York City is a New York City-specific condition,” Cuomo said during a Monday press conference. “[We are] not, at this point, contemplating any changes.”
De Blasio told New York City residents, who are relegated primarily to dining outdoors in the cold, to “bundle up” and “stay warm out there.”
“Indoor dining [will] reopen when it’s safe,” the Democratic mayor added during a Tuesday media briefing.
Cuomo allowed certain “orange zones” within the state, excluding New York City, to offer indoor dining on Jan. 14. Orange zones, the second-most restrictive tier, and yellow zones, the least restrictive, are permitted to allow patrons to dine inside, but red zones may not enjoy the same luxury.
Cuomo’s call to continue to keep indoor dining closed did not sit well with many restaurateurs.
“Governor Cuomo’s never-ending restrictions keeping indoor dining closed at New York City restaurants, while keeping it open around the rest of the state where infection and hospitalization rates are higher than in New York City is discriminatory and is destroying the livelihoods of small business owners and workers,” the NYC Hospitality Alliance wrote on Monday. “Multiple legal actions have been filed to reopen indoor dining in New York City and we are exploring all additional legal options on behalf of the city’s restaurant industry to ensure equitable treatment and application of the Governor’s Executive Orders.”
The governor fell under scrutiny after a Friday report claimed that his administration undercounted the number of nursing home-related deaths since Cuomo pushed a March policy that placed coronavirus-positive individuals in care homes.
