Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) announced on Wednesday that he will permit New York City restaurants to reopen and operate at a limited capacity by the end of the month.
“I understand the economic benefit and I understand the economic pressure they’ve been under,” Cuomo said during Wednesday’s press briefing.
Restaurants in New York City have been confined to takeout and delivery services throughout the pandemic but will finally be able to open their doors for indoor dining on September 30, as long as they adhere to a host of requirements. Those include patron temperature checks at the door, masks, and the enforcement of social distancing.
“We have seen clusters outbreak from restaurants, so that was the reason for caution,” Cuomo explained. “We’ve been working on this issue everyday and we’re now announcing today that we can go to 25 percent of indoor dining with certain restrictions that will be enacted on September 30.”
Cuomo added that one member of each party of restaurant-goers must leave contact information for contact tracing information in the event of an outbreak. Additionally, restaurants must meet air filtration requirements and limit air re-circulation. There will be no bar service and restaurants must close by midnight. Outdoor seating will continue.
The state’s “task force” will assist in ensuring that restaurants meet and maintain the proper requirements. The governor said the state will expand the State Police Task Force and New York City will provide 400 code enforcement inspectors to work with the task force. About 10,000 places will need compliance checks, he added.
However, Cuomo said New Yorkers will ultimately help with compliance, adding that the community is “the best compliance unit.”
“If there is a spike in infection rate, we can always hit the emergency pause button,” Cuomo said.
The governor made waves on Tuesday after definitively stating that President Trump “caused the COVID outbreak in New York,” calling his assessment a “fact”:
Video Source: Governor Andrew Cuomo / Facebook
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