NYC Business Owner: ‘New York Vaccine Mandate Could Destroy My Restaurant’

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: Patrons wait for their orders as food and cocktails are for sale
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New York City’s vaccine mandate, requiring private businesses including restaurants and gyms to discriminate against the unvaccinated by denying them entry to the indoor establishments, could destroy businesses, one New York City restaurant owner warned.

Massimo Felici owns three restaurants across the city’s boroughs and has struggled to stay afloat throughout the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. At the height of it, New York City implemented stringent mandates, shutting down all indoor dining and triggering over 1,000 closures.

“For 15-16 months business was not happening at all,” Felici told BBC. “In one I had to get rid of 80 percent of my staff. We barely survived. I thought I was definitely going to lose my restaurants.”

But now, he faces another obstacle in the form of New York City’s vaccine mandates, which Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) formally rolled out this week.

“This could destroy my business,” he said. “There are too many people who are unvaccinated.”

“Right now it’s summer, so it’s not too bad to eat outside. But soon it will be really cold. A lot of people are going to get fed up and leave,” he continued.

The Democrat mayor laid out the policy on Monday, explaining that the city will spend millions over the next month to educate the public on the mandate. Enforcement will begin on September 13. Businesses that fail to comply will face a $1,000 fine for the first infraction and $2,000 for the second. The mayor described it as an “escalator approach to make clear that people have to conform with the law.”

“If we get noncompliance after that much education or grace period, we will not hesitate to give penalties,” de Blasio cautioned. “We hope to not have to do that often.”

This month, de Blasio said it is time for New Yorkers to view vaccines as “literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life.”

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