New York Governor Andrew Cuomo finally announced on Friday that dining in New York would resume on Valentine’s Day – two months after its ban – after months of campaigning by the industry and beyond have been criticized by multiple lawsuits.
Indoor dining will resume in the city on February 14, but only at 25 percent capacity, which restaurateurs still consider unfair when other parts of the state may have more diners.
In December, Cuomo ended all indoor dining just as the holiday season approached and temperatures plummeted.
He said it was because New York City is so densely populated and blamed the rT rate for Covid, but gave no data for weeks on what the rT rate actually was.
It also allowed indoor meals to continue in other parts of the state where the virus was a much more serious problem. As a result, the restaurants sued. Some banded together to file lawsuits while others were still preparing their own when he announced the reopening on Friday.
The statewide test positivity rate was 4.65% – the lowest since Dec. 11 – on Friday when it announced the shutdown.
The number of infections in New York has been among the lowest in the state for months.
Cuomo also announced on Friday that marriages of 150 guests could recur from March 15, provided everyone in attendance tested negative.
“It’s just a good idea. Make a commitment on Valentine’s Day when the restaurants reopen and on March 15 – you can celebrate the wedding, ”he joked at his press conference on Friday.
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Cuomo announced Friday that New York City restaurants could resume indoor dining on February 14 at 25 percent capacity. It also allows weddings of 150 guests from March 15 if everyone is vaccinated. Cuomo tried to joke on Friday that people should get engaged on Valentine’s Day and get married on March 15
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Since December 14, New York diners have had to resort to sitting outside
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On Thursday, Manhattan’s test positivity rate was only 2.6% in Staten Island, it was 5.2% and in Brooklyn it was 4.3%. In the Bronx it was 5.5% and in Queens it was 5%.
Cuomo’s seven-day average on Friday is higher.
In contrast, on Long Island restaurants can operate at a higher capacity and have been doing so for months. It has the highest test positivity rate of anywhere in the state.
In Orange County and Rockland County, areas just outside New York City with large Orthodox Jewish communities, it is 6.7% and 6.5%.
In Suffolk County, the Hamptons, it is 5.7%.
Restaurateurs repeatedly asked for explanations and were ignored.
Before his decision, Rocco Sacramento, the owner of Trattoria L’Incontro in Astoria, Queens, told the New York Post on Thursday: “Restaurants are packed in Nassau and I feel like I’m going to f * **** * shoot me! You are laughing at me?!
Last month, after Cuomo allowed all other restaurants in the state to reopen, the New York City Hospitality Alliance told DailyMail.com: “The continuation of the ban on indoor eating in New York is separate from all state data and criteria. articulated and must be completed now ”.
Cuomo ruled on December 14 that New York City restaurants should all immediately stop eating inside. This forced hundreds of restaurants to lay off staff and many had to close their doors.
Others have closed for the season, certain it wouldn’t be worth running through the winter when the outlook for lure activity was so dim.
Those who persevered were forced to come up with expensive outdoor seating that had heaters and sometimes blankets to keep diners warm.
Even so, they were told to abide by the tough rules set by the State Liquor Authority.
Many protested and demanded to know why Cuomo was holding the city hostage.
Some have argued that he was deliberately bankrupting the city for a bigger federal bailout from Washington DC. They compared his actions to extortion.
Friday’s announcement comes after a brutal 24 hours for Cuomo and his administration in which they admitted to underestimating the number of deaths in nursing homes by 43%.
Their admission came hours after Attorney General Letitia Adams released a damning report saying the undercoverage could reach 50%.
The real number is not 8,000 – as previously stated – but some 12,700.
They defended it by saying that they only counted those who died in nursing homes and that the approximately 4,000 additional deaths were counted as hospital deaths.
While the total death toll in the state remains the same, that means nearly a third was due to deaths in nursing homes.
Cuomo has been widely criticized for a March 25 directive that referred some 6,000 COVID-infected patients to nursing homes to free up hospital beds.
Now Republicans are demanding that his office turn over all of their data on nursing home deaths.
Steve Scalise said Thursday that Cuomo was guilty of a “scandalous cover-up.”
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