NYC to Allow Indoor Dining at 25% Capacity

Posted on by Sophie Robinson

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that starting on September 30th, New York City restaurants can open for indoor service at 25% capacity.

What We Know:

  • On Wednesday, Cuomo announced that the prohibition on indoor dining in New York City would be lifted on Septemeber 30th, ending its status as one of the few places in the nation still facing a ban. The governor’s decision to allow restaurants to have indoor dining at 25% capacity will be a major milestone in the coronavirus crisis in New York City, giving a boost to the city’s recovery from the pandemic and signaling to tourists and residents alike that the city is slowly returning to normal.

  • The move comes two months after Mayor Bill de Blasio halted a plan that would allow indoor dining at restaurants, citing worries about a resurgence of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 30,000 people in New York State. New York, which was once the epicenter of the pandemic, has stabilized the infection rate at under 1% for more than a month, leading Cuomo to announce he would ease some restrictions.
  • Under the governor’s plan, restaurants would be permitted to use a quarter of their indoor tables. The announcement comes just as the fall weather is expected to put a chill on outdoor service, which began in June. Many across the restaurant industry shared relief at the new plan, sharing it will allow them to keep trying to stay afloat as well as allowing them to hire back more staff. “With 25 percent plus outdoor, I can hire back 50 percent,” said Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the celebrity chef whose flagship restaurant, Jean-Georges, is in Columbus Circle.

“I understand the economic pressure they’ve been under,” Cuomo said. “A restaurant is not just the restaurant owner, its the kitchen staff, wait staff, there is a whole industry around restaurants. And restaurants also pose a possible risk, concentration of people inside with indoor dining.”

  • The new indoor dinging plan has a series of precautions in place, besides a limited capacity:
    • Restaurants will be required to check customers’ temperatures at the door.
    • They must collect contact information for one person in each party for contact tracing.
    • Diners will be required to wear face coverings when not seated.
    • There will be no bar service allowed and the closing time for all restaurants will be midnight.
    • Cuomo also said that the city will provide 400 code enforcers, which could include New York City police officers, in addition to oversight from the New York State Liquor Authority, New York State Police, and other agencies. He also invited diners to anonymously report restaurants where they believe the 25 percent capacity is being violated.
  • The reopening will also come shortly after New York City’s public schools, the nation’s largest school system, will welcome students back inside school buildings on September 21st, another fraught experiment for the city ravaged by the coronavirus. Both de Blasio and Cuomo have shared their hesitancy on reopening part of the city, wary of returning to the nightmare of March and April when the disease was killing hundreds of people a day. The caution seems warranted though as officials across the state have said about 10 percent of coronavirus clusters outside of New York City have been tied to bars and restaurants.

Cuomo said that the state would continue to monitor infection rates after the September 30th reopening, with a plan of increasing capacity to 50 percent by November 1st. He also warned that any spike in infections could lead to sudden closures via an “emergency pause button”. According to a City Hall official, indoor dining will be reassessed should the infection rate in the city go past 2 percent.

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