The previous re-opening of indoor dining at Kings County Brewers Collective in Brooklyn on September 30th, 2020 (Photo: Chris O’Leary)
Governor Cuomo’s office announced on Monday that indoor dining and drinking would return two days earlier than planned for New York City bars and restaurants. Beginning Friday, February 12th, indoor dining can resume at 25% capacity with all the State Liquor Authority-imposed rules that existed prior to the shutdown on December 14th. That means closing time is still 10pm, you’ll still need to order food with your drink at a bar, and you’ll need that bag of chips to pair with your beer at a brewery.
Given the haphazard rulemaking that’s been a constant theme during the pandemic, it’s not surprising that the state sent out guidelines to restaurants and bars in New York City yesterday that were from the previous re-opening at the end of September and had outdated guidance about closing times.
All levels of government have failed to find financial support to keep these restaurants and bars closed until it’s truly safe to reopen, and our governor was too much of a political coward to set a precedent by shutting down indoor dining elsewhere in the state when their Covid metrics spiked. So, welcome to the indoor dining clusterfuck. It’s reprehensible that New York City’s restaurant workers were only able to access vaccine appointments a week ago and will work for several weeks in dangerous environments without the protection it offers, and it shouldn’t be up to us as customers to be forced to choose between risking our own safety and having restaurants and bars to visit once the virus is under control.
Meanwhile, science be damned, the restaurant lobby is pushing the state to move the city to 50% indoor capacity immediately. Nineteen New York City Council members have penned a letter urging the same. But you really can’t blame them when Nassau County restaurants have been able to operate that way while their competitors’ dining rooms down the street in Eastern Queens have been fully shuttered, despite Long Island having a consistently higher case rate and positivity rate for the past two months.
Anyway, we’re doomed. May an invisible force protect the restaurant workers who are being put in harm’s way. Stay safe out there. I’ll be out here on the patio sipping my half-frozen beer and washing Cheeto dust off my winter gloves.
