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Easing of New York dining ban a milestone in U.S. coronavirus battle - Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City got the governor’s green light to partly resume indoor dining in three weeks, offering a lifeline to thousands of restaurants battered by the coronavirus and marking a milestone in the city’s slow crawl back to normalcy.
Restaurant owners in New York, an early epicenter of the U.S. epidemic, have been clamoring for an end to the indoor dining ban that was imposed in March as part of a series of lockdown measures to control the fast-spreading virus.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had previously expressed worries that lifting the ban could lead to a resurgence of the virus, announced at a news briefing that indoor dining could resume at 25% capacity beginning on Sept. 30.
New York prides itself as one of the world’s culinary capitals, with a dining scene that runs the gamut from Michelin-star restaurants to homespun delis. It also acts as both a pillar of economic activity and a sounding board for city life.
The coronavirus outbreak in March and April delivered a devastating blow, with the city accounting for a large share of the state’s initial infections and deaths from the COVID-19 disease associated with the virus.
The resulting lockdowns led to widespread worries that many of the city’s restaurants would either not survive or emerge with a considerably smaller footprint.
“I was kind of worried it was not going to happen,” said Giovanni Gelfini, owner of Santa Panza, a restaurant in Brooklyn. “Twenty-five percent is not that much, but it’s something where you can do some math and know, more or less, how many customers you can have every day.”
There will be a number of restrictions, including mandatory temperature checks at entrances and collecting of information from one member of each party for contact tracing should there be a COVID-19 outbreak originating in a restaurant.
The state also will establish a whistleblowing system whereby patrons can anonymously report restaurants not in compliance by sending a text, Cuomo said.
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Hopefully great news in a major city with literally thousands of restaurants.
My favorite has been Les Halles, the French-themed steak house in midtown where the late Anthony Bourdain worked as executive chef before getting into writing & TV.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City got the governor’s green light to partly resume indoor dining in three weeks, offering a lifeline to thousands of restaurants battered by the coronavirus and marking a milestone in the city’s slow crawl back to normalcy.
Restaurant owners in New York, an early epicenter of the U.S. epidemic, have been clamoring for an end to the indoor dining ban that was imposed in March as part of a series of lockdown measures to control the fast-spreading virus.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had previously expressed worries that lifting the ban could lead to a resurgence of the virus, announced at a news briefing that indoor dining could resume at 25% capacity beginning on Sept. 30.
New York prides itself as one of the world’s culinary capitals, with a dining scene that runs the gamut from Michelin-star restaurants to homespun delis. It also acts as both a pillar of economic activity and a sounding board for city life.
The coronavirus outbreak in March and April delivered a devastating blow, with the city accounting for a large share of the state’s initial infections and deaths from the COVID-19 disease associated with the virus.
The resulting lockdowns led to widespread worries that many of the city’s restaurants would either not survive or emerge with a considerably smaller footprint.
“I was kind of worried it was not going to happen,” said Giovanni Gelfini, owner of Santa Panza, a restaurant in Brooklyn. “Twenty-five percent is not that much, but it’s something where you can do some math and know, more or less, how many customers you can have every day.”
There will be a number of restrictions, including mandatory temperature checks at entrances and collecting of information from one member of each party for contact tracing should there be a COVID-19 outbreak originating in a restaurant.
The state also will establish a whistleblowing system whereby patrons can anonymously report restaurants not in compliance by sending a text, Cuomo said.
===========================================================================
Hopefully great news in a major city with literally thousands of restaurants.
My favorite has been Les Halles, the French-themed steak house in midtown where the late Anthony Bourdain worked as executive chef before getting into writing & TV.