NYC Postpones Indoor Dining

LATEST: Indoor Dining to Return on Valentine’s Day

Mayor de Blasio has announced that NYC would postpone indoor dining in NYC indefinitely, after it was expected to begin on Monday, July 6th, with the commencement of Phase 3.

The Governor and Mayor have recently acknowledged the risks that indoor, cramped spaces with air conditioning pose to the spreading of the virus.

More: New Bill Allows NYC Restaurants To Add 10% Surcharge to Bill

“Indoors is the problem more and more. The news we have gotten from around the country gets worse and worse,” said Mayor de Blasio.

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After a surge of COVID-19 cases which are believed to have been catalyzed by indoor dining around the country, Phase 3 will now be limited to personal care services. This category refers to “non-hair-related personal care businesses and services, including tattoo and piercing facilities, appearance enhancement practitioners, massage therapy, spas, cosmetology, nail specialty, UV and non-UV tanning, or waxing.” Barbershops were given the green light to reopen at the beginning of Phase 2.

So for now, restaurant patrons will need to choose between delivery, take-out or outdoor dining (on days when it doesn’t rain and there isn’t a hail storm.)

And restaurant owners will need to continue relying on these options as sole revenue streams. Hopefully this will be enough to keep the majority of them afloat, but many have been closing for good, and unfortunately this trend is likely to continue.

For additional guidelines and updates about NYC’s reopening plan, here’s the official reopening website.