Good news coming for New Yorkers. Governor Andrew Cuomo has given permission to restaurants to open indoor dining with 25 percent capacity starting Feb.14, this coming Valentine’s Day.
The news came on the 335th day of the ongoing pandemic as positive cases hit the lowest point since Dec. 11.
On Friday Gov. Cuomo announced in a press conference that restaurants in New York City “can reopen indoor dining at 25% on Valentines’s Day.”
“25% is better than zero,” he said. “If the numbers continue to get better, then we will continue to increase that.”
He said that “the restaurants want a period of time” to prepare for reopening in order to hire back staff, plan menus, get orders in, etc.
“You could make a reservation now or plan dinner — you propose on Valentine’s Day — you have the wedding ceremony up to 150 people,” he said as he continued to unveil his plans for reopening.
The announcement has come as a breather to hard hit hospitality industry, which is an important driver of the city’s economic engine. This brings an hope for the struggling restaurants business in the city. This is the second time since COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 that the restaurants in NYC have been allowed to reopen the indoor dining section.
Last year in September, NYC restaurants were given heads up to open at 25 percent capacity only. But now with COVID-19 vaccines rolling out in the US and the number of positive cases declining, indoor dining can continue.
Until now, NYC has reported 597K Coronavirus positive cases and 26953 deaths.
