New York City will be the last region in the state to enter Phase 3 of a four-phase reopening plan. // Photo courtesy of OpenTable.com
As of Friday, March 19, restaurants in New York State will be able to host up to 75% capacity indoors and New York City will be able to expand indoors and New York City will be able to expand indoor dining up to 50% capacity. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo stated in a press release that he made his decision to expand dining in New York City in partnership with New Jersey’s governor, Democrat Philip D. Murphy. This increase in dining capacity came two days after St Patrick’s Day, a holiday known to be a buzzing day for restaurants and bars across the Empire State.
Some local restaurant owners, however, are not overly pleased by this decision.
“I have been working in the restaurant business for going on 8 years, and I never seen anything like this before,” said Erin Lynagh, manager of True Food Kitchen in Garden City. “It might sound nice that restaurants are expanding capacity, but it will benefit those who have a big restaurant that can fill in more seats while following NYS guidelines of remaining 6 feet apart. If you think about it, especially the brunch restaurants, it won’t matter much to them because of their already limited space.”
New York and New Jersey’s indoor dining capacity now matches Pennsylvania’s indoor dining capacity, and Connecticut has lifted regulations and gone to full capacity. While Cuomo feels confident in this decision, some members of the Hofstra community are concerned about New York State relaxing COVID restrictions at this time.
“As much as we all want to get back to a pre-pandemic ’normal,’ it is concerning as a student who just was able to return to campus after a year-long hiatus how a 75% increase will impact the number of cases on Long Island,” said Alexandra Whitbeck, a graduate journalism student at Hofstra University. “It forces the question if this will cause numbers to spike.”
Other members of the Hofstra community feel comfortable with Cuomo’s decision to relax indoor dining restrictions.
“I believe there is pent-up demand and many people are eager to return to restaurants,” said Elizabeth Burke, an adjunct professor of Journalism, Media Studies and Public Relations at Hofstra. “I’ve been dining out sporadically over the last couple of months, and I’ve observed both restaurants and patrons closely following the safety guidelines. I’ve been impressed with restaurant owners’ decision-making and creativity in trying to make dining accessible to the public while adhering to the protocols. With indoor capacity at restaurants now being increased, I will continue to feel safe dining out because I believe restaurants will make the necessary adjustments.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers guiding principles to keep in mind when dining out to slow the spread of COVID-19 among customers and operators at restaurants and bars. Among the safety guidelines the CDC lists for restaurant-goers, the ones listed as most critical are wearing a mask, washing hands frequently and practicing social distancing.
Cuomo stands by his decision to allow restaurants to reopen at 75% capacity, citing statistics and data as indicators that it is safe to now do so.
“We will continue to follow the science and react accordingly,” Cuomo said in a statement from March 10. “If we keep the infections down and vaccinations up, we will continue to stay ahead in the footrace against this invisible enemy and reach the light at the end of the tunnel together.”