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The dizzying rules of outdoor dining
When we got kicked out of Monk McGinn’s at 10p on Saturday night, I decided to look up the rules myself, since I was quite sure the hours went till 11 (of course the restaurant might post their own hours). Sure enough, that’s the limit, with 10p on Sundays. From the city’s regs, last updated on Dec. 17:
Open Restaurant seating may be in use Monday-Saturday: 8am-11pm; Sunday: 10am-11pm
But just for kicks, I went to the covid page of nyc.gov, which said this: Restaurants and bars are still required to close outdoor dining from 10 PM to 5 AM daily. Takeout and delivery are still allowed after 10 PM, except for alcoholic beverages.
Contradictory messaging aside, I would think that in this day and age, every hour counts towards the meager profits coming in.
The Post had a recent opinion piece that quoted Rafi Hasid, the owner of 1803 and Miriam, about the whiplash he’s experiencing with the city’s rules, not to mention the expense of building and maintaining outdoor seating. I don’t want to see the electric bill on one of those giant heaters. Then there was the crazy edict on bathroom usage, and the heating regs alone are baffling.
As a check in, right now the rates are 5.4 percent testing positive in the city overall according to the city’s stats. (The state records Manhattan as 2.3, Staten Island is 4.7, Bronx is 4.9, Brooklyn is 3.9 and Queens is 4.5 — but small pockets in Queens and Brooklyn can get as high as 13 percent.) Westchester County is 4.8 percent; Nassau County is 4.4 percent. (10007 is now at 1.45; 10013 at 2.45 and 10282 is at 1.36.) Yet indoor dining in Westchester is permitted at 25 percent capacity (and some Bronxites are driving over the border) and Long Island is at 50 percent capacity.
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When I was in the Himalayas in Nepal we would eat all the time in makeshift structures. Nepal is a very poor country but they figured out how to do this on the cheap: simple space heaters are placed under each table. The table is covered with an oilcloth all the way to the floor. Diners stay warm underneath the tables and it’s sufficient. I haven’t seen any restaurants doing this type of under the table heating which it seems to me could be done safely and cheaply.
Hope we can get back to regular indoor seating and cleanliness.
the weather is a factor. the wait staff are at risk (bad street conditions and logistics. getting the food out can be dizzying and dangerous.
What is the point of making a mini house with four sides and a door which does not circulate fresh air and contains all of the germs from each group prior? These are not safe and are against all of the regulations for safety. Why are the restaurants on Hudson Street not cited for these infractions and told to take them down or at least take the doors and fronts off? It’s the same as sitting inside of a socially distanced restaurant.
Karen, you don’t need to eat there.
Inside dining should not be closed in NYC. Numbers do not justify the closings. Cuomo loves to say he bases these decisions on science and fact has admitted “Even as he announced the new restriction, the governor provided data that showed restaurants and bars were likely not the primary driver of new cases in the state, lagging far behind private gatherings.” What a hypocrite.