Monmouth Bar Owners Glad 10 P.M. Curfew Over, But It's Not Enough

KEYPORT, NJ — Just in time for the Super Bowl this Sunday, Monmouth County bar owners say they are relieved Gov. Murphy lifted the state's 10 o'clock restaurant curfew. But they also say it's not enough, and that the governor needs to remove all limits he's placed on indoor dining.

Starting this Friday, New Jersey bars and restaurants will be able to resume their regular operating hours and will no longer have to close at 10 p.m. Murphy used his power of executive order to put the 10 o'clock curfew in place in November, as New Jersey entered its second wave of the coronavirus.

"With the curfew, we were very worried about kicking people out in the last quarter of a very big game," said Frank LaPlaca, the general manager at McDonagh’s, an Irish pub and sports bar in Keyport. "And Super Bowl is a big day for us. We do a big bar business and it's a big take-out day as well."

Now McDonagh's will be able to close at midnight, as they did normally in pre-pandemic times.

"It's an extra two hours of people coming into the bar and restaurant," said LaPlaca. "That'll really help us."

The 10 p.m. curfew infuriated many New Jersey bar owners. "Does coronavirus stop spreading at 10 p.m.?" was often the refrain.

"On Jan. 11, we had to kick people out in the third quarter of the national championship game where Alabama played Ohio State," said Chris Smith, the owner of Val's Tavern in Rumson. "It was crazy. The game didn't start until 8:20 and then at 10 p.m. it was lights out."

"It's very, very hard to do that as a business owner, especially when you're trying to pay your bills," he added. "I'm not minimizing the pandemic, either. It's a terrible thing."

On Monday, Murphy marginally increased New Jersey's indoor dining limits, raising it from 25 to 35 percent.

Smith dismissed that as "window dressing."

"Going from 25 to 35 percent is not the difference between being unprofitable or profitable. You are not profitable either way," said Smith. "Businesses are closing . People are losing their life's work and investment. And when someone's business closes, that means they can't pay their mortgage. Their kids can't go to college."

"Moving from 25 to 35 percent is not helping an industry that's bleeding out already. It should be at 50 percent. We're being crippled."

Except for New York City, every other state surrounding New Jersey is at fifty percent — or higher — for indoor dining capacity. See this chart here: https://www.senatenj.com/uploa...

Connecticut was at 75 percent all summer long and then lowered it to 50 percent as the second wave began in November (they also have a 10 p.m. curfew in place). Maryland is at 50 percent. Pennsylvania restaurants were ordered completely shut down from Dec. 12 to Jan. 4 and then reopened at 50 percent. New York state restaurants are at 50 percent everywhere except the five boroughs; Gov. Cuomo ordered all New York City restaurants completely closed in the second wave and they can resume indoor dining at 25 percent starting on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14.

Mary Lou Halvorsen, president of the New Jersey Restaurant Association, a lobbying group, said she thinks the timing of Sunday's Super Bowl factored into Murphy's decision making. But also:

"Yes, the Super Bowl was important, but it's one day of the year" she said. "We presented the governor with more than 1,900 signatures and phone calls on behalf of the restaurant industry to end the curfew and increase indoor dining capacity. And he made the announcement this Monday. So we'd like to think we were successful. But we would like it to be at 50 percent."

"It's like New Jersey bar and restaurant owners should be happy with the crumbs they're given," said state Senator Declan O'Scanlon, a Republican who represents this part of Monmouth County in Trenton.

"When you set the bar so low, it's like we should be happy it's now at 35 percent," said Scott Novick, who owns Alternate Ending Brewery in Aberdeen. "But it shouldn't even be at 25 percent to begin with."

Novick opened his brewery in late October, just before the second wave gripped the state. He serves artisan craft-brewed beer and food out of a cavernous former movie theater on Rt. 34; his business was profiled by Patch here.

It's been extremely hard to open a new business under such conditions, he said.

"Our capacity is 229, so we were allowed 80 people inside this winter," he said. "We had to turn people away, or set up a wait list as to who could get in. We wanted to try and follow the rules."

"And with the curfew, we saw a big dip in our sales, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. It was frustrating to look at the books and see our numbers," he told Patch. "If we could get to fifty percent, it would make a huge difference for us. I think it will be fine when we all get out of this, but we do need these restrictions lifted."

O'Scanlon has long criticized Murphy, first for ordering all businesses closed this spring and then for limiting how bars and restaurants can operate in the pandemic.

"There is no data that shows keeping restaurants at 35 percent has a positive health impact," said O'Scanlon. "But it does have a negative economic impact. There are businesses that will just never open again. And Murphy won't release the data on why he's keeping restaurants closed. Because there is none. There is no justification for what he's doing."

When Patch asked the governor's office if they had data that showed why he's limiting indoor dining, a Murphy spokesperson referred us to remarks Murphy made Monday, when he increased indoor dining to 35 percent.

Murphy said he did that because there is a drop in cases and transmission rates.

"I feel confident in signing this order because of the recent trends in our hospitals and our rate of transmission," said Murphy. "For instance, on January 13 we reported 3,726 confirmed and suspected COVID cases in our hospitals. Today, three weeks later, we're reporting a decrease of about 20 percent from that number."

Like the Aberdeen brewery owner, Halvorsen emphasized that she thinks the end is in sight.

"I think the governor looked around and saw other states easing back on their curfews and also saw numbers coming down," she said. "We're hoping this is the first small step and that maybe, by the beginning of March, we'll get to that next step. It's not where we want to be, but it's a step in the right direction."

"Getting that curfew gone was a big one."

O'Scanlon encouraged New Jersey residents to support bars and restaurants in the final stretch of what he termed a pandemic "marathon."

"Many of our beloved establishments are exhausted, being able to see the finish line … but not being able to reach it. We all need to do our part to get our businesses through the next handful of challenging months," he said.

"There are a good number of us who have done OK financially during the pandemic, while so many others have been hit hard. With warm weather and vaccine impact coming this spring we just have to help them make it through the next few months."

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