NYC Pols, Restaurant Owners Push For More Indoor Dining Capacity

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — As indoor dining returns to New York City this week, elected officials and restaurant owners are warning that the limited 25-percent capacity won't be enough to save the struggling industry.

Elected officials and restaurant leaders gathered in Crown Heights on Thursday demanded that the state increase both capacity limits and hours for restaurants as they bring back indoor dining to New York City, which starts Friday.

Indoor dining should be allowed at 33 percent capacity immediately, with a plan to scale up to 50 percent and extend hours from the current 10 p.m. curfew to midnight, the officials said.

"...25 percent occupancy is woefully insufficient for these struggling businesses to break even, much less recover from the past year," Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Randy Peers said, pointing to surveys the organization has done with small businesses across the borough. "Winter weather like we’re experiencing today has proven disastrous to outdoor dining, and each day we continue to restrict restaurants we dig a deeper hole in terms of this city’s economic revitalization."

Under the latest rules, restaurants can reopen their indoor dining rooms at 25 percent capacity starting Friday. They're under limited hours and must close at 10 p.m., although they can continue take out, delivery or pickup past then.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the curfew would be pushed to 11 p.m. starting Saturday.

The return of indoor dining comes after a pause in New York City since December, when the state was threatened with a second wave of the coronavirus. Before that, restaurants had only been allowed to have customers eat inside since the end of September, months later than other parts of the state.

Officials said Thursday that the limits, absent substantial relief from the federal government, have left many restaurant owners in debt.

Most recently, President Joe Biden's administration has pushed for $25 billion in grants to restaurants, but the industry says it needs $120 billion in federal relief to stay afloat.

New York City's restaurant industry has lost 140,000 jobs since the pandemic began and more than 1,000 restaurants have closed their doors for good, according to officials.

At 25 percent, even more restaurants will shut down, they said.

"Owners have been clear that the one thing that will help them get back on their feet, absent significant government aid, is the rapid re-opening of indoor dining," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said. "We know we can do this in a safe manner, observing all public health protocols. That’s why I am calling on the State to immediately lay out a timeline for scaling up capacity for indoor dining — these establishments are already hanging by a thread, and they cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Read More:

• Indoor Dining Returns To NYC: Here's What You Need To Know