Midtown Businesses Rack Up Coronavirus Noncompliance Complaints

MIDTOWN-HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — Midtown and Hell's Kitchen residents called the city hundreds of times to complain about neighborhood businesses violating the city's coronavirus reopening rules since the city entered "phase three" of its economic recovery, according to city data.

Businesses within the boundaries of community districts 4 and 5 — racked up a combined 365 "noncompliance with phased reopening" complaints in the two-week span from July 6 to July 20, according to data collected by 311.

Hell's Kitchen's community district four outpaced the rest of Midtown with 189 complaints compared to 176. The number is likely bolstered by areas of Chelsea within community district four's borders.

Phase three businesses include: spas, tattoo parlors, piercing parlors, massage therapy practices, cosmetology salons, nail salons, tanning salons and waxing salons. Indoor dining was pulled from the phase over safety concerns, but city officials pledged to expand its outdoor dining program by combining it with its open streets initiative.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently threatened rolling back the city's phased reopening plan following a weekend of rowdy party scenes in neighborhoods such as Astoria, the Lower East Side and Inwood. Mayor Bill de Blasio also pledged to crack down on the party areas following the weekend.

New York implemented new regulations on outdoor drinking ahead of the weekend to combat crowding outside bars and restaurants. Businesses are only allowed to serve patrons seated at tables six feet apart and customers must order food with their beverages. Walk-up service at bar windows was also nixed. Businesses with three violations will be shut down, according to the new rules.

Businesses in violation of the city's reopening rules may be skirting the regulations out of desperation. A study released this week by the Partnership for NYC claims that one-third of New York City's small businesses could be forced to close due to the economic toll of the pandemic.

Here's a complete list of business noncompliance complaints by Manhattan community district:

• FiDi and Tribeca's community district 1: 96
• SoHo and West Village's community district 2: 236
• LES, East Village and Chinatown's community district 3: 176
• Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen's community district 4: 189
• Central Midtown's community district 5: 176
• Murray Hill, Kips Bay and Sutton Place's community district 6: 112
• UWS' community district 7: 106
• UES and Roosevelt Island's community district 8: 239
• Morningside Heights and West Harlem's community district9: 43
• Central Harlem's community district 10: 100
• East Harlem's community district 11: 82
• Washington Heights and Inwoods' community district 12: 148