Cuomo On NYC Indoor Dining: Enforce The Rules And It’ll Return

NEW YORK CITY — Indoor dining should return in New York City, but only with massive enforcement of coronavirus rules, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Cuomo on Thursday announced that indoor malls can reopen at 50 percent capacity in New York City. But he said indoor dining at shopping centers won’t be allowed, or elsewhere in the city until there are plans to enforce compliance of social distancing and other COVID-19 measures.

Restaurants should be able to reopen in New York City, he said.

“The question is how,” he said.

A growing chorus of restaurateurs and city officials, including City Council Speaker Corey City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, have called for indoor dining to return after months of pandemic closures. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday promised a “final answer” this month.

But Cuomo has the ultimate say in whether New York City’s restaurants, bars and nightclubs can welcome customers back inside. He has repeatedly voiced concerns about their compliance with COVID-19 measures and social distancing.

During a Thursday conference call, Cuomo repeated those concerns alongside a general statement of support for reopening restaurants. He said Johnson and the city should set up an enforcement task force of perhaps 4,000 NYPD officers to enforce compliance.

De Blasio was pointedly not mentioned by the governor. He was asked during his own news conference Thursday about apparently being sidelined in indoor dining discussions.

“I’m totally at peace that we’ve done is focused on the health and safety of all New Yorkers, which is why the city is now the envy of the nation in terms of fighting back the coronavirus,” he said.

Cuomo’s proposal to use NYPD officers to enforce compliance of coronavirus measures quickly drew criticism online.

“The police don’t wear masks,” tweeted @fstspecial.

NYPD’s last mass coronavirus compliance enforcement push was universally criticized. Police unions called it “bad policy” and community advocates protested how communities of color received harsh enforcement and the majority of social distancing summonses.