Danny Meyer's NYC Restaurants Will Require Vaccine Proof

NEW YORK, NY — Danny Meyer, a top New York City restaurateur and the leader of the Union Square Hospitality Group, announced Thursday that restaurants within the group will require proof of vaccine to dine inside and mandate employees to get vaccinated.

"We're following the lead of both city, state and federal government and we're going to do this ourselves," Meyer said during an interview on CNBC. "To require that all staff members be vaccinated and also to require that guests that want to dine in our restaurants show proof that they've been vaccinated.

"We feel like we've got an amazing responsibility to keep our staff members and our customers safe — and that's what we're going to do."

Meyer's added that employees who are not yet vaccinated have 45 days to do so.

"We're following the lead of both city, state and federal government. We're going to do this ourselves in our restaurants in New York City and in Washington DC," restauranteur @dhmeyer announces all staff and customers will be required to show vaccination proof. pic.twitter.com/zW7Z9dhNsa
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) July 29, 2021

Here are the 18 NYC eateries within the Union Square Hospitality Group:

• Anchovy Social
• Blue Smoke
• Caffe Marchio
• Cedric's At The Shed
• Ci Siamo
• Daily Provisions
• Gramercy Tavern
• Intersect By Lexus
• Loball
• Maialino
• Maialino Mare
• Manhatta
• Marta
• The Modern
• Porchlight
• Tacocina
• Union Square Cafe
• Vini E Fritti

Meyer, who also founded Shake Shack and serves as its chairman, said that the vaccine policy does not extend to the popular burger chain.

Mayor Bill de Blasio praised Meyer's decision Thursday morning to impose a vaccine mandate.

"Danny Meyer is one of the most influential restaurant owners in the business and when he leads, others follow," de Blasio tweeted. "New York City fully supports this move. More businesses should mandate vaccines for the safety of workers and the safety of our city."

Meyer's vaccine mandate decision comes as fears continue to grow over the delta variant, and debate swirls over mask and vaccine mandates nationwide.