De Blasio Hopes Indoor Dining Announcement Coming This Week

NEW YORK CITY — New York City restaurateurs and diners clamoring for a return to indoor dining could soon get some good news.

"I’m hopeful we will have an announcement as early as this week,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.

De Blasio's positive pronouncement came amid growing restaurant industry calls to reopen dining rooms in New York City — the only region in the state where they're closed under coronavirus restrictions.

The pressure compounded after Gov. Andrew Cuomo repeatedly signaled that he believes indoor dining could return if not for city officials' apparent unwillingness to enforce compliance with health guidelines.

"I would need additional enforcement capacity from local governments," Cuomo said Tuesday.

A reporter Wednesday asked de Blasio point-blank about Cuomo's stance. De Blasio said city officials are having discussions over health standards and enforcement their state counterparts.

There needs to be an agreement on what is safe, he said, citing concerns that indoor dining has been linked to coronavirus resurgences in other parts of the world.

"Bottom line is we are making progress,” he said.

De Blasio previously promised restaurateurs that the city will make a decision on indoor dining by the end of September.