Crackdown Ordered As Bars Create Street Party With To-Go Drinks

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will direct police to enforce social distancing regulations at Upper East Side bars and restaurants that drew crowds of revelers to their storefronts this weekend to sip drinks on the sidewalk.

Large crowds were reported outside bars in the neighborhood on Friday and Saturday nights as customers downed to-go drinks while taking in the warm weather. De Blasio said Sunday that businesses that allow customers to hang around on the sidewalk are encouraging dangerous behavior.

"If you start to form groups of people and then you know, two, three, five and then it becomes six, it becomes 10, it becomes 15, that violates what we're saying about social distancing. I put lives and that puts lives in danger. So the Police Department will be out, the Sheriff's Office will be out watching very carefully on the Upper East Side in particular," de Blasio said during his Sunday press briefing.

Scenes on Second Avenue in the East 80s resembled Mardi Gras in New Orleans over the weekend, NY 1 reported. Businesses such as Dorrian's Red Hand, Green Kitchen and Mexicoma attracted large crowds and many people were not social distancing or wearing masks. With city restrictions on dining in, restaurants are currently allowed to serve to-go drinks but the city's open container law has not been suspended. Even if restaurants require customers to wear masks when ordering drinks, consuming them requires a person to take their mask off in public.

Some Upper East Siders who joined in the celebrations told NY1 that they felt safe despite the crowds.

"I know everyone's been quarantining at home and social distancing and working at home, the kids have online schools and we've all been doing our part and everyone's been safe so we know it's ok to meet with them because we know they've also been taking care," Sherouna Davlani told the news station.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that for the most part New Yorkers have been "overwhelmingly" compliant with the city's social distancing requirements to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus in the city. The mayor encouraged New Yorkers to report large gatherings and businesses breaking regulations by calling 311.

"I want any New Yorker who sees any place allowing a dining in, call 3-1-1 immediately, and they will be visited immediately with inspectors and there'll be serious fines. And if we have to shut places down, we will if they're starting to violate these rules, because it's about health and safety," de Blasio said.