NYC reverses ban on outdoor diners using the BATHROOM at restaurants after being slammed for the 'absurd' rule which meant people couldn't wash their hands
New York City officials have quietly changed nonsensical rules which banned diners from using restaurant bathrooms, even to wash their hands, when having a meal outdoors.
On the NYC Counsel to the Mayor's website on Thursday night, a new set of rules stated that no patrons would be allowed inside a bar or a restaurant for any reason, even to use the bathroom.
On Friday morning, the state liquor authority insisted this wasn't the case and that restaurant owners could 'of course' let people inside to use the bathroom but that they had to wear a face covering.
'This is common sense: of course outdoor dining patrons can use a restaurant’s bathroom as long as they wear a face covering.
'That always has been and will continue to be allowed,' a spokesman told DailyMail.com.
The guidance on the Counsel to the Mayor's website was swiftly changed to say bathroom use would be allowed.
But by then, irate and confused restaurant owners had seen it. They had received none of the communication directly and have been relying on refreshing websites since the beginning of the pandemic to get the information.
Thursday night: The new rules for NYC restaurants include that diners, even if they're outside, can't enter to use the bathroom. It was immediately slammed
Friday: The rules had changed after backlash. The State Liquor Authority said it had always been the case that bathroom use was allowed
People braving the cold and snow on Wednesday night in New York City. Outdoor dining is now the only kind allowed
Restaurants have also been told their outdoor solutions to the ban won't be allowed unless they have two open sides. Pictured, a restaurant employee clearing their structure on Thursday, after a snowstorm which closed outdoor dining anyway for the evening
The punishing directives are just the latest in a string of blows to the industry that many now fear will completely die because of the harsh line taken.
When asked about it on Friday at his daily press conference, Gov. Cuomo laughed and said he didn't have specific details.
'I don't know the specifics but there was never an intention to tell diners you can't use a restroom. That was never the intention of the state regulation.
'I don't have any more specifics before that.... does anyone know more about it?' he asked his staff.
Melissa De Rosa, one of his senior aides, leaped in and said the city misquoted old language and that they thought it was 'common sense' diners would always be able to access bathrooms.
'They used some of the same language from an old which said people couldn't dine inside. We thought it was common sense that it didn't mean using the bathroom.
'The city issued what they issued yesterday without consulting us. As soon we heard the news reports, the head of the SLA put out a clarifying statement. It was not talking about customers using the bathrooms,' she said.
Last week, Gov. Cuomo put an end to all indoor dining in New York City because, he claimed, the rate of transmission in NYC is higher than anywhere else.
But he hasn't shared what that rate of transmission is, and NYC has the second lowest COVID test positivity rate of anywhere in the state.
What's more Manhattan, which has the highest number of bars and restaurants per square mile than any other borough, has by far the lowest COVID test positivity rate at 2.7 percent.
That is compared to 4.7 percent statewide - which is still among the lowest in the country.
Now many are wondering what Cuomo and de Blasio's motivations are for keeping the restaurants closed.
An enormous snowstorm on Wednesday night closed outdoor dining temporarily.
It was allowed to resume on Thursday but with temperatures in the 30s, there are few willing to brace the cold, despite the best efforts of restaurant owners to provide outdoor heaters.
All bars and restaurants were told to stop service on March 16.
They have not had any federal or state help since April, and restaurant owners are crying out for relief.
They are championing the CARES Act, which will give them specific relief, rather than lumping them in with other businesses - like retailers - who have been open for months.
COVID deaths in NYC have never crept back up to a worrying extent despite a surge in cases
Hospitalizations in New York City are a sixth of what they were in the spring
The statewide COVID test positivity rate is 5.1 percent but it varies enormously from 8.1 percent in the Finger Lakes to 4 percent in NYC. Manhattan's rate is 2.77 percent but Staten Island's is 5.1 percent and the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens are all in between.
The decision was met with incredulity and outrage not just by restaurant owners but diners too
Restaurants have tried to come up with solutions like expensive outdoor heaters to lure in diners but with temperatures in the 30s, few are attracted to the prospect of sitting outside. They already were told to upgrade air filtration systems inside -another costly exercise - and had to apply for permits for the heaters
Cuomo is asking the federal government to bail out restaurants by paying them to remain closed.
Many say that is 'extortion', since he is the one who closed them in the first place.
Restaurants were only allowed to serve food and drinks on a take-out and delivery basis from March 16 until June 22, when outdoor dining was finally allowed again.
But restaurants were quickly told they had to serve food with drinks and that it had to be a 'substantial' meal.
Indoor dining didn't resume until September 30 and even then, they had to limit the number of diners inside to a maximum of 25 percent of the total capacity.
Cuomo promised never to shut down all of NYC again as he did in the spring by saying he would instead look at neighborhoods and boroughs which had the highest problem.
He suddenly abandoned that plan last week and banned indoor dining city-wide.
The only reason he is giving for it is that the rate of transmission is high and New York is densely populated.
Photos from Tuesday's Times Square protest where dozens demonstrated against the Governor's decision to end indoor dining. Many say it will stamp out the 'lifeblood' of NYC
Now many are wondering what Cuomo and de Blasio's motivations are for keeping the restaurants closed.
'You have the coincidence of two facts.
'You have the CDC which issued warnings on indoor dining last week and then you have the particular situation of New York City, which is one of the dense locations in this country with crowding, and you have an increase in the rT rate, the rate of transmission, which to me has always been the one of the seminal factors in this whole conversation.
'You can talk about positivity rate, you can talk about hospital capacity, but that rT rate, that is the bottom line. That's how fast virus. And the rT rate going up in a dense environment is really a compounding problem,' he said.
The rT rate, he says, is 1:3 compared to 1:1 earlier in the year.
But the infection rate in New York City - like everywhere else in the state in the country - is increasing predominantly because of private gatherings in the home.
Thanksgiving drove a large spike and Christmas and Hanukkah are expected to as well.
'LIVES ARE AT STAKE HERE': RESTAURANT INDUSTRY FURY OVER CUOMO'S DECISION
'There is no scientific data in this decision making whatsoever. This is the nail in the coffin... it's a disgrace.'
Robert Mahon, who owns a group of restaurants including Toro Loco and Broadstone
'This will be a 70 percent hit to revenue that was only just starting to build. We have no relief from fixed costs and now no ability now to earn to pay them off.
'We are of course also worried about the rising numbers and keeping our staff and customers safe... we are just caught in a bad place.'
Ash Deshmukh, Short Stories
'We're going to try to remain open as much as possible but we're going to have to lay off 50 percent of our staff. I was procrastinating that until after Christmas.
'In March, we had over our two restaurants, 100 staff. Now, we have 45. That's going to go down to about 20.'
Eddie Fraunches, The Lovelace Cocktail and Gin Bar and Fraunces Tavern
'We'll probably have to let all (200 of) the staff go - that's a particularly daunting task given that Christmas is around the corner. Lives are at stake here. We've got all these employees with kids and it's Christmas time, you know, Santa time.
'Most restaurateurs don't have the money themselves to shell out to them - we're broke too,' he said.
Ronan Downs, who owns eight businesses predominantly on Stone Street
'Governor Cuomo’s announcement to once again shut down indoor dining in New York City is at odds with the State's own data that’s been presented as driving these decisions, and it will be the last straw for countless more restaurants and jobs.'
Andrew Rigie, New York Hospitality Alliance