New York to push back curfew for dining at restaurants

(The Center Square) – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that people who want to dine out can do so a little later starting next week.

Effective on Monday, the curfew for bars and restaurants will be pushed back to midnight from 11 p.m. For catered affairs, the curfew will become 1 a.m., an hour later than before.

It was one of several reopening steps the governor announced to reporters. Another one will take effect on April 22 when racetracks, both for horses and cars, can open to fans at 20 percent capacity. That date coincides with the start of the spring racing season at Belmont Park.

It’s also the same standard for other outdoor professional sports venues.

Cuomo, though, again urged New Yorkers to approach the expansions with caution.

“Don’t get cocky,” he said. “The disease is still very much with us. You see it escalating in some states. You see it escalating in some countries. So, we have to stay smart until COVID is crushed.”

After Cuomo posted his curfew move on Twitter, Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, responded by saying it was a win for the restaurant industry.

However, the industry still needs more.

“The extra hour is good news for restaurants, bars and customers, but we need to also lift the rule that prohibits customers from being seated to eat at a bar in NYC, and revisit removing the requirement that a ‘food item’ be served with a drink,” Rigie tweeted.

Wednesday’s announcement follows ones made by governors in other states on when they plan to ease most, if not all, restrictions.

On Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that when 2.5 million Kentuckians receive their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, he would lift such emergency regulations as capacity limitations and social distancing restrictions. The state will likely hit that mark in the next four to six weeks.

On Tuesday, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said he was “very confident” his state could end capacity restrictions statewide by June 1.

When asked why New York can’t follow suit, Cuomo said “the future is not predictable.” He noted the holiday surge as an example.

“You can hypothesize about what the COVID rate is going to be down the road. You can guess, but nobody knows,” Cuomo said. “Nobody knows. And nobody knows because a major factor is human behavior.”

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