New York restaurant guests, tired of the restrictions imposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, have decided to “migrate” to other cities to go to restaurants where eating and sharing indoors is allowed. This while the owners of hospitality establishments are joining together in legal actions against the governor.
A report by the New York Post (NYP) revealed how city residents prefer to migrate to other locations to celebrate from birthdays to Christmas since restaurants in New York. Governor Cuomo decided that diners should “freeze” to eat and avoid coronavirus.
Cuomo gave the order despite the opposition of the gastronomic sector, which warned that there would be layoffs of personnel during the Christmas season as outdoor tables will be much less popular considering icy winds and eventually snowfall.
“I don’t want to take customers somewhere where they’ll eat out and freeze,” said Brian Hogan, who travels 45 minutes to Greenwich for his business lunches, to the NYP.
According to this local newspaper, since the closing of indoor dining halls in the five boroughs last December 14th, New York City residents have been crossing the border to enjoy a meal or celebrate the holidays in a more protected environment.
“They are jumping to Jersey City or Hoboken, or driving to Long Island, Westchester or Connecticut, to get around the blockade,” the report says.
“I feel very bad for employees with families to support; it’s excessive and frustrating. The last time I ate in New York, the guy next to me was wrapped in a blanket and the food got cold in three minutes,” Cinthya Montenegro, a 35-year-old mortgage broker, told the NYP.
Not only do New York restaurant owners have to deal with the governor’s restrictions and the economic effects of the pandemic, but they are now witnessing a kind of “migration” of diners who prefer to eat quietly and indoors rather than at outdoor tables in the middle of winter.
New York: restaurant owners sue
A coalition of restaurant and bar owners filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“We are calling for the resumption of indoor dining to save lives, not to risk them,” argues the Greater New York Business Alliance in a Manhattan federal court case filed over Christmas.
The lawsuit highlights that only 1.4 percent of coronavirus transmissions were found to come from eating in indoor restaurants, while 74 percent originated from family gatherings.
Emptying restaurants, the lawsuit claims, is filling apartments and homes and thus contributing to peaks in coronavirus. “The governor continues to respond to the pandemic with instinctive responses that only serve to keep an already emotionally drained citizenry in a state of endless fear and paranoia,” the case says.
The lawsuit claims that the rules imposed by de Blasio and Cuomo are unconstitutional violations of their rights and that federal intervention is urgent. The lawsuit’s goal is to obtain a preliminary injunction that would overturn the ban on eating indoors and declare the measure unconstitutional.
Florida, far away from New York’s steps
As cities like New York radicalize measures and confinements at the height of Christmas, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pledged to keep the state’s economy alive and announced that restaurants will remain fully open.
DeSantis said he will not allow the hotel and restaurant industry to close completely as in other states, where strict restrictions were imposed on indoor dining.
“We support you if you are a waitress, cook or a family business, you are an important part of our state,” said DeSantis. “Closing a restaurant to dine indoors is going to lead to more people dining in private homes anyway,” she added.
DeSantis has let its citizens decide how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic without affecting Florida’s economy. In September, when he issued an executive order, he said that one should “avoid trying to penalize people for not distancing themselves socially and working with people in a constructive way.”
The governor said he would never again carry out any business closures and lifted major restrictions in the state, in addition to suspending fines for violating local protocols on the wearing of masks.
A report by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) notes that “lockdowns do not control the coronavirus.” In the document, the organization evidenced that several studies indicate that “there is no relationship between the blockades and the control of the virus.
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo