October 2, 2020, New York, New York, USA: No less than 25,000 bars and restaurants in New York City have been permitted to reopen for indoor dining for the first time in more than six months. Restaurants are required to limit capacity to 25% of the maximum occupancy, ensure that employees are wearing face coverings at all times, perform temperature checks, ask guests to wear face coverings except when seated, space tables at least six feet apart, and refrain from seating more than 10 people at a table at a time. Indoor bar service is still not permitted. A board placed at the entrance of this restaurant in Manhattan displays instructions that patrons must follow when they get inside.The reopening of indoor dining comes at a desparate time for the restauranst and bars of which 50% could permanently close due to the pandemic in the City.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press