Governor Andrew M. Cuomo delivers briefing on Coronavirus pandemic. Image Credit: Governor’s Office
Indoor dining is still suspended. On July 6, 2020, New York City entered Phase 3 of its reopening. Phase 3 allows personal services like nail salons, spas, tanning salons, massage parlors and tattoo parlors to reopen, as well as courts for sports in City parks. The “personal services” industry under Phase 3 does not include hair salons and barbershops, which were allowed to reopen under Phase 2.
Businesses within the personal care industry are required to practice social distancing, and mandate masks for both employees and customers. Businesses must maintain 50 percent or lower capacity. For best practices, the State recommends operating on an appointment-only basis. For further guidance about the personal care industry, click here.
Basketball, tennis, handball, volleyball and bocce courts are also reopened under Phase 3. The Parks Department recommended that “participants should continue to wear face coverings, follow social distancing protocols and avoid high-contact games, such as pick-up basketball.” Courts had previously been closed and team sports prohibited to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through close contact of team participants.
Phase 3 originally included the reopening of indoor dining but indoor dining is still on hold in New York City. After other states that allowed indoor dining saw large spikes in new COVID-19 cases, Governor Andrew Cuomo determined it was not appropriate to allow for indoor dining in New York City at this time. On July 1st, he tweeted, “Indoor dining in NYC will be postponed until the facts change and it is safe and prudent.”
In an official statement on July 5, Governor Cuomo stated, “New York City is a crowded, dense urban area and – until recently – was the global epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis. Out of an abundance of caution and after seeing other states’ experiences with indoor dining, we will wait to reopen it as the city moves to Phase Three tomorrow. As we end this holiday weekend, I urge everyone to be New York Tough: wear a mask, socially distance, use hand sanitizer and continue the smart practices that have made our state a national leader in combating this virus. I also remind local governments of their duty to enforce the standards that have made NY’s reopening safe and successful.”
There is no determined date for when indoor dining will be allowed to resume.
CityLand will continue to provide coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and New York’s reopening. For further coverage, click here.
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)