De Blasio says he’ll stick to outdoor dining in NYC ‘for the foreseeable future’
Way to support struggling restaurants, Mr. Mayor.
Despite the long-awaited return of partial indoor dining for a New York City restaurant industry devastated by the COVID-19 lockdown, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday he will not have a meal inside a Big Apple eatery.
“What I’m going to do for sure in the coming days is continue, as I have, to enjoy outdoor dining first while the weather’s still good,” de Blasio said during a City Hall press briefing.
Restaurants reopened for indoor dining at just 25 percent capacity Wednesday for the first time since March when the coronavirus pandemic first plagued the city.
Eateries financially ravaged by the health crisis were able to reopen for outdoor dining only on June 22.
And de Blasio says his outdoor dining experiences at joints like Mario’s in The Bronx and Melba’s in Harlem “have been amazing.”
“I’m going to keep doing that for the foreseeable future,” Hizzoner said, explaining, “And then, of course, shift to indoor when the outdoor isn’t as prevalent because of the weather.”
When pressed by a Post reporter on his decision to not eat indoors right away and whether he’s concerned about the example he’s setting for everyday New Yorkers, de Blasio said, “I’m not concerned about the message.”
“I’m saying I personally just prefer outdoor dining and so long as it’s available, I would always choose it,” de Blasio added.
The mayor recently made the city’s outdoor dining program a permanent, year-round fixture across the five boroughs.
“There’s lots of people who are going to love the opportunity to dine indoors and they’ll have that opportunity,” de Blasio said.
“The important thing,” he noted, “is the restaurant industry is coming back and coming back strong.”
Meanwhile, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to go out to eat if they have the means to do so.
“Folks who have the means — and a lot of people don’t right now — but thank God many people do, they should go out there and support restaurant workers and restaurant owners,” he said.
“If you prefer outdoors, go outdoors,” said de Blasio. “If you prefer indoors, go indoors.”
But the lukewarm endorsement of indoor dining didn’t sit well with many proprietors and patrons.
“Nobody will invite him in,” said Robert Sayegh, owner of Manhattan’s Greenwich Sports Tavern. “Nobody in this city will ever have that dirtbag in their restaurant.
“The absolute stupidity and lack of care from de Blasio — he has not helped one bit.”
Frank Tsiamtsiouris, owner of the Upper West Side’s Manhattan Diner, also wasn’t in any rush to pull out a chair for the mayor.
“Well, we don’t want him here because he has not done anything for restaurants during the pandemic,” said the restaurateur. “He said in-door dining is a luxury, not a necessity. Let him sit outside when we have a nice, cold New York winter day.”
Robert Hanley, general manager of Staten Island’s Osteria Bocelli, where Hanley said de Blasio dined pre-pandemic, just wished the mayor would give indoor dining a chance.
“If he came out [for an indoor meal] that would certainly show some strong leadership and certainly put his money where his mouth,” he said.
Jeffrey Bank, owner of red-sauce joint Carmine’s, on the Upper West Side, also encouraged de Blasio to give indoor dining a try.
“I would say to the mayor, ‘Welcome, come inside, see for yourself,’” he said. “We need this business.”
Bank’s patrons agreed that de Blasio doesn’t know what he’s missing.
“He should be here eating,” said Jose Mancebo, 55, encouraging de Blasio to lead by example. “That would tell the people to come inside and eat.”
Isadora Caldwell — celebrating her 102nd birthday Wednesday with salmon, pasta and cake at a table inside Carmine’s — said that if indoor dining works for her, it can work for de Blasio.
“Inside dining is the best kind of dining,” she said. “I suggest he does it too.”
A study released this month by the nonprofit NYC Hospitality Alliance showed that nearly 90 percent of New York City bar and restaurant owners couldn’t pay their rent in August due to the strain that the pandemic has put on the industry.