New York restaurant owner urges Cuomo, de Blasio to increase indoor dining capacity: 'Restaurants can’t function at 50%'

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio still have banned indoor diningindefinitely in the city and operating at 50% capacity on Long Island amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But Long Island’s Vincent’s Clam Bar owner, Bobby Marisi, said even half capacity isn’t enough to keep some businesses afloat.

“I'm hoping the powers that be can realize that and maybe kick us up to 75% or, God willing, 100%,” Marisi told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney. “Because a lot of restaurants cannot function at 50%. You can't bring in enough dollars, enough revenue to make it work. … So you’re going to lose a lot of restaurants if you don’t correct this soon.”

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Marisi said he “truly hopes” for swift action from de Blasio and Cuomo as the U.S. nears colder months, ruling out outdoor dining, and more New York restaurants go under for good.

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“There’s so many, so many, so many lives at stake,” he said. “People's livelihoods in the balance. I hope they understand this. … They have to come up with some type of an option to keep everyone satisfied. What that option is going to be I'm not sure, but I hope they work on it soon.”

Vincent’s Clam Bar has fortunately been able to survive the pandemic and then some, Marisi said, by pulling ahead of last year’s numbers, giving back to the environment and continuing to make their famous clam sauce.

“We sell a ton of it and we go through about 10,000 clams a week,” he said. “We actually started donating our shells to the Billion Oyster Project to restart all the harbors and create new reefs. ... So we're putting back as we're taking. But our clam sauce is considered the best on Long Island.”

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