NYC to enter 'Phase 3' of reopening in early July, de Blasio says
'This will be a great boom to the restaurants'
The Viand restaurant owner Erick Kontogiannis discusses his outdoor seating policy and says his biggest concern is customers not returning to his business.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that the city can expect to enter Phase 3 of its reopening in early July, opening restaurants for indoor dining, salons, and more as the city sees a steady decline in new cases of COVID-19.
De Blasio said the city is “on track for Monday, July 6” to enter Phase 3.
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“Phase 3 of the restart — we’re looking good,” he said, noting that personal care, including nail salons, spas, tanning, tattoo, piercing and waxing businesses, will be able to reopen.
The mayor estimated that “50,000 workers” will return to the city as “more businesses are coming alive.”
“These are businesses in your neighborhood,” he said. “So many things that people care about and have missed.”
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“For restaurants, which is so much of our culture, so much of our identity, will come back with indoor dining at 50 percent capacity,” de Blasio said, noting that restaurants have “safety precautions in place,” and that restaurants will continue to offer outdoor dining.
“This will be a great boom to the restaurants,” he said.
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Those safety precautions would include diners wearing masks or face coverings until they are seated at their tables — which will be set six feet apart — while restaurant workers will be expected to wear their masks at all times.
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Also in Phase 3, de Blasio announced that outdoor recreation can resume, as well as expanded real estate activities, including rentals and leasing.
“Now we have to help businesses come back,” de Blasio said.
Under New York City’s Phase 2, which began earlier this week, city restaurants began outdoor dining, and some retail stores, professional offices, car dealerships, hair salons and barbershops reopened.
New York City had been considered the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, reporting Friday more than 214,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 17,500 deaths.
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The city has seen a decline in new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations.
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, along with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, issued a joint travel advisory this week, requiring all individuals traveling to the tri-state area from certain states experiencing a surge in positive COVID-19 cases to quarantine for 14 days, or be subject to fines.
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The regional quarantine is applied to individuals coming from Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama, Washington, Utah, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida.