Fed up bar, restaurant owners defy strict NYC lockdown rules
New York is under strict restrictions but in the past week or so some restaurants and pubs have started setting up tables outdoors, defying Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order.
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The news is pretty grim over here at the moment and there are not a lot of smiling faces.
But early on a warm Wednesday evening, so sunny we had to move tables, we found some of the only happy people in America.
Sitting at a newly-reopened restaurant and bar at our local train station – and when I say reopened, I mean within the first hour after more than 100 shutdown days – the look on commuter faces was priceless as they saw what was going on.
“Are you really back?” they asked the proprietor, stunned as they wandered down the steps to the carpark where the restaurant had set up its socially-distanced tables.
It may not seem much in these vexed times, and it’s certainly not politically correct to be enjoying yourself in the US right now, but humans still need some moments of joy.
And since we’re not even allowed to watch Fawlty Towers (and goodness knows what else before this column is printed), I’m all for taking the smiles where I can get them.
As we left our dinner, the owner came out to thank us. Their family-run business has barely survived the shutdown and she said she knew she was lucky to be able to get her doors open again.
Growing talk of a second wave of the pandemic and the potential for another lockdown when the recovery has barely started is harrowing for these small enterprises.
I can see a lot of them following the lead of fed-up eateries in Manhattan.
New York City is still under more restrictions than we are in the suburbs, but in the past week or so some restaurants and pubs there have started setting up tables outside their businesses, defying Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order that the five boroughs remain in phase one of recovery.
Iconic Greenwich Village pub, the White Horse Tavern, announced last week on Instagram with heavy punctuation that it was selling all the good things to enjoy at tables set up on the footpath outside.
“Cocktails!! Beers!! Champagne!! Wine!! Burgers!! BBQ Brisket Sandwiches!! Shrimp Kabobs!! Come thru and eat and drink (distanced of course)!!! Let the good times return!!”
Once those doors open again it will be extremely difficult to close them.
And with the Trump administration doing all it can to kickstart the US, even planning an old-school, pre-COVID style Trump rally next week, it’s hard to see where the will to do so is going to come from.
Originally published as Fed up bar, restaurant owners defy strict NYC lockdown rules