NYC Restaurants Sue Cuomo, De Blasio For $2 Billion Over Indoor Dining Ban

In mid-August, 1,500 gym owners across New York filed a class-action lawsuit against the state which led to gyms, fitness centers, and yoga studios opening their doors at 33% capacity just a few weeks later.

In May, a Brooklyn nursing student who had been arrested twice for violating the state’s ban on nonessential gatherings while protesting outside City Hall in New York City, filed a federal lawsuit against Cuomo alleging the ban violated her First Amendment rights, which lead to the governor lifting the ban on protests and easing the guidelines on nonessential gatherings, just in time for Memorial Day.

KEY BACKGROUND

On Monday both Cuomo and de Blasio acknowledged the pressure that New York City restaurants are facing, but neither have said when, or under what circumstances, indoor dining in the city could resume. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that restaurants in the state could open at 25% capacity, exacerbating the situation, with Cuomo admitting that New York City restaurants were now at a “competitive disadvantage” since diners could cross a bridge or tunnel and eat in New Jersey. “I want as much economic activity as quickly as possible, we also want to make sure transmission rate stays under control. That is the tension,” Cuomo said at a press conference. De Blasio said Monday that restaurants in the city deserve a timeline at the very least, and hopes a plan will be set in September, but admitted that the decision wasn’t in his hands, but in Cuomo’s.