New York restaurant owners want their businesses to stay open past 10 p.m. and they may file a lawsuit about it.
Business owners are arguing that the statewide mandate of a 10 p.m. curfew doesn’t make sense. They point to the state’s own report of a 1.4% transmission rate for restaurants, asserting that there’s a lower chance of catching or spreading COVID-19 in a restaurant than in a home.
“There is no evidence anywhere of the viral spread. Not gonna get more intense after 10 p.m. There’s just no rational basis for it,” Attorney Corey Hogan told WGRZ reporters.
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Restaurant Owners Win Legal Action Over Orange Zone COVID-19 Restrictions
This legal action comes just after the state supreme court ruled that restaurants statewide could resume indoor dining at 50%. That decision was, in particular, a win for restaurants in Erie County orange zones, where a number of owners warned that if the ban wasn’t lifted they’d be forced to shut down.
The judge recognized the potential in COVID-19 transmission through removing masks to eat, but also noted the concern of Erie County being in an orange zone while places with higher coronavirus reports weren’t in any zones.
The ruling was a win for the estimated 90 restaurant owners who were a part of the suit. Now the focus has shifted to the curfew.
“I think that was an arbitrarily picked time. It has a huge impact on a big segment of businesses. So we’re talking about joining forces and filing an action” Attorney Paul Cambria told WGRZ reporters. “We’re looking at the moment for possible petitioners – you know businesses that would like to mount this challenge and have us do it. So that’s basically the next step.”
New York Curfews Incite Legal Challenges
This isn’t the first legal action filed challenging a New York curfew enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19. In September a Brooklyn bar filed a lawsuit over Governor Andrew Cuomo’s midnight curfew on indoor dining.
The lawsuit was followed by a motion for a preliminary injunction to get an expedited response from the New York governor. The complaint claimed the bar was struggling to pay rent amid the pandemic restrictions.
The bar argued that it was doing more harm than good to require New York City restaurants to close by midnight, “despite the fact that coronavirus does not behave as a vampire, infecting others only when the moon is out.”
What do you think about the 10 p.m. curfew in New York? Do you think it could help stop the spread of COVID-19? Tell us your opinion in the comment section below!
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