NEW YORK — On a frigid winter day when outdoor dining just isn’t practical, restaurant owners like Jeremy Wladis now have to wait two more weeks before they can set the table again for indoor dining.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday indoor dining in NYC can resume on February 14

  • Cuomo is again limiting capacity to 25%. Restaurant owners have been pushing for at least 50%

  • Counties outside NYC with higher positivity rates resumed indoor dining at 50% months ago

"Two more weeks of two of the coldest weeks of the entire year and we can’t seat people inside," Wladis said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that restaurant owners in the city can resume indoor dining at 25% capacity on Valentine’s Day.

Restaurant owners have no love for that.

Wladis says 25% capacity is not close to being enough to survive. 

His business on the Upper West Side is down 70% since the pandemic started. He postponed opening his newest restaurant in December after the governor shut down dining a second time.

“I got people that need to feed their families. I wish, I hope he hears this and hopefully he understands what we’re going through,” Wladis said.

Industry leaders are frustrated with the governor’s announcement . They've been pushing for at least 50% capacity. They again point out counties outside the city with higher COVID-19 positivity rates resumed indoor dining at 50% capacity months ago.

“They don’t have a road map, a data-driven metric system that tells them what has to happen in order to open at 50%, so they’re really just hanging on for survival without any guidance of what’s ahead for them," said Andrew Rigie, the executive director of NYC Hospitality Alliance.

Wladis meanwhile, is rushing to finish renovating one of his dining rooms, hoping to increase his dinner business. He is now wondering will the investment pay off. 

"We’re fearful that they could close us down tomorrow after they open us today," he said.