Outdoor dining has been a lifeline for some restaurants in New York City, but once the weather gets colder in the fall and it becomes untenable, it’s not clear if indoor dining will be back to save dining establishments.

In his weekly “Mondays with the Mayor” interview on Inside City Hall, Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t provide a timetable for indoor dining’s return and cautioned against it, warning that indoor dining, bars, and nightclubs are particular risks for the resurgence of the coronavirus.

“We all want it back. I want it back as soon as possible,” de Blasio told Inside City Hall Anchor Errol Louis. “But I’m not going to risk the overall health dynamic of New York City to bring back indoor dining.”

De Blasio did not confirm to NY1 if he had a timetable in mind for the return of indoor dining, or if he’s waiting on a COVID-19 vaccine to give his blessing. Other industries — from museums to barbershops to bowling alleys — have reopened in the city with capacity restrictions and stringent cleaning guidelines. And New York City’s infection rate has been around 1 to 2 percent for several months. Because of this, some restaurateurs have demanded the city and state greenlight indoor dining, warning they cannot survive without it.

But the mayor cited lessons from Hong Kong and cities in Europe, which saw a COVID-19 resurgence after indoor dining was phased back in over the last few months. De Blasio said state health leaders have told him studies from around the world flag indoor dining, bars, and nightclubs as major risks for easily spreading the virus.

De Blasio also rejected arguments that New York City should OK indoor dining just because nearby Westchester and Long Island have brought it back, saying the city’s higher population density puts it in a different category than other places around the state.

Gym Reopenings Date

While gyms in other parts of New York state reopened Monday, New York City isn’t joining the workouts just yet. De Blasio told NY1 the city’s gyms will reopen September 2. Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week said gyms in the state that meet requirements and pass a city inspection can open as early as Monday and no later than September 2. But the mayor’s office said city inspectors would prioritize schools and day care centers over gyms, pushing back gym reopenings in the five boroughs.

The mayor said the city will maintain a “strict stance” to preserve its low infection rate. According to de Blasio, if the city’s rate rises to over 5 percent — 3 for schools — many industries would need to shut down again.

Defending Taking Until August to Decide on Outdoor Learning

While the mayor agreed to a demand of many schools and teachers on Monday, allowing public schools to set up outdoor classrooms, many are unhappy it took him so long to make the decision. De Blasio, who has expressed reservations about outdoor leaning because of weather concerns, said school principals have until Friday to develop and submit outdoor learning plans, which must identify feasible streets, parks and playgrounds which can be used as classrooms while protecting students' and staff's safety. DOE officials said the Friday deadline is not final. Principals will be able to send updated proposals on a rolling basis as the school year gets underway. Lawmakers and teachers organizations criticized de Blasio for releasing his outdoor plan just 17 days before students are scheduled to return to school.

In his interview with NY1, the mayor — who says “there’s no question we have the basics that we need” to reopen schools — defended taking until late August to decide, even though the concept of outdoor classrooms isn’t novel.

“There have been so many pieces to address, not just with schools, but with everything,” the mayor told Louis. “The health care situation, jobs, the phases coming in. This was something that’s been among the topics being discussed, but a lot of other things had to be resolved earlier.”

Defending Taking Until August to Shift NYPD Schedules

The mayor also defended the city taking until August to make another change: shifting NYPD schedules to put more officers on duty during weekends to address the surge in shootings.

The schedule changes will affect every officer below the rank of sergeant who currently has both Saturday and Sunday off. A third of officers to whom the changes apply will be switched to a Sunday through Thursday schedule. Another third will be on duty from Tuesday through Saturday, and the other third will get to keep their weekends off.

This follows 46 people in the city being shot from Friday through Sunday this past weekend, according to the police department.

But the issue isn’t germane to just one weekend: for several months, there has been a large rise in shootings compared to last year, with dozens of shootings reported on some weekends. The mayor defended taking until the end of the summer to shift schedules, arguing the city has made many policing changes over the past few weeks, reassigning officers to neighborhoods with spikes in shootings. The mayor said data in the city in the CompStat era have shown placing more officers in areas with spikes in shootings help prevent gun violence — although the volume of shootings New York City has seen this summer is far larger than at any point during de Blasio’s time in office.

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