Indoor dining back in NYC starting Friday; COVID vaccine centers resume shots after snow

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Citi Field to open as mega-vaccination site; indoor dining to resume

Jim Dolan has the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in New York City.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Indoor dining will resume in New York City earlier than expected, with Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing Monday that restaurants can begin operating at 25% capacity on Friday.

It had been slated to reopen starting on Valentine's Day, but Cuomo noted this earlier reopening will give restaurants time to get their staffing and menus in order for the holiday weekend.

The city's decimated restaurant industry is looking for a holiday weekend boost, and they hope additional business from indoor dining will help.

"We commend Governor Cuomo for permitting indoor dining to resume in New York City on Friday, instead of Sunday the originally scheduled date," NYC Hospitality Alliance Executive Director Andrew Rigie said. "This will allow restaurants to generate much-needed revenue from the Valentine's Day weekend business, much of which they would have lost because the holiday falls on a Sunday this year. The advanced opening and better health metrics are welcome news to the city's decimated restaurant industry and to lovers alike."

Also, the 15 vaccination sites closed on Sunday due to the snowstorm are back open Monday.

That includes the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, which is serving a pop-up site for second doses.

Despite the snow, the Javits Center and some other larger sites were still open on Sunday.

Cuomo announced that New York State has surpassed 2.1 million initial vaccinations, and they are just shy of having administered 1.9 million first doses.

"The holiday surge is over," he said. "We see it in the positivity, we see it in the hospitalizations, and we respond to the data, the facts that we face today. The facts may change tomorrow, and then we will change with the facts. The enemy changes tactics, we change with the enemy, but the numbers are down now."

Statewide COVID-19 positivity is 4.28%.

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Citi Field is set to open for vaccinations starting on Wednesday, February 10. Half of the doses there are reserved for Queens residents, while the other half is for drivers with TLC licenses and food delivery workers.

"Food service workers, folks we depend on, folks who really have taken care of us and were there throughout this whole crisis," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "There'll be special appointments for TLC licensed drivers and food service workers from all over the five boroughs, can go to Citi Field for appointments and, of course again, a preference and a focus on the people of Queens to make sure we reach deep into that borough that was hit so hard by the coronavirus."

CLICK for more information on appointments rescheduled in NY or NJ from Sunday.