NJ Gov: Movies, Indoor Dining Can Resume On Friday

NBC New York reports:

New Jersey restaurants can resume indoor dining statewide starting this Friday and movies can reopen, just in time for Labor Day weekend, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged that will translate to a “competitive disadvantage” for the five boroughs, where dine-in and movie theaters are still closed.

But he’s not ready to bring either back in NYC quite yet. The rest of the state has been doing indoor dining for some time, and Cuomo said Monday he knows New York City residents will travel across the river to get their first taste of dine-in in months.

The New York Post reports:

The resumption of indoor dining in New York City hinges on a “huge step forward” — like the development of a coronavirus vaccine, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

The mayor sounded less than optimistic that eatery owners and workers would be able to start earning a living again — and diners able to enjoy a meal inside an eatery — before the June 1, 2021, return date, set earlier this month.

“We do expect — and pray for and expect — a vaccine in the spring that will allow us to get more back to normal,” he said at his daily press briefing, “but I will absolutely tell you, we’re going to keep looking for that situation where we can push down the virus enough where we would have more ability to address indoor dining.”