Business

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 …

The New York Daily News reports: The city is giving a tech-y touch to its efforts to keep gyms safe as they begin to reopen this Wednesday. The Health Department will conduct “virtual inspections” of gyms to ensure they are following new rules to keep customers and staff safe. A virtual inspection will consist of a video call between a …

CNBC reports: It’s time to say goodbye to the $200 ticket-change fee. United Airlines on Sunday said that it will permanently scrap fees to change domestic flights, a big bet that more flexible policies will win over much-needed customers as the pain from the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on air travel continue to mount. It’s a page from the playbook of …

The New York Post reports: Get ready to bundle up for al fresco dining in the late fall. Mayor Bill de Blasio is considering extending the city’s coronavirus-induced outdoor dining program beyond its current endpoint of Oct. 31. “We’re looking at that right now. We’re trying to get a sense from the restaurant community how much interest there is in …

Yahoo Finance reports: Retail giant Walmart said Thursday it had teamed with Microsoft to buy TikTok, the Chinese-owned short-form video app that has come under fire from the administration of President Donald Trump. The app has been at the center of a diplomatic storm between Washington and Beijing since Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 …

CBS News reports: The U.S. banking industry’s largest lobbying group will run television advertisements supporting the reelection of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the most vulnerable incumbent Senate Republicans. The American Bankers Association (ABA) on Thursday released an ad praising Collins as “America’s most bipartisan senator,” lauding her for her role in creating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the …

Gothamist reports: Three people were injured after a driver crashed into an outdoor dining space on the Upper East Side on Monday night. Police say the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. yesterday outside Delizia 92 on the southeast corner of E 92nd Street and 2nd Avenue. A driver in a Cadillac Escalade SUV heading east on the street collided with …

Gothamist reports: New York venues have been closed since the start of the pandemic, but with restaurants and bars reopened throughout the state at different capacities, some had begun to take steps to host live events like socially-distanced concerts, sidewalk drag shows, and more. But this week, the State Liquor Authority (SLA) updated their website to clarify new guidelines that …

CNBC reports: Apple hit a market cap of $2 trillion Wednesday, doubling in valuation in just over two years to become the first publicly traded U.S. company to reach the milestone. Based on a share count of more than 4.275 billion, Apple broke the barrier just before 11 a.m. ET, when its price rose to $467.77. Apple first reached a …

USA Today reports: Payless is back in time for the new school year with a new website, a new name and plans for hundreds of bricks-and-mortar stores. After emerging from bankruptcy for the second time in January 2020 and shuttering its remaining U.S. stores in June 2019, the footwear retailer’s new website is live at Payless.com. The company announced in …

Reuters reports: U.S. states claimed they are owed $2.2 trillion to address harm from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s alleged role in America’s opioid epidemic, accusing the drugmaker in new filings of pushing prescription painkillers on doctors and patients while playing down the risks of abuse and overdose. In filings made as part of Purdue’s bankruptcy proceedings that were disclosed …

The Verge reports: No Uber and Lyft rides in California? After a judge rejected the companies’ effort to delay an order that they classify drivers as employees, it seems inevitable. Uber and Lyft have until August 20th to comply with the order. But the companies have said they will need to go dark in the Golden State in order to …

Gothamist reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio did not hold his usual morning press conference today, but his office did share news about the city’s ongoing Open Streets initiative. The city announced this afternoon that 21 more locations around the five boroughs will become Open Streets for outdoor dining. That brings the citywide total to 76 participating streets and nine pedestrian …

The BBC reports: Fortnite-maker Epic Games is taking legal action against Google after being banned from the Google Play app store, hours after doing the same with Apple. Apple and Google both removed the hit game from their app stores after Epic Games bypassed their payment systems, to avoid giving them a cut of sales. Both platforms take a standard …

The Verge reports: Microsoft has published a full 35-minute Surface Duo press briefing video that it held with journalists earlier this week. Microsoft typically holds in-person events for its Surface products, and this year’s press briefing was essentially a virtual version of a Surface event. Microsoft announced the Surface Duo, a dual-screen Android phone, earlier this week. Priced from $1,399, …

The Verge reports: AMC Theaters has detailed its plans to reopen movie theaters throughout the US, in addition to a new deadline for its MoviePass-style A-List subscription, in an email sent to customers on Wednesday. Starting August 20th, AMC plans to have more than 100 theaters open, and it says it will continue opening locations “such that about two-thirds of …

CNBC reports: The off-price chain Stein Mart announced Wednesday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to permanently close most, if not all, of its stores, adding to the turmoil in a retail industry that has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said in a press release that it has already launched a …

Mother Jones reports: In late July, a wild chain of events occurred when the Trump administration decided to give Eastman Kodak, the film giant that went bankrupt in 2012, an unprecedented $765 million government loan through the Defense Production Act. The agreement was officially announced on July 28, but the previous day, the price of Kodak’s stock began to surge, …

The Hill reports: Outgoing New York Times CEO Mark Thompson said he would be “surprised” in the newspaper still offered a print edition in 20 years, adding that he’s skeptical if advertising will ever return at pre-pandemic levels. “I believe the Times will definitely be printed for another 10 years and quite possibly another 15 years — maybe even slightly …

CNBC reports: McDonald’s is suing its former CEO Steve Easterbrook for allegedly lying during the company’s internal probe into his behavior. The fast-food chain’s board announced in November that it had terminated Easterbrook for having a consensual relationship with an employee and tapped Chris Kempczinski as his successor. A probe allegedly revealed that Easterbrook lied to the company and destroyed …