New York City and NJ expanding indoor dining to 50 percent capacity March 19

by Lexi Lonas - 03/10/21 6:25 PM ET

New York City and the state of New Jersey will be expanding their indoor dining capacity to 50 percent starting March 19, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced on Wednesday, up from the current 35 percent.

NEW: @NYGovCuomo and I just announced that New Jersey and New York City will both expand indoor dining capacity to 50% beginning March 19th.

Our states will continue to work together to protect the health of as many residents as possible. pic.twitter.com/DBBjhCs20K

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 10, 2021

“We feel confident in this step given the improving metrics we have seen over the last several weeks in both New Jersey and New York City, as well as the continued ramp up of our vaccination program,” Murphy said.

Cuomo is also lifting the capacity in areas outside of New York City. Currently, the rest of New York state restaurants are at 50 percent capacity but will be allowed to move to 75 percent capacity in nine days.

“We will continue to follow the science and react accordingly,” Cuomo said. “If we keep the infections down and vaccinations up, we will continue to stay ahead in the footrace against this invisible enemy and reach the light at the end of the tunnel together.”

Restaurants in New York City have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. They were originally shut down last March to last September and then closed again from December to February in order to curb the spread of the virus.

Other states have also lifted some or all coronavirus restrictions from the past year and case numbers begin to drop and vaccination efforts gain traction.

Connecticut announced that all restaurant capacity restrictions would be lifted on March 19.

Other states including Texas and Mississippi have lifted all their coronavirus restrictions including their mask mandates.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) dropped the restrictions on restaurants on March 5, although masks will still be required.