BY SYDNEY PEREIRA AND KAREN YI, WNYC
Nearly 14 months after the COVID-19 pandemic halted life as we knew it in New York and New Jersey, most restrictions will lift starting Wednesday.
Slight differences exist between the states, but most percentage-based limitations on business capacity—from retail and gyms to offices and movie theaters—are kaput. Instead, capacity is now limited by the space available for six feet of social distancing, required for those who aren’t yet fully vaccinated.
Physical barriers are permitted where social distancing isn’t possible, like at restaurants.
Public indoor hangouts in New York and New Jersey will rise to 250 people. When the gathering is outdoors, it’ll be 500. Indoor gatherings inside private homes will rise to 50 people in both states, too.
“Getting back to life means not just getting back to work, but getting back to life the way we enjoy it in New York,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday during a press briefing in Manhattan.
Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, large indoor venues with 1,000 seats or more are capped at 30%, with no restrictions on outdoor settings.
New York will keep the six-foot rule at large indoor or outdoor venues. But social distancing isn’t required if there are separate sections for vaccinated and unvaccinated attendees—the latter requiring a negative result on a coronavirus test, masks and six feet of separation. Kids who don’t yet have the option to get vaccinated can join adults who’ve been fully inoculated in vaccinated fan sections at events, like basketball games or concerts. But they need a negative COVID test, too.
Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center plan to roll out separated vaccine status areas as the Knicks and the Nets venture into the NBA playoffs.
New York is now following new federal guidance on mask-wearing, which only requires people to wear face coverings in congregate living or medical settings, public transit and schools. Fully vaccinated people don’t have to wear a mask indoors unless they go inside a business that keeps this requirement for everyone.
Mayor Bill de Blasio embraced the rule change during a Wednesday press briefing, but he’ll continue to wear a face covering when in doubt about the vaccination status of those around him. He is also keeping a full mask mandate in place for city-run offices.
Dr. Mitchell Katz, the head of the city’s Health + Hospitals, added, “I very much support this direction because we needed to show people that we really believe in vaccinations. I think before it was very much a mixed message.”
New Jersey broke with that recommendation and will still require mask wearing for everyone in all public indoor places. Governor Phil Murphy said he didn’t want to further burden businesses.
A restaurant manager at MamaJuana Cafe in West New York, Ramon Luna, plans to incrementally increase the number of tables he’ll serve each week as he keeps tabs on COVID in his community.
“My life is going to be changing. The money’s come back. And we can continue to make the bills, make a business,” Luna said.