‘Come, let’s dine on the 19th’

“Too many people just eat to consume calories. Try dining for a change.”

—John Walters

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 BY the time restaurants in New York City and the state of New Jersey are permitted to increase indoor dining capacity to 50 percent, most qualified Americans may have already received their stimulus check worth $1,400 each.

“Let’s dine in our favorite restaurant on the 19th,” transgender Filipino-American Artemio “Art” Lambino invited friends from the Woodside, Queens. 

Lambino, 38, said he will treat his friends to a dinner at Yoon Haeundae Galbi, one of the best Korean restaurants in the Big Apple “as a way of saying thank you” to Uncle Sam for President Joseph Biden’s popular $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package cleared by Congress on March 10. 

“It’s very symbolic,” Lambino explained. “We struggled when we lost our jobs last year. The stimulus package was a big help and President Biden added another one this year.”

“Sama ka sa amin lolo (join us grandpa),” Lambino, a Batangeno, told 84-year-old Restituto “Mang Resty” Lumacad, who had criticized the sweeping legislation that didn’t have any support from Republican lawmakers.

Lumacad isn’t related to Lambino but they both came from Cuenca, a fourth class municipality in Batangas.

They argued earlier whether the bill, which will deliver emergency aid and broader assistance to low-and middle-income Americans, was really good for America as a whole.

 

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Lumacad, a Donald Trump die-hard, called the legislation “bloated and unaffordable.”

“Naawa ako sa mga bata sa masunod na henerasyon. Sila ang magbabayad sa utang na yan (I pity the children in the next generation. They will be the ones who will pay that debt),” Lumacad argued.

“Don’t worry about the future,” Lambino chided him. “Let’s enjoy the moment po. Hindi na po ninyo maabutan yan.”

The measure rolling back some of the coronavirus safety restrictions goes into effect on March 19, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Indoor dining at Big Apple restaurants officially reopened at 25 percent capacity on Feb. 12 after Cuomo yet again shuttered indoor business at city eateries in mid-December. That was boosted to 35 percent late last month—but struggling city eateries had been pleading with officials to go to 50 percent. 

“This is a good news for the workers, as well. Our restaurant will be back to seven days again and this will help us a lot,” Renato, 43, a chef in a Queens restaurant, who is from Jaro, Iloilo City, said in a text message.

Governor Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced March 19 will be the largest increase in restaurant capacity in NYC since the start of the pandemic.

Indoor dining has been capped at 35 percent capacity in NYC and NJ since February 26. 

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Cuomo had paused indoor dining in the city in December 2020 because of concerns about hospitalization rates after a surge in COVID cases following the winter holidays.

Cuomo previously announced that restaurants throughout the rest of New York state, which are currently operating at 50 percent, could expand to 75 percent indoor dining capacity starting March 19th.

 

According to the latest city Department of Health data, NYC's seven-day average of positive COVID-19 tests is at 6.31 percent. The city reached an almost 10 percent positivity rate in early January, and has been slowly but steadily declining since.

However, on March 10, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that two new COVID-19 variants were spreading increasingly around the five boroughs, and health officials said the new variant first identified in Manhattan is more infectious than the original strain of coronavirus. 

So far, health officials don't believe that this new variant strain causes more severe illness or reduces the effectiveness of vaccines, but it still poses a health threat merely by spreading faster, according to a report in Gothamist.

The NYC Hospitality Alliance, which has been advocating for this increase in indoor dining capacity, said it was pleased with the move. "Cautiously and safely increasing indoor dining capacity at New York City restaurants to 50 percent, with an eye towards more occupancy, more vaccinations, and dedicated restaurant relief that’s on its way from the federal government gives our industry some optimism among all the doom and gloom of this past year," said Andrew Rigie, the Alliance’s executive director, as quoted by the Gothamist.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)