Senator O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman DiMaso said restaurants are hurting and if Murphy doesn’t immediately increase the indoor dining capacity to a minimum of 66 percent, the results could be devastating to the entire industry. (Pixabay)
Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (both R-Monmouth) emphasized their previous call for an immediate increase for indoor dining capacity to 66 percent following yet another desperate message from a prominent restaurant owner who indicated they might close very soon without a substantial indoor dining increase.
Senator Dubs Murphy’s 25% standard as a “Timidity Tax”
How is everything? Is there anything else I can get for you?
Senator Declan O’Scanlon today called upon Governor Phil Murphy to raise the limit at which New Jersey restaurants can operate indoors from 25% of their capacity to 66%.
The Monmouth County Republican noted that we’re approaching the first colder weather weekend of the season and that there has been no spike in COVID-19 cases or Rt since the Governor allowed indoor dining at 25% over the Labor Day weekend.
Governor Phil Murphy will announce this afternoon that indoor dining at New Jersey restaurants is permitted effective Friday, September 4, according to Matt Friedman’s POLITICO New Jersey Playbook.
The COVID-19 rate of transmission, Rt, has spiked in New Jersey since Wednesday, August 26 when Governor Phil Murphy dined in Middletown.
There is absolutely no evidence that Murphy dining outdoors while his friend hosted a 40-50 people indoors in his EO-163 non-compliant Barrel Room Bar has anything to do with the increase in New Jersey’s Rt from .77 on Thursday to .87 on Sunday.
Governor Phil Murphy said on Friday that he did not see people dining indoors at Nicholas Barrel and Roost when he dined there outdoors on Wednesday evening.
Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy dining with masks on at Nicholas Barrel and Roost in Middletown on August 26, 2020. photo by Art Gallagher
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy dined outdoors at Nicholas Barrel and Roost in Middletown last evening while the indoor Barrel Room was packed with knuckleheads.
Murphy, who seemed aware of my presence, wore a mask at his outdoor table while those dining in the crowded Barrel Room were maskless.
Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) today criticized the Murphy administration’s continued blockade of New Jersey’s reopening and cited numerous metrics from surrounding states’ successful reopening.
“That the Governor, with a straight face, can cite a debunked study of an incident that happened over 8,000 miles away involving a restaurant in China with a wheezy, inadequate ventilation system that doesn’t conform to standards used in this country…to justify continuing to kill businesses here in New Jersey is outrageous and demoralizing for anyone trying to hold out hope that there’s any real, scientific focus on our safety and the health of our economy,” said O’Scanlon. “That the Governor, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, continues to suggest that we have to continue to destroy thousands of businesses and jobs and livelihoods is simply unconscionable.”
FREEHOLD, NJ – Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone issued the following statement regarding the reopening of indoor dining in Monmouth County:
“We are now halfway through the summer and restaurants’ doors remain closed for indoor dining. Restaurants had been prepared to welcome back customers inside on July 2, but then that was postponed indefinitely.
BLM protests are not the only acceptable excuse for Governor Phil Murphy to violate his own Executive Orders. Rain is now an excuse to dine indoors at Murphy’s favorite hotspots.
