After announcing in August that New Yorkers must show proof of vaccination to enter a restaurant, Mayor Bill de Blasio sprang a last-minute surprise Dec. 6 when he announced a “first-in-the-nation” policy stating employees must show proof of vaccination to work in the same restaurant --- or any business in the city’s five boroughs --- too.
And now an updated "Key to NYC" vaccination policy has kicked in restricting children as young as 5, too.
The jab-for-a-job requirement went into effect Dec. 27, just three weeks after de Blasio announced it, and the city’s business leaders and fellow politicians were furious over the shocking surprise that de Blasio announced in an appearance of MSNBC.
“There’s no forewarning, no discussion,” the leader of a business group complained to The New York Post. “No idea about whether it’s legal or who he expects to enforce it.”
The newest policy, which took effect Dec. 27, requires children ages 5-11 to show proof of vaccination to see a movie, and eat a burger or a slice of pizza at a restaurant.
Regarding the jab-to-eat policy, now in its third month, café owner Tyler Hollinger told Fox News this week the city’s already-struggling hospitality industry is not the mayor’s vaccine police. And now comes the policy restricting children, too.
“I'm not going to bounce a five-year-old out of my establishment,” he said, “because they want to come in and have something to eat and drink after a long day in the city."
Hollinger went on to say it is "insane" to tell families and children spending money to travel and stay in New York City they cannot legally enter a restaurant.
Yet families are being told just that. Viral videos posted to social media show restaurant patrons, both adults and children, being booted by New York City police who are enforcing the vaxx policy. The NYPD is getting blasted, too, for a wall of blue uniforms booting the unvaccinated in a city overrun with crime.
According to the Post’s Dec. 6 story, 89% of adults in New York City had rolled up a sleeve for at least one shot. That number has likely jumped over the last few weeks, especially for New Yorkers who unwillingly did so to remain employed.
"Even though I always appreciate any concern, if folks in the restaurant community have a concern,” the unpopular, outgoing mayor told the media, “if some of our visitors have a concern, I obviously appreciate that deeply.”
