You are reading

NYC Will Require Customers of Bars/Restaurants and Gyms to Provide Proof of Vaccination Starting Mid September

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press briefing today that only vaccinated people will be able to enter bars/restaurants, gyms and places of entertainment starting the week of Aug. 16

Aug. 3, 2021 By Christian Murray

New York City will require people who enter restaurants, gyms and entertainment facilities to provide proof of vaccination—part of the mayor’s push to get the population vaccinated against COVID-19.

The policy will be phased in starting the week of Aug. 16 and it will apply to both patrons and workers of those establishments, said Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press briefing this morning. The city will begin inspections and enforcement the week of Sept. 13.

“If you want to enjoy everything great about this city, you have to get vaccinated,” de Blasio said. “If you are vaccinated it will open up to you.”

The policy is being phased in to allow businesses to get up to speed with the new mandate. Enforcement will begin at a time when schools reopen and more workers return to their offices.

The mayor said that the city will be creating a so-called health pass called the “Key to NYC Pass” that will provide proof of vaccination. However New Yorkers will be able to show their state “Excelsior Pass” or their Centers for Disease Control’s paper vaccine card.

The administration does not believe that the initiative will be difficult for businesses to follow, since most have grown accustom to the changes since COVID-19 struck. Most businesses have been conducting temperature checks, and restaurants/bar staff have always checked people’s ID to ensure customers are of drinking age.

The move is part of the mayor’s campaign to increase the number of New Yorkers who have been vaccinated.

“Five million New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the vaccine—now we are going to go further,” de Blasio said. He said the city has to use “every tool we got to fight the delta variant.”

De Blasio has focused most of his efforts on vaccinations. He has been reluctant to reinstate an indoor mask mandate as recommended by the CDC last week. Instead, on Monday he strongly encouraged New Yorkers to wear them.

Cities such as San Francisco and Washington require its residents to wear masks indoors.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

May. 30, 2023 By Gabriele Holtermann

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

New York Hall of Science awarded federal funding for project on artificial intelligence

New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) will play a key role in the future of artificial and natural intelligence after U.S. Rep. Grace Meng announced that the institution in Flushing Meadows Corona Park has been awarded nearly a half-million dollars in federal funding from the National Science Foundation over the next five years.

NYSCI will be part of a $20 million initiative led by Columbia University to establish an AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI), an interdisciplinary center that will bring together several top research institutions to focus on a national priority: connecting the major progress made in AI systems to the revolution in understanding the brain.