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NJBIA President Michele Siekerka told a national television audience Tuesday that New Jersey restaurants will not be able to survive much longer operating under the state-ordered 25% restriction on indoor dining capacity, especially when outdoor dining options disappear with the arrival of colder weather.

“It just doesn’t work,” Siekerka told Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” “Many restaurants remain closed because they didn’t have large capacity to begin with. And then complying with an executive order that limited them to 25% would be a money-losing proposition.”

Siekerka pointed out that New Jersey’s $18.2 billion restaurant industry provided more than 228,000 jobs, before COVID-19 hit the state in March. But only 23% of employees out of the 87% laid off in March have returned to work, which she pinned as a “huge struggle” for the industry.

Read the entire Fox business story here.  A video of Siekerka’s interview can be viewed below.

3 responses to “NJBIA Warns Restaurants Can’t Survive Much Longer Under 25% Dining Capacity Restrictions”

  1. Rich says:

    The politicians need to understand with the failure of restaurants will come the failure of food vendors, equipment dealers, and wholesale house supplying all the small wares and paper goods. Our company provides commercial kitchen ventilation products and have already seen a 35% reduction is sales. This has to end and end soon before the damage is so great it will takes many years to recover. Our Governor needs to be a leader and stop worrying about how he will look when this all ends and stand up a lead.

  2. Thomas says:

    When you see how each state has approached the COVID-19 challenge, you can almost understand why President Trump undermined the severity of the virus challenge. The close down of businesses has an impact on the economic balance in communities, which is just as important as the health of its residents.

    Depending on the aggressiveness in each state’s approach, personal incomes have been cut and businesses forced into closure. It’s like politicians don’t understand the dominoes of their decisions.

    Lives are important, but each individual has some personal culpability to set their own precautions. Businesses can’t survive unless they’re open; and they’re needed to provide jobs and pay taxes, all attributes that contribute to a community staying viable.

    Restaurants should be allowed to accept whatever occupancy it can achieve with appropriate adjustment to their ventilation and table separations. People entering those establishments need to respect the virus and know it’s their decision to evaluate the risk for themselves. Life goes on and we can’t protect everyone, without ultimately hurting everyone.

  3. Joe Costa says:

    The short mindness of politicians never fails to amaze me. The restaurant business goes so far beyond the restaurant itself . It affects farmers paper manufacturers chemical companies meat and poultry producers the oil and gas companies the list goes on and on. Tax revenue toll revenue the less trucks on the road the less fuel toll collection on the roads goes way down trucks pay per axle . It you want to destroy local businesses shut down the restaurant business plus people of New Jersey most are 2 working households they rely on restaurants to feed their families . The people of this state need to look at the leadership they have chosen and realize that they do not and have never had the people best interest in mind.

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