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Boston bars and restaurants ordered to make coronavirus-related cuts immediately
By adamg on Sun, 03/15/2020 - 3:21pm
After seeing long lines outside South Boston bars yesterday, Mayor Walsh today ordered all bars and restaurants to immediately cut their capacity by 50% and to close no later than 11 p.m.
This includes coffee shops and pizza places, the mayor said at a City Hall press conference, adding that under the order, restaurants and bars will have to remove half their tables and seats. Also under his order: Lines outside bars and restaurants are forbidden; the establishments will have to shoo people away if any form.
However, restaurants can continue to provide delivery and takeout service for their normal hours, Walsh said, adding that all restaurants that do not currently have take-out permission can now start offering takeout.
Walsh said that Boston licensing cops will patrol the city looking for hours and crowd-count violators - and have the authority to order bars and restaurants shut immediately for 30 days
Walsh said the measures are part of a desperate city effort to "flatten the curve," by slowing the spread of Covid-19 enough to keep local healthcare facilities from being overwhelmed.
He noted that St. Patrick's Day celebrates a people who survived through "social solidarity" and that that's what Boston needs now - people looking out for each other, such as not going into crowds.
"This isn't about you," he said, addressing Millennials and Gen Z'ers. "This is about your fellow Bostonians, your grandmothers, your grandparents," and your neighbors with health issues.
"They want to be treated as adults, they have to act as adults," he said, adding, "this week is critical for flattening the curve."
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Comments
Dumbass
How is reducing the number of hours bars are open going to reduce bar crowding?
Because ...
It reduces the number of hours that people will be in the same space at the same time.
Yea I think this is step one....
Let places stay open that provide food and/or drink to people while still allowing social distancing. By closing everything, then everyone is forced to get food and drink from supermarkets, drug stores, and markets. Doing that just adds to the panic, stresses our food supply chain, and might not help at this point.
I mean those idiots in Southie (and Mary Ann's is open again which I didn't know) doesn't help anyone.
OBE, but
Given the same number of people going to the bar, it increases their crowding.
Yea, step one should have been done last week.....
On to step three....
It's a two part plan
The post says bars (as well as restaurants) are ordered to cut their capacity by 50%.
I am embarrassed to say a
I am embarrassed to say a bunch of friends still got together this weekend. What are people not getting?
We are going to do more damage to ourselves by not listening to the experts.
Yes I am filling my time by posting comments on the internet. It is an important job but someone needs to step up!
Trillium Fenway Virus Watering Hole
Even though communal seating food court Time Out has smartly closed, the Trillium entrepreneurs in their tiny glass box beer pour continued selling to tightly gathered patrons today.
Hey, kids. There are two cases of COVID-19 across the street in the Pierce condos. So, socialize and drink up!
Thanks, @TrilliumBrewing @trilliumgarden. You'll go down in the history books. Do donate face masks and respirators to the local hospitals. But. Please. Keep your cans.
Closing neighborhood bars at
Closing neighborhood bars at 11 and cutting capacity in half is the best thing I ever heard. We should have deadly viruses more often.
They will move the parties
They will move the parties into the streets.
Um
And those parties will be shut down by the police. Seriously...what are people’s not getting. Maybe some of these idiots should read the NYT articles about the 29 year old doctor who died from this.
Not...
...when they start getting busted for open containers.
20% fees
All restaurants and bars that do take-out should append 20% fees to every order to help pay their tipped staff.
Because everyone can
Afford to pay an extra 20% for food WHILE OUT OF WORK!
So don't
Nobody's forcing you to. But if you've just lost your job, wouldn't you be refraining from ordering takeout?
So wouldn't
If they raised prices by 20%? Yeah probably.
If you can't afford to tip...
...you can't afford to do takeout. Cook at home instead.
What's the logic?
The logic behind tipping waitstaff is that it is an expected part of the transaction: the (ridiculously low) salaries of waitstaff take into account the expectation that most patrons will tip an average of 15-17% of the bill; the tip is part of the waitstaff's compensation.
Personally, I like to tip generously. But I don't tip retail store clerks, grocery checkout cashiers, bus drivers, bank tellers, nurses, or any of a huge number of other people with whom I interact and who provide service to me, because it's not an expected part of the transaction nor an expected part of their compensation.
What's the logic for tipping the cashier for restaurant take-out?
Why?
Why?
People already tip on takeout.
Putting surcharges like you suggest only penalizes the customers who are actually still showing up and will make them less likely to show up.
The restaurants should encourage however they can.
One way would be to encourage the gift card purchasing that many people have suggested (if they have gift cards established). "Buy a $50 gift card to give, get a $10 gift card for yourself"
Another way, if they don't have gift cards established - go with stamped loyalty cards. Every $10 you spend during the this crisis gets you a stamp for $1 to use there when the crisis is past.
Many people
Many people do not tip on takeout. And while gift cards help the restaurant, which is not necessarily a bad thing, they do not help the workers, the kitchen staff or the servers.
I’m with Rob.
We should help out anyway we can, but raising prices should be a big no no at this time.
Fast-paced world
This news item out of date already. Going to be another interesting week