Syracuse, N.Y. — Petitions. Phone calls. Email messages. Facebook posts.
There are lots of ways Syracuse restaurants and bars currently shut down by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “orange zone” restrictions have tried to get his attention.
Now they’re trying oranges.
“It’s like we’re just forgotten here,” said Stephanie Bolles, a bartender at the Rise N Shine diner on Westcott Street in Syracuse. “Maybe this will do it. It can’t hurt.”
Bolles’ idea is to send Cuomo a crate of oranges, each marked with a decal, logo or just the handwritten name of a restaurant or bar that has been unable to open for indoor seating since late November. That’s when Cuomo placed the city of Syracuse, and parts of DeWitt, Lyncourt and Solvay in the orange zone, a move he said was based on rising cases of Covid-19 in those areas.
Meanwhile, other parts of Onondaga County, including large swaths of the nearby suburbs, are in a yellow zone, which means they can seat people inside up to four to a table. Further out, parts of the county aren’t in any zone, meaning they can seat up to 12 per table (with masking, social distancing and other restrictions).
In recent weeks, restaurants in the orange zone have become increasingly frustrated by the lack of response from the governor’s office, even as they challenge the logic or fairness of the zones. They argue the zones make no sense since people can just patronize nearby restaurants that are open, often just minutes away.
Restaurants in the orange zone are closing up, either permanently or temporarily.
Today (Jan. 11), Bolles has set up a space inside Rise n Shine, 500 Westcott St., for orange zone restaurant owners or supporters to come and mark their oranges. The effort may continue for the next few days. Then the crate, with 50 or more oranges, will be packed up and sent to Albany.
Bolles noted that Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh last week sent a letter in support of either lifting the orange zone in the city or putting all of Onondaga County in the yellow zone in the interest of fairness. Cuomo, she noted, said last week he hadn’t seen the letter.
“Does he even remember that he did this?” Bolles said of the governor, who this week is delivering his annual State of the State address and releasing his proposed 2021 state budget. “We really feel like he isn’t listening.”
Elsewhere in the state, restaurants in restrictive zone are pursuing other means to get the governor’s attention. A group of restaurants in Buffalo has filed a lawsuit challenging the zone, and a ruling is expected this week.
In the Elmira area (Chemung County in the Southern Tier), another group of orange restaurants are prepared to open in defiance of the restrictions (adhering to the less restrictive yellow zone rules).
The governor’s office has said the move from an orange zone to the yellow, or other changes, must be tied to both the rate of positive cases and hospital capacity in the region.
But state data released last month showed “restaurants and bars” were responsible for just 1.4% of Covid exposures in September, October and November. The biggest issue, by far, is “household/social gatherings,” where 73.8% of exposures are linked. Three other factors — health care delivery, college students and education workers — still ranked ahead of restaurants and bars. (That data was based only on cases that could be traced, or about 20 to 25% of of the total during that period).
“We’re doing, and have been doing, everything we can to comply with all the regulations,” said Danielle Mercuri, the owner of Rise n Shine, who allowed Bolles the space to run her orange crate project. “But not hearing anything for so long is just really frustrating.”
MORE ON CNY ORANGE ZONE
Syracuse restaurants closed in an ‘orange’ zone beg Cuomo to let them reopen (video)
Struggling CNY restaurant in a Cuomo ‘orange’ zone: ‘It’s a losing battle here’
Don Cazentre write for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
The Link LonkJanuary 12, 2021 at 02:10AM
https://www.syracuse.com/restaurants/2021/01/orange-you-listening-gov-cuomo-restaurants-send-juicy-message-about-covid-shutdown.html
Orange you listening, Gov. Cuomo? Restaurants send juicy message about Covid shutdown - syracuse.com
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