MORRISTOWN, NJ – Morristown officials shut down the popular Tashmoo and Restaurant after they saw a photo posted to social media showing a large crowd, unmasked outdoors, drinking beer, eating food and having a good time. The photo showed several hundred adults outdoors, according to town leaders, violating social distancing policies mandated by Governor Phil Murphy.
“Many of our established restaurants and retailers have worked hard to pivot their business model to comply with the State regulations and ensure the health of their patrons,” the town said in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to the contrary, not all businesses followed the guidelines and we had to shut them down.”
Since the state began allowing outdoor dining and limited retail, the Town has worked hard with our local businesses to allow them to begin serving customers and recoup financial losses from the closures needed during the ongoing public health emergency.
The future now is uncertain for Tashmoo after the city took action after being shut down for three full months by the Murphy lockdown.
The town issued the following statement:
As we continue to reopen, we are entering new territory of things we’ve never before had to contemplate. With new things come lessons learned and this is what we’re doing to ensure that we don’t have the same issues going forward:• Capacity of an expansion area will be limited to the number of seats approved as part of a socially distanced layout
• No standing patrons will be permitted; everyone must be seated to be served
• No patrons are permitted self-service of alcohol unless served to go in compliance with the State’s guidelines; all on-premise alcohol service must be done by wait staff to seated patrons
• Capacity for any outside dining area or expansion will be limited to no more than the indoor capacity of the associated business
Furthermore, we remind our businesses of the following guidelines which are outlined in the Governor’s Executive Order 150 including ensuring all staff are wearing a face covering and that lines of patrons waiting for seating adhere to social distancing guidelines and do not block and otherwise impede the sidewalk.
We want all of Morristown’s businesses to succeed into the future and will continue to do our best to support those efforts, but we must ensure the safety and welfare of our residents and visitors first and will not tolerate any business that does not work with us to achieve that goal.
Photo by Morristown NJ, social media.
