ASBURY PARK, NJ – Asbury Park restaurants will go forward with their plan to turn the downtown area into a massive outdoor dining area, but the city’s plans to allow indoor dining have been squashed by science…Governor Phil Murphy’s weird COVID-19 science. Although the Center for Disease Control has issued federal guidance for successful and safe restaurant operations, Murphy says his science says it’s too early for that.
“Last Wednesday, we passed a resolution to allow indoor food and beverage service with the same capacity limits, safety and social distancing requirements as outlined in Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 152 which allows indoor gatherings to begin on June 15, 2020,” the city said after being shut down by the state. “Today, Governor Murphy filed a lawsuit against the City, which has resulted in the Superior Court entering an Order which temporarily halts Asbury Park from allowing indoor food and beverage service per the resolution.”
Due to this action, we are advising Asbury Park businesses not to open indoors as had been announced earlier this week, as opening indoors would violate the Court Order and could jeopardize local restaurants and bars business’s liquor licenses and subject violators to fines and other penalties from the State of New Jersey.
Please note, this in no way affects outdoor dining, which will commence as planned starting on June 15, 2020. For information on the Asbury Park ReOPEN plan and permit information, visit www.cityofasburypark.com/reopen
“We hope our position will encourage the State of New Jersey to outline guidelines for indoor dining in the upcoming weeks. We invite Governor Murphy to our City next week to meet with the local restaurant community and discuss alternate opportunities to support these businesses who rely heavily on the summer months,” the city said.
