Hoboken mayor enacts curfew, restaurant changes amid coronavirus outbreak

 
Hoboken Mayor Ravinder Bhalla is enacting a curfew and changes to restaurant/bar service in the city as coronavirus cases spread through the tri-state area.

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In a statement released Saturday night, Bhalla says starting Monday night there will be a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in the city.  In addition, restaurants will no longer be able to serve food in establishments, service will be limited to takeout and delivery.
The statement reads, in part:
In furtherance of this policy, and to continue enacting measures to protect the health and safety of residents by limiting clusters of people, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has directed certain restrictions upon all restaurants and bars in Hoboken. Specifically, all bars and restaurant establishments, with and without a liquor license, are no longer permitted to serve food within the restaurant or bar. If a bar does not currently offer food, they will no longer be permitted to operate and are no longer permitted to serve alcohol, effective March 15th at 11 am. According to OEM, any bar or restaurant establishment that currently offers food service will be permitted to conduct food takeout and food delivery service only.

Additionally, OEM is implementing a city-wide daily curfew will in effect from 10 pm through 5 am, effective Monday, March 16th until further notice. During this curfew, all residents will be required to remain in their homes except for emergencies, or if you are required to work by your employer.
In the statement, Bhalla goes on to say:
As I am writing this message on a Saturday evening, I received a call from our Police Chief Kenneth Ferrante notifying me of a bar fight in downtown Hoboken, with at least one person falling in and out of consciousness, and our police having to wait for over 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, because our EMS is inundated with service calls. This is unfortunately a contributing factor why we cannot continue bar operations which can trigger calls for service that are delayed in part because of this public health crisis.
 
This is a developing story. Stay with News 12 New Jersey for the latest developments.