Gov. Murphy said Monday
there’s no evidence of waves of infections linked to
indoor dining, so he is not ready to close restaurants down, even if New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo considers it. Employees
at the Turning
Point of Westfield are happy
they continue to work, and customers are happy they can sit down inside for a
nice meal.
"I think it's important
for the restaurants to stay open for jobs and for the economy,” says
Andrew Cabrera, of Jersey City.
He believes
the move to restrict dining could be catastrophic for small business owners. Tanaira Johnson, manager
of Turning Point, recently
moved to New Jersey all the way from Oregon after she says restaurant jobs
dried up out there.
“They were doing take out only, if they were even able do that,” says Johnson.
“A lot of the restaurants in Oregon are farm to table, so it's kind of
impossible to do that."
Johnson says if Turning Point had to go back to just take
out, it would survive thanks to a solid customer base, but obviously staying
open is best.
Murphy said for now,
he’ll stick with a more strategic approach. There is no seating at bars and no
indoor dining past 10 p.m. The New Jersey State Police have been shutting down
businesses that do not comply.