People dining indoors at New York City's restaurants, browsing art at its museums or sweating in its gyms had to show proof Tuesday that they were at least partially inoculated against COVID-19 as the city began the nation's largest effort yet to exclude the unvaccinated from public places.
Signs on the front door and windows of The Stop Inn, a Queens diner, warned patrons arriving for breakfast that they had to show proof of at least one vaccine shot to be allowed to dine inside.
Still, Norbu Lama, 17, said he was surprised when a server politely asked for his vaccination card soon after he slid into a booth with his parents and younger sister.
A Katz's Deli employee (left) checks proof of vaccination from customer looking to eat at the legendary Lower East Side restaurant Tuesday, the first day of the city's stricter rules
A member of staff checks patrons proof of vaccine at Rafele restaurant in West Village
'We didn't know we had to bring it,' he said. The server appeared relieved when Lama and his family presented copies of their vaccination cards on their phone, Lama said.
The vaccination mandate, announced two weeks ago by Mayor Bill de Blasio, aims to persuade more people to get vaccinated or else miss out on city amenities like restaurants, bars, gyms, public performances, museums and other venues.
The measures are also fraught with complications, as restaurant servers, bartenders and ticket agents become the frontline enforcers for vaccination rules.
Skittish about losing business, but mindful that another economic shutdown could be disastrous, some restaurant and bar owners are embracing the the mandates as a way to control the virus and keep their doors open.
Avner Balkany, 56, shows his vaccination card while waiting to enter the Museum of Modern Art. He said he was unaware of the city's new vaccination rules but would have nevertheless been prepared to show proof that he was vaccinated
Others - particularly in parts of the city where people have resisted getting the vaccine - worry it will be a last, fatal blow to businesses that were excluded from having patrons inside at all for months last year.
'We do not want to go back to restrictions,' de Blasio said at a virtual news conference Tuesday. 'The key to our progress is vaccination.'
Since early August, more than 300,000 more people have gotten at least one shot of a vaccine, according to city data. At least 5.2 million of the city´s 8.8 million residents have gotten at least one shot, with nearly 5 million fully vaccinated.
Visitors to city's museums such as Madame Tussauds in Times Square flash image of their vaccination cards on their phone
The number of people getting shots has ticked upward again in the city as the more contagious Delta variant has fueled a surge in infections and hospitalizations.
Some cities and states, as well as the federal government, have moved aggressively to get more people inoculated or have them face consequences such as regular testing or losing access to elements of public life.
Since New York City made its announcement, San Francisco and New Orleans have followed suit with policies to exclude the unvaccinated from some businesses. Los Angeles is considering similar measures. All are led by Democratic mayors, underscoring the political divide over mandates on vaccines, masks and other measures.
New York City's new rules went into effect Tuesday, but it won't begin fining businesses that don't comply until September 13, offering a grace period for implementation.
A sign posted on Ivan Ramen restaurant's window on the Lower East Side says all customers over the age of 12 must show proof of vaccination to dine indoors per NYC's new mandate
Announcements encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID are posted at Grand Central Station (above) and other city hubs
The Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday was not requiring visitors to show proof of vaccination. A ticket agent said he didn't know when the requirement was supposed to start.
Avner Balkany, visiting from Israel with his family, said he was unaware of the city's new rules but would have been prepared anyway, as he reached for his wallet to show his vaccination card.
'We have to persuade as many people as possible to get vaccinated,' he said. 'I know this is problematic - people's rights - but, still, this is an emergency, In an emergency, you have to take aggressive measures,'
NYC gyms such as Crunch Fitness and Nimble Fitness have also been complying with the rules as guests are required to show proof of vaccination before entering.
'Right now we are getting into the swing of things,' Isidro Montero, the district manager of the Manhattan East Sector of Crunch told AMNY.
'We got the classes back, we got the saunas reopened, and then with the new mandate obviously it feels a little safer to be in the club.'
Celene Lucas, director of operations at Nimble Fitness also told AMNY: 'It has been like a moving target and a roller coaster. I think we are really fortunate that we have been able to roll with everything and it is all about our clientele and staff, they have been so supportive and understanding that things are changing and we are just going to have to change it.'
New York City averaged 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus a day over the past seven days, up from around 200 a day in late June.
A $10million media blitz was also launching Tuesday as part of the city's visitor outreach. The mayor announced that about 100 vaccination sites will pop up at such places as gyms and that the city would send out over 600 canvassers to help.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said his group was fully behind the effort. In return for the industry's cooperation, he called on officials to replenish financial aid to still-struggling restaurants.
Leon Ellis, the owner of Chocolate, a restaurant in the city's Harlem neighborhood, said the sacrifices are needed to keep the virus from wreaking more havoc on businesses like his.
'This COVID is a big deal. So we need to do everything that we can to make sure that we get it in check,' he said.
Ellis knows there are details he and his staff still need to work out to fully comply with new rules, but he also knows enforcement won't begin for several more weeks.
'I still have to do my research on it,' he said. 'But whatever the guidelines are, we will comply.'
Joseph Montero, owner of Montero's Bar and Grill in Brooklyn Heights told NY Post: 'Ninety percent of my customers are for it.
'They're happy that I'm doing it because they're telling me that I am safeguarding them and everyone else who's in here. One or two people get huffy and get annoyed. It hasn't hurt business at all.'
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