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by: Nolan Barton<\/p>\n
(Natural News<\/a>) A group of restaurant owners and five small businesses filed a lawsuit Tuesday, Aug. 17, against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over the city\u2019s\u00a0vaccine mandate targeting\u00a0\u201ccertain establishments.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The lawsuit was filed in Richmond County Supreme Court.<\/p>\n \u201cThis vaccine mandate is arbitrary and capricious due to the fact that it targets certain establishments but not others,\u201d wrote the plaintiffs, led by a group called the Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue. Max\u2019s Esca, DeLuca\u2019s Italian Restaurant, Pasticceria Rocco, Evolve-33 and Staten Island Judo Jujitsu were also listed as plaintiffs.\u00a0They\u2019re seeking a permanent injunction against the order.<\/p>\n Staten Island Judo Jujitsu Dojo owner Joseph Cannizzo said the\u00a0executive order is a \u201cdeath sentence\u201d to small businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some reason, gyms, restaurants, we\u2019re always the ones that have to take on this social responsibility to keep people safe. It\u2019s not our job,\u201d Cannizzo said. \u201cMy chances of survival are slim to none with all the other mandates and restrictions that Mayor de Blasio has put on my studio. It\u2019s a business death sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the lawsuit, the mandate will \u201cseverely impact\u201d the owners\u2019 businesses, life savings and livelihood.<\/p>\n Restaurants and gyms throughout the city argue that the new rules are unfair because they don\u2019t apply to other indoor spaces where people congregate for long periods of time, such as grocery stores with long lines and crowded office buildings. (Related:\u00a0Bill de Blasio threatens to expand \u201cvaccine passport\u201d requirements in New York City: Are grocery stores next?<\/a>)<\/p>\n Eateries that offer only take-out, delivery and outdoor dining are not required to ask customers for proof of vaccination but must remove or block off any indoor seating and tables.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many other venues that involve groups of \u2018unassociated people interacting for a substantial period of time\u2019 such as grocery stores, pharmacies, hair salons, churches, office buildings, schools, healthcare facilities, etc. and yet these venues will not require vaccination of all workers and patrons,\u201d the plaintiffs said.<\/p>\n They also noted that De Blasio\u2019s mandate makes no exceptions for those who can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t get the COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Aug. 18, de Blasio said he would keep his comments on the lawsuit limited, but added that he had tremendous confidence that they\u2019re in a strong legal position. \u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0in a global pandemic still. The decisions that have been taken have been taken with the leadership of our health officials who have been fighting this battle from the beginning, and we know we must get more people vaccinated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some business owners have raised concerns about the mandate being discriminatory and un-American, about the rollout of fake vaccine cards and about restaurant staff having to bear the brunt of potential customers\u2019 outrage over the new rule.<\/p>\n Other restaurant owners have expressed concerns about some of their workers quitting if they\u2019re required to be vaccinated. Art Depole, who co-owns a Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes franchise with his brother Nick in midtown Manhattan,\u00a0said that\u00a0some of his employees were not planning to get vaccinated<\/a>. In a tight labor market, replacing those workers can be a huge challenge.<\/p>\n De Blasio\u2019s controversial \u201cKey to NYC\u201d scheme officially kicked off Tuesday, separating the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in day-to-day life for the first time in a U.S. city. The cities of New Orleans and San Francisco have since followed suit with similar mandates.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s rules require staff and customers at dining, entertainment and fitness venues to have at least one dose of a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to enter indoor spaces. Enforcement won\u2019t begin for another 25 days. Starting Sept. 13, businesses that don\u2019t comply will be subject to fines.<\/p>\n Mary Josephine Generoso, manager of Pasticceria Rocco, responded to the mayor\u2019s rules by erecting a huge sign outside of the bakery\u2019s Bay Ridge location welcoming \u201cvaccinated or unvaccinated\u201d customers into the dining room.<\/p>\n Under the new rules, anyone aged 12 and older must show proof of vaccination to dine indoors in New York City\u2019s restaurants. Customers can only dine outdoors if they fail to show their vaccine passports. Restaurant servers and bar staff have been designated as public enforcers of the mayor\u2019s new mandate.<\/p>\n The Key to NYC had an uneven start, with many businesses opting out until they absolutely have to. (Related:\u00a0NYC restaurants REFUSE to enforce vaccine passport mandate and become \u201cvaccination police.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n On Wednesday afternoon,\u00a0fast-food restaurants in Manhattan were not yet asking for\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/em>\u00a0vaccination cards or Excelsior passes, and the AMC Village 7 movie theater in the East Village said it hadn\u2019t been checking.<\/p>\n A man in the East Village told\u00a0DailyMail.com<\/em>\u00a0that he got takeout from Chipotle with no issues. He said he was only asked for his vaccination card at a bar.<\/p>\n Prominent Republicans like New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and City Council member Joe Borelli are backing the business owners\u2019 lawsuit.<\/p>\n Malliotakis announced the lawsuit at a press conference earlier this month. She was joined by attorneys Louis Gelormino and Mark Fonte. Also present were Cannizzo and Charlie Cassara, who owns two gyms on Long Island and heads the U.S. Fitness Coalition.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. Fitness Coalition is not anti-vaxxers. We are in the business of keeping people healthy and fit through proper nutrition and exercise,\u201d Cassara said. \u201cThe city does not have the right to tell us who we can serve for any reason \u2013 that decision is up to us as private business owners.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassara had already sued de Blasio last year after the mayor removed gyms from the city\u2019s Phase 4 reopening list. He has appeared on\u00a0Fox News, where he spoke about how difficult it was for some customers to feel comfortable under the mayor\u2019s rules for gyms.<\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, in order for us to get rid of the social distancing inside of our gyms, we have to take people\u2019s vaccination cards. This is creating a big problem between people who don\u2019t want to give it or haven\u2019t been vaccinated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Follow\u00a0Immunization.news<\/a>\u00a0for more news related to vaccine mandates and coronavirus vaccines.<\/p>\n Sources include:<\/strong><\/p>\n DailyMail.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\nDe Blasio\u2019s mandate is discriminatory and un-American<\/h2>\n
Republicans back\u00a0business owners\u2019 lawsuit<\/h2>\n