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Enforcement
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“This gives every one of the customers the knowledge that they are safe, the employees know they’re safe. It’s everyone moving forward to bring our city back. And for those unvaccinated, you’ve got to make the move now,” Mayor de Blasio said to reporters on Monday.
“We cannot let the fact that those who are unvaccinated are, unfortunately, creating the problem. We’ve got to work with everyone to get them vaccinated. Key to NYC helps us once and for all to fight off the Delta variant and defeat COVID and move forward as a city,” the Mayor went on to say.
Employees working at any indoor venue that requires a Key to NYC Pass for entry are also required to show proof of at least one vaccine dose in order to continue entering their workplace.
Businesses also must display at least one “Vaccination Required” poster in their business’s window, which explains the mandate to customers.
Notably, dining venues with no indoor seating are exempt from the Key to NYC mandate requirements as well as dining venues where food is consumed offsite or exclusively outdoors. Individuals entering a restaurant to place or pick up an order will not have to show proof of at least one vaccine dose in order to do so.
Responsibility for enforcing the Key to NYC Pass will be divided among 13 city agencies. The agencies will be tasked with visiting businesses across the city to make sure that safety procedures are being followed, that signs about the vaccine requirement are displayed where customers can see and that businesses are effectively checking for proof of vaccination of both their customers and staff.
While the NYPD is not one of the city agencies involved with enforcement, the following agencies are: the FDNY, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Buildings, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the NYC Sheriff’s Office, the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, and the Parks Department.
Below is a detailed list of the venues that will require a Key to NYC Pass, according to the city:
Indoor Dining Venues
● Bakeries ● Bars ● Cabarets ● Cafeterias ● Catering halls ● Coffee shops ● Event spaces ● Fast food/quick service with indoor dining ● Grocery stores with indoor dining ● Hotel banquet rooms ● Nightclubs ● Restaurants
Indoor Fitness Venues
● Dance studios ● Fitness centers ● Fitness classes ● Gyms ● Indoor studios ● Pools ● Sports classes
Indoor Entertainment Venues
● Adult entertainment ● Aquariums and zoos ● Arcades ● Bowling alleys ● Casinos ● Convention centers ● Exhibition halls ● Indoor play areas ● Indoor stadiums ● Movie theaters ● Museums and galleries ● Music and concert venues ● Performing arts theaters ● Pool and billiard halls ● Professional sports arenas ● Recreational game centers
Co-op City residents who were vaccinated at the city’s mega vaccination site at the Dreiser Auditorium in Co-op City and have been unable to download the Excelsior Pass are advised to use “Manhattan” when asked during the application process which county they were vaccinated in, not “the Bronx.” Manhattan is the location of the vaccine provider’s headquarters.
Mandate (Continued from page 1)
gave the state until September 22 to respond to the lawsuit, otherwise an oral hearing would be held on September 28.
The state announced the healthcare worker vaccine mandate last month on August 28. Under the mandate, all healthcare workers at hospitals and nursing homes in New York must have at least one vaccine dose by September 27.
Despite the lawsuit, New York still supports its vaccine mandate and intends on defending its legal case for a mandate in court, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. The state is also prepared to supply resources for any facility that potentially loses employees over the mandate, the governor said.
“People need to start realizing that when you stand up and say you want to be a public health official in any capacity, you have to be healthy yourselves,” Governor Hochul said on Wednesday during a COVID-19 briefing. “Yes, there will be some individuals who will try to defy this. There will be court decisions that we’ll appeal – we’re going to continue appealing those and try to appeal on the merits. It’s the smart thing to do. We have to continue the mandates. I’m not going to let this be a problem for the state of New York.”
Patients at hospitals and nursing homes should not have to worry “that they could contract a virus from somebody who is supposed to protect their health,” Governor Hochul went on to say.
The vaccine mandate in New York City for all DOE employees is facing similar legal opposition after Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Laurence L. Love temporarily blocked the mandate this week until September 22.
New York City’s municipal unions are spearheading the lawsuit against the mandate, which would require all DOE employees to have at least one vaccine dose by September 27.
“While we do believe our members should get the vaccine, we do not believe it should be a condition of employment. Clearly, the courts agree. The fight is not over, but we are energized by this decision and ready to keep going on behalf of our members,” Henry Garrido, Executive Director of District Council 37, said in a statement following the Manhattan Supreme Court ruling.
However, the city still plans on implementing the mandate on September 27.
“It doesn’t change our approach. It’s a very temporary action to get to the court date where the actual case will be heard. We’re very, very confident in our legal position. So, we’re just continuing to build the framework for full implementation on the 27th,” Mayor de Blasio said to reporters on Wednesday.
A City Hall spokesperson echoed the Mayor’s message later that day in a statement given to the New York Post.
“New York City’s education worker vaccine mandate, which has been embraced by the White House, goes into effect on September 27. The court’s action expires on September 22,” the City Hall spokesperson told the Post.
While the legality of both the state and city vaccine mandates are currently being challenged, a new CDC study that tracked over 600,000 COVID-19 cases from April to July across 13 states revealed data that is alarming for unvaccinated individuals.
The study released its results last Friday and found that since the Delta variant has become the most common variant, unvaccinated individuals are four and a half times more likely to get infected than fully vaccinated individuals. Additionally, the study found that unvaccinated individuals were 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 when compared to fully vaccinated people.
