The Daily News reports that Governor Cuomo, who previously announced that indoor dining at restaurants, subject to a 25% capacity restriction and social distancing, as well as to a 10:00 p.m. curfew, could resume on Valentine’s Day, February 14; this coming Sunday. Apparently in response to pleas from restaurant owners that they be allowed to open for the entire weekend, along with declining COVID numbers, the Governor has advanced the date for indoor dining to resume to this coming Friday, February 12.
Mayor Responds to BQE Panel: Enforce Heavy Truck Ban, but Don’t Reduce Lanes
Anna Sanders in the Daily News reports that Mayor Bill de Blasio has responded to the recommendations included in the report just issued by the expert panel that he appointed to study options for the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The Mayor said an existing ban on trucks weighing over 80,000 pounds will be immediately and strictly enforced. He disagrees, however, with the panel’s recommendation that traffic on the affected cantilevered portion of the BQE below Brooklyn Heights be limited to two lanes in each direction, with the existing inner lanes serving as shoulders. While the panel’s report argues that providing shoulders will reduce the “worst case” delays resulting from accidents and disabled vehicles, which often cause diversion…