{"id":181164,"date":"2021-02-18T03:43:44","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T00:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/people-get-death-threats-for-dining-indoors-during-the-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2021-02-18T03:43:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T00:43:44","slug":"people-get-death-threats-for-dining-indoors-during-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/people-get-death-threats-for-dining-indoors-during-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"#People get death threats for dining indoors during the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#People get death threats for dining indoors during the pandemic<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

When Meg Radice and Audrey Jongens recently posted a video on TikTok about a meal they had enjoyed at Kyma in the Flatiron District, they received a shocking, scorn-filled message in response.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndoor dining? You\u2019ll regret this when you\u2019re dying on a ventilator.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the ban on indoor dining in NYC was lifted on Friday, the gal pals have frequented the city\u2019s beloved \u2014 and beleaguered \u2014 restaurants at least five times. They also continue to post about their dining adventures under the handle @TheVIPList<\/a>, despite finger-wagging, death threats and even accusations of killing their grandparents. (Both recently lost a grandparent to non-COVID-related causes.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get hate all the time for going out to eat,\u201d Radice, 22, told The Post. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople try to shame us, but it\u2019s so insane to shame people who want to support businesses that have been dying. It\u2019s allowed, we\u2019re being safe, we\u2019re spread apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Food
WHINING & DINING: Food bloggers Audrey Jongens (left) and Maeghan Radice said they\u2019ve received death threats after posting about eating at restaurants.<\/figcaption>
@TheVIPList\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tut-tutters are particularly vocal on social media<\/a>, where the we-know-better-than-you brigade are out in full force.<\/p>\n

Popular Instagram account @thesussmans<\/a>, for instance, recently seethed at diners returning to indoor restaurants: \u201cINDOOR DINING IS DANGEROUS AND SELFISH,\u201d read a Jan. 31 post to almost 2,500 likes. \u201cTaking off your mask indoors for long periods of time while drinking, eating and having conversation can put you, other guests and staff in a susceptible position.\u201d <\/p>\n

Instead, NYC-based cookbook authors Max and Eli Sussman advised \u201cordering tons of takeout and tipping with cash like a maniac,\u201d noting that 35 percent of the total amount was app<\/a>ropriate.<\/p>\n

Too bad the deep-pocketed New Yorkers who can afford such largesse have largely fled the city. In the meantime, a new study<\/a> conducted by the NYC Hospitality Alliance released Tuesday revealed that more than 90 percent of restaurant owners couldn\u2019t make rent in December.<\/p>\n

The return of limited indoor dining offers a modest lifeline \u2014 and restaurateurs bristle at the criticism they\u2019re getting for taking it. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re being selfish? This is our livelihood \u2014 this is our entire life, seven days a week,\u201d said Anisa Moloney-Iuliano, who co-owns five restaurants, including Gnoccheria and Ampia Rooftop, in NYC.<\/p>\n

All of her restaurants have taken massive financial hits, and she\u2019s had to invest tens of thousands of dollars in air filters.<\/p>\n

That said, she and her staff take no relish in playing hall monitor to blas\u00e9 customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease respect the protocols,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To combat the spread of COVID, city regulations outline clear precautions including seating at 25 percent capacity, contact tracing, temperature checks, spaced-out tables, masks when not seated, and staff masked at all times. On Wednesday, the city announced a revised set of guidelines<\/a>, which include limiting parties to four people. <\/p>\n

Despite the risk of airborne infection in enclosed spaces, transmission rates from restaurants and bars accounted for just 1.4 percent of statewide cases, according to limited contact tracing data released<\/a> by Gov. Cuomo in December.<\/p>\n

\"William
TABLE FOR TABOO:\u2009 William McLarnon, who enjoyed a Valentine\u2019s Day date with Julia Tchen at Noir, said he and others shouldn\u2019t be criticized for supporting local restaurants.<\/figcaption>
Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After months of not stepping foot inside a restaurant, William McLarnon, a former model turned real-estate agent<\/a> with Corcoran, was excited to spend Valentine\u2019s Day at the Meatpacking District supper club Noir with his girlfriend, Julia Tchen.<\/p>\n

With temperature checks, social distancing and mask requirements being implemented, the 31-year-old said he had no qualms about buoying business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been out of work for a while and it\u2019s good to help,\u201d said McLarnon, who lives in Midtown West. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to live their lives,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s risk in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, after months of eating at home, he relished a return to \u201ca new semi-normal\u201d as he nibbled on his imported Japanese wagyu steak with edible 24-k gold leaf.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to get that exotic dish from takeout,\u201d he said.\n <\/p><\/div>\n