Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy posted a passionate response to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announcing on Friday that all indoor dining in New York City will be closed down due to continued increases of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The ban is being put in place despite Cuomo's own data showing that most COVID-19 cases are from indoor gatherings at homes and indoor dining only accounts for 1.4 percent of all cases.
"The hospitalizations have continued to increase in New York City, we have said that we would watch it if the stabilization if the hospital rate didn’t stabilize, we would close indoor dining. It is not. We’re going to close indoor dining in New York City on Monday. Outdoor dining and take out continues," Cuomo said.
This is insanity. Let small businesses control their fate not the government. So many decades of blood, sweat and tears destroyed without even giving people a chance to fight. Scary that basic freedoms we took for granted can just be taken away by a few politicians. https://t.co/lag5D7AbMb
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 11, 2020
"New York City just closed indoor dining. What do they think is going to happen? What do they think is going to happen to the thousands of restaurants, bars, they're done. The bar and restaurant industry, small businesses have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed and they've tried everything," Portnoy said, pointing to how restaurants have been very creative to try to stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"And now a few politicians in New York says, 'Eh you're done. We're shutting it down.' How do you expect these people to survive? What are people gonna go out to dinner now in ice-cold temperatures? It's insanity!" Portnoy continued.
"I can't believe, in this country, what I consider the most basic right of them all, the right to earn a living, the right to earn a livelihood is now being stolen, it is being stolen by a few politicians who believe they are smarter than me and you! They believe they have the right to tell me and you how to live our lives," Portnoy said.
Politicians Are Stealing the Basic Right To Earn A Living pic.twitter.com/9Yx9Vf1iP1
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 11, 2020