On Sunday, Mary Josephine Generoso, who is the manager of Pasticceria Rocco restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, appeared in a Fox News interview where she slammed the possibility of a Wuhan coronavirus booster shot mandate. As we covered, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio previously implemented a vaccine mandate city-wide for most indoor establishments. He is now considering a booster shot mandate for indoor eating and concert venues.
“What is your reaction to a possible booster mandate on top of the double-vaxx mandate?” Fox News’ Brain Kilmeade asked Generoso.
“It’s exactly the same reaction I had when he came out with the initial vaccine mandate,” Generoso said.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” she added. “I think it’s infringing on our liberties.”
In August, when NYC's initial vaccine mandate was announced, Generoso said in an interview with local outlet WRIC that her restaurant would not turn away unvaccinated patrons. In the window of the restaurant, they hung a sign that said “We do not discriminate against ANY customer based on sex, gender, race, creed, age, vaccinated or unvaccinated. All customers who wish to patronize are welcome in our establishment.” Businesses that do not comply with the city’s vaccine mandate could face fines that escalate for repeated violations.
“The mayor’s asking store owners, business owners, restaurant owners, to start policing people as they come into a restaurant to sit down,” Generoso told Fox News. “We have basically, mostly female employees working with us. Some of them are very young. Initially, I was just worried about them having to check vaccine mandate passports and whatnot when they were walking in. And now we have to make sure that they’ve had a booster shot? I think it’s absolutely, absolutely ridiculous.”
In the interview, Kilmeade noted that Generoso has filed a lawsuit against the city over the vaccine mandates.
“It’s not about the fines, it’s not about somebody coming down on us. It’s really about protecting people’s civil liberties. It’s allowing people to come in and enjoy what NewYork has to offer – which is restaurants,” Generoso concluded. “It’s not up to us to be the vaccination police.”