New York City Caps Restaurant Delivery Fees

New York City is the latest major city to address how restaurants are faring during the coronavirus pandemic. 

De Blasio Signs Restaurant Delivery Legislation

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed on Tuesday a new set of guidelines on how the government can help bars and restaurants reopen. Some of the initiatives include a commission cap of 5% on third-party delivery platform fees and a 15% delivery fee cap.

The city will also ban third-party platforms from charging any fee for facilitating a phone call that didn't end up in an order, forego 2020 sidewalk cafe franchisee fees and protect commercial tenants from personal liability clauses in their leases.

The New York City Hospitality Alliance said in a press release that restaurants and bars are "praising" the government for action it is taking to "help the hospitality industry survive the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Supporters of this legislation extended a glimmer of hope to thousands of restaurants across the five boroughs," Andrew Rigie, NYC Hospitality Alliance executive director, said in the press release. "We'll continue to fight for the future of the New York City restaurant and nightlife industry, which must be at the core of our city's economic and social recovery."

Detroit Opens Up The Roads

The state of Michigan introduced last week its own plans to reopen restaurants with a focus on outside eating, according to Eater. 

Encouragingly, restaurants appear to be planning on extending their dining area to the streets.

Restaurants and bars can only resume limited indoor operations when the state satisfies a series of metrics on its progress in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Some include cases and deaths "at low absolute rates per capita" and when the health system capacity is "very strong."

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