Restaurants Sue NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio over Vaccine Mandate

Restaurants have sued New York Mayor Bill de Blasio over the city’s mandate requiring proof of vaccination against the coronavirus, court documents show.

The New York Post reports:

The businesses argue that the mandate violates their constitutional rights and unfairly targets certain establishments but not others like churches, grocery stores, schools, offices and medical facilities, the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Staten Island Supreme Court alleges. The suit says that the mandate is “arbitrary and capricious” for a slew of reasons including that the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant can spread among both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, the court documents claim. The mandate also doesn’t accommodate certain exceptions for getting vaccinated such as: those who’ve already gotten the virus; those who are allergic to ingredients in the vaccine; those who have preexisting conditions that make getting the vaccine risky and those who whose religious beliefs stop them from getting it, the filing argues.

“The decision to get the vaccine should ultimately lie with the individual and his doctor, who knows that persons’ complete medical history, rather than a politician,” court documents read.

The businesses have asked the court to block the vaccine rules via a preliminary injunction.

Earlier August, De Blasio announced that New York City will mandate patrons show proof of vaccination prior to entering indoor establishments. The move came after outgoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) urged businesses to denying unvaccinated individuals from entering their establishments.

“We’ve got to shake people at this point and say, ‘Come on now.’ We tried voluntary. We could not have been more kind and compassionate. Free testing, everywhere you turn, incentives, friendly, warm embrace. The voluntary phase is over,” De Blasio said in a recent interview with MSNBC.

“More and more, there’s going to be a reality where, if you’re vaccinated, a world of opportunity opens up to you. If you’re not vaccinated, there’s going to be more and more things you can’t do,” he added.