photo courtesy of the Pearl in Ridgewood
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Governor Phil Murphy today announced increased indoor and outdoor gathering capacity limits as COVID-19 cases in New Jersey continue to decline. Effective immediately, indoor gatherings are now limited to 25% capacity of the rooms in which they will take place, with a maximum of 100 persons. Outdoor gatherings are now limited to 250 persons, and outdoor religious services and political activities will continue to have no numerical limits.
Ridgewood central business district is once again alive with music, dining, and social distancing. They new concept of a Pedestrian Mall fell into place nicely for the first evening, welcoming in summer. Stay tuned each Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer months for more music and outdoor dining. Increases in dining and gathering capacities should help Village businesses start to recover form the COVID lock down .
“While we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the “commonsense public health measures” that New Jerseyans have been complying with are now allowing for us to expand capacity limits,” said Governor Murphy. “We will continue to evaluate and make reopening decisions based on data, science, and facts. I thank the people of our great state for the collective effort that has enabled us to take steps like these.”
Before today’s Order, indoor gatherings were limited to 25% capacity, but with a maximum of 50 persons, and outdoor gatherings were limited to 100 persons, with the exception of outdoor religious services and political activities.
Furthermore, today’s Order clarifies that for the purposes of outdoor dining, “outdoor areas” are to be defined as open air spaces without a fixed roof, besides a temporary or seasonal awning or cover.
To read Executive Order No. 156, click here.
Let’s see if it lasts.