Growing up in England, my Indian-born parents encouraged me to read Harper Lee’s 1960 novel,
To Kill a Mockingbird. I was ten years old when I watched Gregory Peck portray Atticus Finch in the film adaptation of the book. For me, this monumental character embodied the very best and most courageous aspects of American civil advocates.
Those memories followed me as I grew up and became an American myself.
Earlier this month, attorneys at HoganWillig a law firm in Buffalo, New York asked me to provide an expert opinion in defense of almost 100 restaurants seeking to challenge the restrictions imposed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, despite the state’s Department of Health recording low COVID-19 transmission rates in restaurants. When asked, I thought of Finch.
Erie County will allow all restaurants to follow yellow zone guidelines
All restaurants in Erie County will be able to offer indoor dining at 50% capacity and no more than four people per table. Author: WGRZ Staff Updated: 5:34 PM EST January 14, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. Following a judge s ruling that WNY restaurant owners who filed a lawsuit against the state would be able to reopen under Yellow Zone restrictions; Erie County says they will apply the yellow zone guidelines to all Erie County restaurants.
That means all restaurants in Erie County will be able to offer indoor dining at 50% capacity and no more than four people per table. Restaurants will still have to abide by the 10 p.m. closing time.
The financial losses reach into the millions at the establishments familiar to everyone: Duffâs Famous Wings and Santora s Pizza Pub and Grill.
But the losses in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars are every much as crushing to the smaller restaurants better known in their own locales, like Londa s Diner in Depew and Raphael s in Hamburg.
Two dozen Buffalo area restaurants â big and small, with offerings from pub food to Italian cuisine, but all under an indoor-dining ban â submitted court affidavits this week detailing more than $10 million in financial losses for 2020 and 856 job cuts since March. They re among the 70 restaurants that signed on to a State Supreme Court lawsuit seeking a relaxation of state Covid-19 safety precautions.