New York Outdoor Dining, Public Transport Demand Stall

(Bloomberg) -- New York’s gradual reopening from the country’s biggest coronavirus outbreak stalled this week as the city delayed a plan to reintroduce indoor dining in restaurants.

Demand for public transportation in the past week was 53% below pre-coronavirus levels, matching the 53% decline recorded a week earlier, according to Moovit App Global Ltd. data.

The number of outdoor diners seated at New York restaurants was 95% lower than a year ago, according to OpenTable Inc., compared with a decline of 94% from the prior week. The city has delayed the return of indoor dining to guard against an increase in virus cases that has plagued states such as Florida, Texas and California.

New York state has recorded almost 400,000 positive tests for the virus, though infection rates have dropped to about 1% of daily testing, down from a peak of about 50% in late March.

Congestion on New York city streets increased to 37% at 5 pm yesterday, from 32% a week earlier, according to the TomTom Traffic Index. The year-earlier level was 72%.

Average daily turnstile traffic in the mass transit system rose 2.9% to 954,809 last week, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

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