Hundreds of N.Y.C. restaurants file $2 billion suit against Cuomo, de Blasio over indoor dining ban

A class-action lawsuit filed in New York City is seeking $2 billion in damages against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over the indoor dining ban that still persists in the city even as the rest of the state has been allowed to resume the practice. 

The lawsuit, filed late last month in the state Supreme Court on behalf of several hundred restaurants, argues that Cuomo and de Blasio have enforced “catastrophic” policies against New York City restaurants, continuing a ban on indoor dining there while restaurants throughout New York state have been allowed to re-open their dining rooms.

It further claims that Cuomo over the past several months has “issued stricter and confusing executive orders” even as the virus remained under control in the city and the state.

The suit argues that the executive orders have deprived the defendants of their rights without due process, and that Cuomo and de Blasio “have unilaterally suspended civil liberties and announced that this state of affairs will continue even over the Legislature’s objection.”

“The Governor nor the Mayor have not disclosed and/or disclosed only a minimal amount of the data or methodology used to create the modeling that purportedly justifies this extreme action,” the suit argues.

The defendants seek “just compensation in the amount of $2,000,000,0000” as well as “a preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement and further enforcement of the executive orders.”