NYC ban on using restaurant bathrooms is quickly flushed

It was a wee misunderstanding. Diners eating out in New York City don’t have to hold it until they get home. City officials walked back a bizarre rule Friday that barred outdoor dining patrons from using a restaurant’s indoor restroom.

Mayor de Blasio called the initial guidance a “mistake” after Counsel to the Mayor Kapil Longani issued a new set of rules stating that no customers would be allowed inside an establishment for any reason, even to use the bathroom.

By Friday morning, the State Liquor Authority insisted in a statement that wasn’t true and that owners could “of course” let people inside to use the facilities as long as they wear a face covering.

“I don’t know the nuances of how it happened. It’s just stupid,” de Blasio said on WNYC. “Obviously people need to use the bathroom. If you’re patronizing a restaurant, you have the right to use the bathroom. That’s been cleared up. That’s been put out publicly that that was a mistake.”

“Sometimes common sense has to rule the day. So to all New Yorkers who go to a restaurant, yes, you can use the bathroom,” he added.

The city’s new stringent guidance, based on rules from the SLA issued as indoor dining was shuttered in the five boroughs on Monday, also outlined regulations about takeout, outdoor dining structures and other issues.

Melissa DeRosa, Gov. Cuomo’s top aide, said the SLA used old language from an earlier edict mandating bars and restaurants close by 10 p.m. when the agency posted information about the closing of indoor dining.

That mix-up, coupled with the city failing to consult with the state before issuing the new guidelines, led to the bathroom debacle.

“We thought it was common sense that when you say no one is allowed inside obviously that’s for dining purposes and not for the purposes of the bathroom,” DeRosa said during a briefing with the governor in Albany. “The city issued what the issued yesterday without consulting us or asking for clarification.”