All coronavirus restrictions will be lifted on May 29th. Nick Emmons from WBZ-TV reports.
Video transcript
DAVID WADE: Closed since the pandemic started, but now that the state is slated to fully reopen on May 29th, nightclub owners have a spring in their stride tonight. The clubs didn’t think they could open until August 1st.
LISA HUGHES: Now they are suddenly planning a much busier summer. And as Nick Emmons reports, after so much business lost, owners couldn’t be happier.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NICK EMMONS: Loud music and crowded dance floors return to Boston. As of May 29, restrictions on coronavirus will disappear across the state.
RANDY GREENSTEIN: We feel great. We are excited. We feel like we’ve waited 14 months for this and it’s there.
NICK EMMONS: Randy Greenstein of Big Night Entertainment Group says today’s announcement is great news for businesses and employees in their nightclubs across town.
RANDY GREENSTEIN: Now we can really get people back to work, get a paycheck, feel like we are caring for their families, and actually make money again.
NICK EMMONS: You won’t see plexiglass on the dance floors or temperature controls on the doors, just like in the old days.
RANDY GREENSTEIN: We know everyone we talk to wants normalcy. They want pre-pandemic life back so we will provide that. And if you’re still nervous, you probably shouldn’t go to a nightclub just yet if you’re nervous.
NICK EMMONS: Restaurants are also ready for a return to normal.
BILL SHERIDAN: Coming to a restaurant where there are no screens will be fun.
NICK EMMONS: Bill Sheridan of Red Paint Hospitality Group, which owns eight restaurants in Allston-Brighton, says today’s news is great, but he doesn’t expect restaurants to bounce back anytime soon.
BILL SHERIDAN: It will take a couple of years.
NICK EMMONS: One thing holding back the service industry across the board is a labor shortage.
RANDY GREENSTEIN: We started the pandemic with 1,500 employees. You know we had to go down to zero and now we’re on our way back up. We have seven or eight hundred now.
The story goes on
BILL SHERIDAN: If you slow down the process of opening restaurants now, you will attract people and hire high quality employees.
NICK EMMONS: And as for that hiring shortage, Big Night says they won’t fully reopen all of their clubs in town because they just don’t have enough staff right now to do it all at once. You need to hire more than 500 workers ASAP. Send it back to you.
DAVID WADE: All right, lots of jobs are opening up and it’s good to see the companies that have been so badly hurt can return.
