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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Speak Shenzhen -> 
NYC restaurants to add a COVID-19 surcharge
    2020-09-22  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

New York City diners may soon see a COVID-19 surcharge on their bills as the restaurant industry continues to hobble due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The New York City Council passed a bill last Wednesday 46-2 that would allow restaurants to charge as much as 10 percent on customers dining indoors or outdoors to help cover COVID-19 expenses.

Labeled the “COVID-19 Recovery Charge,” the surcharge does not add to the bill’s overall tax, nor applies to delivery or takeout orders. A restaurant implementing the surcharge is free to use the new funds however it likes, though it must also make it clear that the surcharge is not a substitute for a tip or gratuity for waitstaff.

Republican City Councilman Joseph Borelli, the bill’s prime sponsor, told CNN that the new option will help owners who don’t want to go through the trouble of raising prices on their menus.

“New York was actually the only city that we knew of that actually had a ban, a 45-year-old law made when the Department of Consumer Affairs essentially reorganized, and it prevented restaurants, the only industry in New York City, from applying a surcharge,” he explained.

“If you go to a hair salon, a gas station, or any other business in the city of New York, the owner is allowed to charge you a surcharge for basically whatever they want,” Borelli said. “They obviously have to disclose it and you have to agree to pay it, but they’re allowed to. It’s only restaurants that are banned from this.”

Once the bill is signed, restaurants would be able to tack on the surcharge up to 90 days after full indoor dining is restored and there is no longer a statewide disaster emergency declared for the virus.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is said to support the bill that passed Wednesday, though there are no details yet on when he will sign it.

Restaurateurs have pushed de Blasio for the option to add surcharges even before the pandemic. In April 2018, more than 200 restaurants signed an open letter to de Blasio pleading that the city allow them to implement an optional surcharge, which is already allowed throughout New York State.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【蹒跚】pánshān hobble move along unsteadily or with difficulty

【披露】pīlù disclose make known or public

由于新冠疫情,餐饮业的处境仍然艰难,纽约市的食客们可能很快就会在账单上看到“疫情恢复费”。

纽约市议会上周三以46票赞成、2票反对通过了一项法案,允许餐馆向在室内或室外就餐的顾客收取最高10%的费用,以应对新冠疫情的打击。

这项收费被称为“疫情恢复费”,不计入账单的计税总额,也不适用于外卖和外带食物。收取“疫情恢复费”的餐厅可自由支配这笔钱,但必须明确,这项收费不能替代服务员的小费。

共和党市议员约瑟夫▪伯雷利是该法案的主要发起人,他告诉美国有线电视新闻网,这项新收费将帮助那些不想给菜单提价的店主。

他解释说:“实际上,纽约是我们所知道的唯一一个禁止餐饮业收取附加费的城市。这项有45年历史的法律是在消费者事务部重组时制定的,它阻止纽约市的餐饮业申请额外服务费,且只有餐饮业需要遵守这一点。”

伯雷利说:“如果你去发廊或加油站,或者在纽约市的任何其他店面,老板可以向你收取任何服务的附加费。当然他们必须明确说明,你必须同意支付,但他们可以这样做。只有餐馆不可以。”

一旦法案签署,在完全恢复室内就餐90天内,且没有出现全州范围的新冠疫情紧急灾难状态的情况下,餐馆将可以加收这项费用。

据称,纽约市长白思豪支持上周三通过的这项法案,不过他何时签署该法案还不清楚。

餐馆老板们甚至在疫情暴发前就已经向白思豪施压,要求允许收取附加费。2018年4月,200多家餐厅签署了一封致白思豪的公开信,请求纽约市允许他们收取可选附加费,纽约州已经普遍允许收取这项费用。

(chinadaily.com.cn)

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