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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was spotted dining out again, less than a week after eating indoors while unvaccinated and testing positive for COVID-19. According to the New York Post, Palin returned to Upper East Side restaurant Elio’s, where she dined without showing proof of vaccination over the weekend, to apologize — and ended up eating a meal outside in 20-degree weather.
“Tonight Sarah Palin returned to the restaurant to apologize for the fracas around her previous visit,” Elio’s shared in a statement to the Post. “In accordance with the vaccine mandate and to protect our staff, we seated her outdoors.”
Palin visited a third restaurant while unvaccinated and presumably COVID positive on Tuesday evening, according to Gothamist, who confirmed the former governor dined outdoors at Campagnola, another Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene currently requires those who test positive for COVID to quarantine for at least five days from their test date, and up to 10 days if symptoms persist.
Local business calls on New Yorkers to support Two Bridge’s Diner
Teddy Vasilopoulos, the owner of Two Bridge’s Diner on the Lower East Side, has reportedly stepped away from the business after being injured on the job. Vasilopoulos is currently in recovery from an accident that left him pinned by his own food truck, according to an Instagram post from Fong On, a decades-old tofu shop located around the corner. His brother John Vasilopoulos is holding down the restaurant until he recovers, Fong On wrote. “Please go support his business so that he’s got something to come back to.”
The Infatuation doubles down on restaurant ratings
As the New York Times continues to hold off on starred restaurant reviews — and Eater scraps them altogether — one food website is doubling down on ratings. The Infatuation announced on Wednesday that its numeric review system — based on a 0.0 to 10.0 scale — had returned. “[W]e believe ratings are the best way to help you quickly and easily find the best restaurants,” Infatuation Editor-in-Chief Hillary Reinsberg wrote in a post announcing the change. The restaurant review site, which was recently acquired by JP Morgan Chase, dropped numbered ratings in June 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic.
Street vendors to rally in Times Square this morning
More than 150 street vendors and elected officials will march from Herald Square to Times Square beginning at 11 a.m., calling on state legislators to pass S1175A/A5081. The bill would lift several government regulations on street vending — including place and overall number of vendors allowed to operate — in cities across New York with a population of more than one million people. The march takes place exactly one year after the passage of Intro 116, a historic piece of legislation that raised the city’s long-criticized cap on vending permits.
