Curran lauds local eateries in Rockville Centre

County promoting Long Island Restaurant Week

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Bundled up outside George Martin the Original in Rockville Centre on a brisk Monday morning, County Executive Laura Curran encouraged local and New York City residents to support Nassau County’s restaurants that offer indoor dining. Curran also offered an update on the county’s vaccine distribution efforts and the Covid-19 numbers.

Winter weather has taken its toll on local restaurants. Even with space heaters and tents, it has been difficult to lure residents out of their homes for a meal. Curran encouraged people to support Long Island Restaurant Week, which began last Sunday and runs through this Sunday.

“It’s a great program, and it gives us the opportunity and exposure to cultivate new people, and it brings a lot of people in, and it works,” said George Korten, restaurateur and owner of George Martin the Original, which has operated in the village since 1989. Korten also cited takeout service as an important component of his business right now because of the 50 percent capacity and the 10 p.m. curfew.

Curran cited the falling rate of positive cases, currently 5.2 percent, and said that contact tracing had revealed that only 1.4 percent of cases had been traced to restaurants. The positivity rate was as high as 10 percent on Jan. 5. In light of this data, indoor dining will be allowed at 50 percent capacity, and Curran will renew the “Taste Nassau Today” marketing campaign to promote the county’s locally owned restaurants to new audiences.

“In Nassau, you don’t need to be wearing a pair of Senator Sanders’ mittens to enjoy a lovely meal,” Curran said, referring to the image of Sen. Bernie Sanders bundled up on Inauguration Day that went viral.

Mayor Francis X. Murray also advised those who would rather not dine indoors right now to make the most of takeout options to support local restaurants.

Turning to the county’s efforts to distribute the Covid-19 vaccines, Curran touted officials’ and volunteers’ efforts. “Every vaccine that we have received in our Department of Health has gone into someone’s arm,” she said. “One hundred percent in, 100 percent out. Not one wasted dose.” She went on to say that county facilities and the Department of Health had not had to cancel any appointments, since they wait until they have doses in hand to confirm those appointments. Curran also asked more residents to volunteer in the distribution centers, including the county-run facilities at Nassau Community College and the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury.

Due to the scarcity of the vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed that the county’s distribution sites be used only for the inoculation of essential workers, including law enforcement, fire service, corrections, teachers, transit workers and grocery store workers. “More than 70,000 vaccines have been administered here in Nassau County,” Curran said, “but clearly the need is much greater than that.” New York state  received only 240,000 doses of vaccine in the latest batch last week, according to Curran.

Curran, local officials, and restaurant owners are hopeful that the downward trend in the positivity rate of Covid-19 and the upward tend of vaccine distribution will allow local business to begin to get going again. LI Restaurant Week is offering deals and focusing on takeout service as an important tool in making the week successful.