纽约市议会近日通过一项法案，为减少新冠疫情给纽约餐饮业带来的损失，餐馆可对顾客收取最高10%的“疫情恢复费”。

2020年9月，纽约市区的一家餐馆 图源：CNN

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.

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”。

hobble [ˈhɒbl]：vi.蹒跚；跛行

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

纽约市议会上周三（9月16日）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。

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.

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。

2020年6月21日，纽约市曼哈顿区，人们在露天就餐 图源：Agencies

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.

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（CNN），这项新收费将帮助那些不想给菜单提价的店主。

"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.

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。”

"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."

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。”

2020年3月29日，纽约市，疫情期间一名男子走过时代广场 图源：路透社

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.

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。

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.

据称，纽约市长白思豪支持16日通过的这项法案，不过他何时签署该法案还不清楚。

"We will support the bill as long as there is a guarantee that restaurant workers will at least earn similar wages before the pandemic," said Anthony Advincula, spokesman for Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a non-profit advocating for higher wages and better working conditions for restaurant workers.

“只要能保证餐厅员工的工资与疫情暴发前差不多，我们就会支持这项法案，”倡导为餐厅员工提高工资和改善工作条件的非营利组织“餐厅机会中心联合会”的发言人安东尼·阿德温库拉说。

Advincula further stressed that proper enforcement is necessary, and said he hopes that customers will realize the surcharge does not go directly to workers per se.

阿德温库拉进一步强调，适当的强制执行是必要的。他说，希望顾客能明白这项收费并不是直接进了员工腰包。

Restaurants could face a civil penalty between $50 and $350 for not adhering to the rules, according to the bill.

根据该法案，不遵守规定的餐馆将面临50美元（约合人民币338元）至350美元的民事罚款。

2020年7月10日，美国纽约州雪城，命运之神购物中心 图源：Agencies

餐馆要求征收附加费由来已久

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.

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。

Borelli had also introduced a similar bill in 2018 that would allow up to a 5% surcharge, and says he hopes the optional surcharge remains after the pandemic eventually subsides.

伯雷利还在2018年提出了一项类似的法案，允许餐馆收取最高5%的附加费。他说希望在疫情最终平息后，可选附加费仍然存在。

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced earlier this month that indoor dining can resume on September 30 with strict restrictions, including temperature checks, mandatory collection of contact information for contact tracing purposes, and a 25% capacity limit.

纽约州州长安德鲁·科莫本月早些时候宣布，9月30日可以恢复室内用餐，但有严格的限制，包括体温检查、为追踪接触者而强制收集联系信息，以及25%的客容量限制。

纽约州近64%餐馆将关门

Despite the city's embrace of outdoor dining, the industry is still in crisis.

尽管纽约市鼓励户外用餐，但餐饮业仍处于危机之中。

According to a survey by the New York State Restaurant Association of 1,000 restaurants across the state, almost 64% of owners said they could close shop by the end of the year without additional financial relief.

根据纽约州餐馆协会对全州1000家餐馆的调查，近64%的店主称如果得不到额外的经济援助，将在年底关门。

For Philippe Massoud, CEO and executive chef of Flatiron District-based ilili, the optional surcharge would allow his business to not "die on the operating table."

菲利普·马苏德是纽约市弗莱提荣区伊利利餐馆的首席执行官兼行政主厨，他认为可选附加费将使他的餐馆不会“死在手术台上”。

"This is not a moneymaker for me, at least in our company's culture. We are using it to deflect costs that we otherwise would not have," he continued.

他继续说道：“这项收费对我来说不是用来赚钱的，至少在我们公司的文化中是这样。我们用它来冲抵原本不会有的成本。”

英文来源：CNN

来源： 中国日报双语新闻