Heating up

Business owners along the Shore are focusing their reopening efforts in the open air. “I continue to urge everyone to engage in activities outside wherever possible, particularly as the weather warms up,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during an April 26 COVID-19 briefing. “We know that this virus is much less dangerous outdoors than indoors.”

Under the governor’s latest round of reopening measures, the limit on outdoor gatherings increased to 500 participants. Festivals and state and county fairs can expand to 50% capacity, which is the same as amusement parks. Large outdoor venues with at least 1,000 spots are limited to 50% capacity, a jump from 30% capacity for venues with at least 2,500 seats. Indoor dining, retailers, casinos and other forms of entertainment must stay at 50%, but Murphy has suggested that he could “accelerate” the state’s reopening if the pandemic continues to ebb.

Vasser

Jeffrey Vasser, who heads the state’s Division of Travel and Tourism, said that success for many businesses will come down to the ability operate outside. “People have a year of experience trying to be creative in their outdoor dining, how can we convert outdoor spaces besides a parking lot into a nice experience, and those places that can have some kind of outdoor venues are going to take advantage of it.”

Business owners can, for the most part, quickly shift their operations depending on what reopenings are announced, like hiring more servers or bartenders, Vasser continued. But changes to live entertainment schedules could come more slowly. “[Business] don’t have the revenue to be able to justify a high-end” performer, “so they’re going to be booking B-list acts. That’s not something that you can change on a dime, so if all of a sudden all restrictions are gone, you’re committed to that music.”

Tim McLoone, who heads McLoone’s Restaurants, which operates a number of restaurants along the Shore, said most people will simply opt to take advantage of the outdoors now that they can. Rainy weather could mean patrons will simply decide to not eat out. “When we’ve had friendly weather, we’ve seen really unprecedented demand for this time of year,” said McLoone, whose restaurants dot Long Branch, Sea Bright and the Asbury Park boardwalk. He’s actually planning even more locations this summer, “which makes me totally nuts I guess.”

McLoone’s Restaurants’ The Robinson Pier House in Asbury Park. – TIM MCLOONE’S

Easing other restrictions, such as the ban on barside seating, would ultimately make the most difference for McLoone’s establishments. Doing so would reverse a trend toward going home early that’s hurt profitability. “A lot of our places have been closing at 10 o’clock. We never closed at 10,” before COVID-19, he said. “There’s been a culture shift where people don’t go out late.”

Indoor catered events – weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, sweet 16 parties, graduation parties, proms and others – will be limited to 50% capacity or 250 people, whichever is lower. Dance floors will be allowed to reopen, but only for “closed and closely supervised events.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking at whether to reduce the “social distancing” definition from the widely followed 6 feet. Murphy said the state would go along with whatever the CDC decides.

Restrictions on masks and social distancing will be enforced, Murphy said. Dance floors at bars and nightclubs are closed “as we know they are less controlled and more hospitable for this virus.”

Jeanne Cretella, who heads Landmark Hospitality which owns several wedding venues across the state, called the move a “step in the right direction,” and that it will provide relief to married couples-to-be, worried about what the effect of pandemic restrictions might have on their wedding. “Venues really have taken kind of a hard hit through the pandemic,” she said. “So many of our clients are making decisions on their event space, on sending out invitations months in advance. Even once you have a green light” to reopen, “we were faced with people who have already made a decision to move on.”

And the previous limit of 150 people meant that many couples were forced into a position of crossing off names of who would and would not be invited to the wedding, for no other reason than capacity restrictions, she said.

The New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at Sollberg Airport in Readington Township. – NEW JERSEY LOTTERY FESTIVAL OF BALLOONING

Going forward, Cretella expects that the corporate events common before the pandemic would not likely return until this winter at the earliest. Still, some companies might opt to use the outdoor spaces while they’re still available.

The main winners in this latest round of reopenings are the event spaces. “Event, festival and outdoor musical events capacities being raised to 1,000 will also allow us to offer a lot more opportunities now to promoters,” said Ben Rose, who heads marketing and public relations for the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority. The agency promotes tourism for the three Wildwood shore municipalities, and operates the 7,000-seat, 260,000-square-foot Wildwood Convention Center.

Large events like the NJ State BBQ Championship & Angelsea Blues Festival, which draw tens of thousands of patrons, are still scheduled for July but are currently “on standby.”

Murphy has hinted at a “substantial increase” on outdoor gathering capacities before Memorial Day if the numbers improve.

Rose

“Most summer and fall events are still on the calendar and the event promoters are following these announcements carefully so they can make the appropriate decisions on whether they can move forward or have to cancel. It’s still a moving target right now,” Rose said.

Event organizers at some of the largest summer fairs – like the 38th annual New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at the Solberg Airport in Warren County that runs July 24 to 26 and the New Jersey State Fair in Sussex County that runs Aug. 7 to 14 – are optimistic about the summer now that they’d likely be able to run at 50% capacity. Both were cancelled in 2020.

Howard Freeman, the balloon festival’s executive producer, estimates the three-day event could bring upwards of 175,000 guests. But with the entire airport occupying 744 acres, social distancing and mask requirements could still allow for a sizable turnout. Event organizers would employ some type of formula, applying factors such as the number of people per square-foot. And that’s assuming Murphy doesn’t further lift those restrictions by then.

Freeman

The festival has gotten interest from advertisers, sponsors and patrons “who’ve been sitting on the sidelines with their budget and trying to figure out what they’re going to do,” Freeman said. “As it gets closer … we’ll be using best practices from other events, a lot of outdoor events, including the Meadowlands [fair] that occurs in July,” he continued.

Mike Richards, the manager for the Sussex County fairgrounds, pointed out the 100 acres of space at the site, also providing ample room for social distancing “Our buildings are either open air such as livestock barns or are huge such as the Richards Building. The carnival has also prepared with increased sanitization efforts. I think it is also likely that further easing of restrictions will occur before August,” he said in an email. “I think we’re in a good position to hold our fair in August.”