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The governor came down on a plan from Asbury Park that would allow restaurants to reopen for indoor dining on June 15, as more towns and cities become restless as state shutdown orders drag on for months.

“The actions of the Asbury Park governing body are inconsistent with my executive border,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at his daily COVID-19 press briefing Thursday afternoon at the Trenton War Memorial.

“We cannot have one set of rules for one town and one set of rules for another town,” he added. “We move as one state guided by science, period.”

The Asbury Park ordinance, passed on Wednesday evening, would have allowed restaurants to reopen for indoor dining with capacity set at 25 percent, or 50 people, whichever is lower.

Those numbers are the new guidelines in place for how indoor gatherings are allowed to operate, after New Jersey’s stay-at-home order was lifted on Tuesday.

“With all due respect, we cannot have communities mirroring the cavalier actions taken in other states that have not put a premium on … the health of their residents,” Murphy said.

The governor’s executive orders bar towns and cities from enacting their own local rules that conflict with his own mandates. But, he did not indicate what his administration would do to businesses that follow the seaside city’s ordinance and open their doors.

Over the past several months, many businesses that opened in defiance of the order – such as bars, nail and hair salons, and non-essential retailers – have been issued fines, and named and shamed in daily or weekly New Jersey State Police press releases.

In more recent weeks, individual towns and their local officials have tried to push the envelope with what exactly could be reopened.

Several mayors representing towns where some of the state’s largest malls are located wrote to Murphy this week, making a case to reopen the indoor shopping centers by June 15, even though the governor has been opposed.

The letter was signed off by the mayors of Bridgewater, Elizabeth, Paramus, Wayne and Woodbridge.

“We have lived this already, folks,” Murphy added, warning local towns and cities not to take that route and chair their own reopenings. “We’ve gone through hell, please, let’s not go back through it.”

Going rogue

Non-essential retail will be allowed to reopen at half capacity on Monday, while bars and restaurants can resume outdoor dining where tables must be spaced 6 feet apart. But many businesses that’ve still had to stay closed have shown impatience with the speed at which Murphy has rolled back restrictions.

Wayne High School planned to hold an outdoor graduation ceremony this month—before they would be allowed to on July 6.

“It appears to be organized in the way we want it, the bad news is we’re not allowing them until July 6,” Murphy said.

The Tilton Square Theatre in Northfield shortly reopened with reduced capacity, before announcing less than an hour after Murphy’s comments that it would be suspending operations indefinitely.

Murphy said the owner was issued a summons and a ticket. Local authorities will wield the discretion to do the same with non-compliant business owners, said New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Pat Callahan.

And a gym at Bellmawr attempted to reopen amid national coverage and thoroughfare last month, but the owner was issued numerous citations and ultimately closed the facility’s doors.

“I fully understand and appreciate the economic pressures, especially [on] small businesses” and the restaurant and hospitality industry, the governor added on Thursday.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said that Tilton Square Theatre had planned to, but never did, reopen. That was not correct; the theater did reopen, but then announced it would suspend operations. That change was made at 5:44 p.m. EST on June 11, 2020, the article was also updated to include additional information about efforts to reopen shopping malls, and additional comments from Gov. Phil Murphy.