Popular Maplewood Bar Closes With Note: ‘The Pandemic Killed Us’
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — While some restaurants in states hit hard by coronavirus have found ways to weather the storm through outdoor dining or delivery, others haven’t been as fortunate. On Thursday, a popular bar in Maplewood, the Cassidy, announced on social media: “The Cassidy has closed. The pandemic killed us. Visit us now at Gladstone Tavern. Stay healthy, Tom + Jennifer Carlin.”
Patrons left more than 50 comments, including: “So sorry, Tom and Jennifer. I so loved bringing friends and family there. We’ll see you in Gladstone.”
The Cassidy Bar and Kitchen was located on Maplewood Avenue. Their other establishment is in an 1847 farmhouse on Main Street in Gladstone.
Several popular establishments in North Jersey have had to close recently because of the pandemic.
On Sunday, a Hoboken restaurateur who posted a long goodbye note, months after she was again nominated for a prestigious James Beard award. Maricel Presilla of Hoboken’s Cucharamama, who had won the “Best Chef” award in 2012 and was nominated this year, said that her eatery, across the street from the local hospital, couldn’t offer outdoor dining.
“Pandemics have the insidious ability to disrupt much more than people’s health,” she wrote. “Just as thousands of lives have been taken, people’s dreams and their hard work of years have been shattered forever too.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy allowed restaurants to offer outdoor dining starting June 15, something of which many restaurants have taken advantage. But a plan to offer 25 percent capacity indoor dining was rescinded by the governor after the virus continued spreading around the country.
The governor warned on Wednesday that New Jersey’s coronavirus cases are on the rise again, and he believes that indoor parties have been largely responsible for the uptick. On Thursday, Murphy said that the number of cases in New Jersey since early March climbed to 180,970, with 13,934 confirmed deaths. That included 261 cases confirmed since the day before, and 19 more confirmed deaths. Gov. Murphy Warns That NJ’s Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Again
But the current daily death rate is down from New Jersey’s peak: a high of 460 deaths in 24 hours on April 30, or one person every three minutes.
While New Jersey’s numbers have come down over time, states like Florida and Texas have been seeing record high hospitalizations and deaths this month. (See the daily increases in each state here).
Gov. Murphy has asked for residents to quarantine after coming from 34 states that are seeing spikes. Some of those had reopened early, and are now having to close certain beaches and bars.
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This article originally appeared on the Maplewood Patch
