The restaurant industry is perhaps the most essential part of New York City’s social and economic sectors – from small, family-owned restaurants to world-renowned establishments, the industry is the second-largest component of tourism spending.

But, at least 4,500 restaurants have been forced to permanently close their doors thanks to Governor Cuomo’s never-ending coronavirus restrictions.

As cases continue to rise, the Democrat ordered an end to all indoor dining starting on Monday, with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio in full support of the ban.

“The hospitalizations have continued to increase in New York City,” Cuomo said. “We said that we would watch it if the stabilization, if the hospital rate didn’t stabilize we would close indoor dining. It is now. We’re gonna close indoor dining in the city on Monday.”

Cuomo’s decision has received enormous backlash because of its disregard for the facts.

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, blasted the dining ban, calling it “insanity” in a Twitter rant Friday.

Politicians Are Stealing the Basic Right To Earn A Living pic.twitter.com/9Yx9Vf1iP1

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 11, 2020

“I can’t believe in this country, what I consider the most basic right of them all, the right to earn a living, the right to earn a livelihood, is now being stolen,” he continued. “It is being stolen by a few politicians who believe they are smarter than me and you.”

According to the state’s contact tracing program, restaurants and bars have contributed a mere 1.4 percent to the total number of cases, while personal gatherings have driven nearly 75 percent.

So, essentially, Cuomo is shutting down an industry, pulverizing small businesses and putting workers out of a job only to make a microscopic dent in case numbers.

And restaurant owners are infuriated.

“We’ve been following everything that they gave us – the guidelines, we changed our air filter systems, we do the protocols of taking temperatures, getting people to sign the [contact tracing] papers, everything from A to Z,” one restaurant owner told the New York Post. “It’s just not right you have small businesses that are day to day surviving, and day to day they’re trying to pay the bills and day to day trying to feed their staff who are trying to feed their kids.”

Closing down restaurants takes away one of the few options New York City residents have to socialize, and because humans need social interactions, household gatherings will likely skyrocket – and so will case numbers.