#NJ sues Asbury Park for allegedly flouting executive order and allowing indoor dining

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People walk on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
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The state of New Jersey has sued the city of Asbury Park Friday for encouraging restaurants to defy Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order barring indoor dining, new court papers show.

Under Murphy’s order restaurants can begin outdoor dining on Monday while indoor dining is still barred. But Wednesday, Asbury Park city council voted to allow local eateries to begin indoor dining as long as they limit guests to 25-percent of their stated capacity or 50 people, whichever is lower.

Now, the NJ Attorney General’s office has filed suit on behalf of Murphy Friday against the town, a popular dining destination, over the move, according to the lawsuit filed in Mercer County Superior Court.

“We have worked with the governing body of Asbury Park to try to amicably resolve the issue of their resolution regarding indoor dining. Unfortunately, they have not done so,” Murphy said, at a press conference earlier Friday, according to NJ.com. “We have one set of rules and they are based on one principle — ensuring public health.”

Asbury Park is not legally allowed to enact any order that conflicts with the state executive order and Murphy wants a judge to stop the city from implementing its resolution, the court papers say.

Re-opening businesses for indoor service, “requires careful calibration and planning,” the lawsuit says.

“Yet the City of Asbury Park has jumped the proverbial gun, potentially exposing the citizens of the City and the State to the acceleration of COVID-19’s spread — including beyond Asbury Park’s own borders,” the court documents charge.

Asbury Park Mayor John Moor — who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit — declined to comment noting he hasn’t yet been served.

As part of Murphy’s order to begin re-opening the Garden State back up amid declining COVID-19 cases, larger groups will be permitted including for indoor religious gatherings andw outdoor graduations beginning July 6.

On Monday, as part of Stage 2 of the state’s re-opening, restaurants can begin serving guests outside, businesses can take customers as long as they limit the flow to 50 percent capacity and child day care centers can reopen, NJ.com reported.