New York City indoor dining
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  • Restaurants and gyms are suing New York City over its vaccine mandate for indoor activities.
  • The lawsuit hopes to overturn the mandate as being unfair to businesses.
  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio feels confident his mandate can withstand the legal challenge.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Three restaurants are suing New York City and Mayor Bill de Blasio over its vaccine mandate for indoor activities.

The outer-borough restaurants are hoping to overturn the mandate, arguing that it unfairly affects restaurants and excludes other indoor facilities like salons, offices, and places of worship.

The restaurants involved in the lawsuit include Deluca's Italian Restaurant and Max's Esca in Staten Island, and Pasticceria Rocco in Brooklyn. The Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue and two gyms, Evolve-33 and Staten Island Judo Jujitsu, are also plaintiffs in the complaint.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday and already has the support of several Republican elected officials, according to The New York Times, including Representative Nicole Malliotakis and City Council member Joe Borelli, who both represent Staten Island.

The lawsuit states that the plaintiffs feel the vaccine mandates are "unscientific" and "would severely impact" their "business, life-savings, and livelihood."

The lawsuit comes weeks after de Blasio announced that workers and patrons wanting to participate in indoor activities such a gyms, restaurants, and performance venues would be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

De Blasio feels confident his executive order will withstand a legal challenge, he told the Times on Wednesday.

"I've had the conversation with the Law Department - tremendous confidence that we're in a very strong legal position," de Blasio said to The Times. "We're in a global pandemic still. The decisions that have been taken have been taken with the leadership of our health officials who have been fighting this battle from the beginning."

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