An East Village restaurant owner says he won't force his workers to get the booster vaccine as part of New York City's mandate for private sector employees.

The owner of the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop and Brooklyn Chop House, Stratis Morfogen, says he's not anti-vaccine - he's anti-mandate. The Supreme Court has since blocked the mandate, but Morfogen says it's been counterintuitive since day one.

"I don't believe the vax card is the way to go when entering a public establishment because a person with a vax card can be asymptomatic or positive and they become the super spreader. Would you feel safer being at a bar with three people around you that have a vax card or someone that just tested negative within an hour?" he says.

Morfogen says he is committed to keeping staff and guests safe through rapid testing - proving that employees test negative for the virus with or without a vaccine card.

"From March 2020 to July 2020, the same staffers, who are my heroes, fed 8,400 health care heroes in 19 hospitals. You want me to fire them!? At this point. I'm never gonna do it," he says.

The restaurant owner says he's hopeful the city's new administration will begin supporting the people it has vowed to protect rather than adhering to their own agenda.