Reopen News: NYC to enter Phase 2 on Monday, Governor Cuomo says

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Thursday, June 18, 2020

NYC to enter Phase 2 on Monday, Governor Cuomo says

New York City will be ready to enter Phase 2 on Monday, June 22, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- New York City will be ready to enter Phase 2 on Monday, June 22, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.

His announcement was in contrast to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said he didn't see the city being ready until early July. He also said that the decision would be "made closely with the state," but barely two hours later, the state made the decision.

As part of Phase 2, restaurants and bars can offer outdoor dining, and professional services, administrative support, real estate rental and leasing, and in-store retail will be allowed to reopen.

"New York City will have been Phase 1 for 14 days," Cuomo said. "Look at all the numbers. All the numbers are good. Look at the number of tests, the positive tests, you look at it from the point of reopening, the numbers are good. Hospitalizations, since reopening, the numbers are good. So New York City is on track to enter Phase 2 on Monday."

New York City will have been in Phase 1 for 14 days.

The governor defended the decision by saying the same criteria is being used for all regions of the state.

"The same metrics we use in New York City are the same metrics we've used in every region across the state, and they have all shown to be accurate and effective," he said. "We don't change the rules for New York City. We don't change the rules for Long Island. It's one set of rules for everyone, and they have worked everywhere in this state."

He called on the people of New York City to continue being responsible.

"Employers, store owners, employees, individuals, local governments have to be responsible and do their job," he said.

Earlier in the morning Wednesday, de Blasio said the city was awaiting any potential new cases that might stem from protests to come to light either this weekend or early next week.

"We're all mindful that we had a very unusual situation with the protests," he said. "And we're going to see, we believe the fuller impact, if any, of the protests in terms of our health indicators around this weekend maybe into the first few days next week. That's an important factor here."

De Blasio also cited the influx of hundreds of thousands of workers who returned to work in the city when Phase 1 started two weeks ago.

"If you're judging by today's numbers, we're in great shape," he said. "And I've been impressed that they've been very steady now for many days. But what we're looking for going into the weekend is do we see any variation there? I know the state's concerned about that as well. So it's a day to day discussion. We want to come to a decision with the state as quickly as possible."

After the announcement was made by the governor, a de Blasio spokesperson said reopening Monday is "pretty consistent" with what the mayor said earlier.