You are reading

Cuomo Unveils Path Toward Reopening the State in Phases

Governor Andrew Cuomo at a press conference in Rochester today (Photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

May 4, 2020 By Christian Murray

Governor Andrew Cuomo said that certain regions of the state may begin to reopen on May 15, the date the state’s stay at home order is set to end.

The governor said that the restrictions would only be lifted if a number of benchmarks were met.

He stated that upstate areas would likely reopen first. “The state has different regions that are in much different situations than other regions,” Cuomo said. “We will open on a regional basis.”

Cuomo made it clear that New York City is a region that would not be reopening anytime soon.

“If upstate has to be waiting for downstate to be ready, it’ll be waiting a long time,” Cuomo said at a press conference in Rochester this morning.

Cuomo laid out a number of benchmarks that a region must meet before he is willing to permit it to reopen. There are seven requirements that deal with items such as hospital capacity, declining COVID rates, and its infrastructure for testing and tracing.

Currently, no region meets all requirements, although some are more closer to meeting them than others.

New York City meets four of the seven requirements. The number of available hospital and ICU beds is still too low—with the benchmark being at least 30 percent. The rate of hospitalization in New York City also has to come down. Cuomo is looking for a rate of 2 per 100,000 residents, while NYC is above five.

The governor also said that each region must come up with a plan as to how workers would return to their place of employment safely. The plan would include measures to ensure social distancing.

Cuomo said that once a region is given the all-clear its economy would reopen in phases. He said that the first phase would involve the resumption of construction and manufacturing; the second would be professional services, finance and retail; then restaurants and hotels; and finally schools and entertainment.

The data is showing signs that the worst of the COVID-19 is over. The number of coronavirus deaths took a significant drop to 226, the state’s lowest one-day total in weeks.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

Featured Events

Post an Event

View All Events…

No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News
Queens man sentenced to 7 years in prison for 2021 attempted kidnapping in Richmond Hill: DA

A Fresh Meadows man was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to kidnap a 5-year-old boy in Richmond Hill in July 2021, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday.

James McGonagle, 27, of Parsons Boulevard, pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court in November to attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child for grabbing the child off a sidewalk before his mother and siblings thwarted the abduction.

Read More
0
88-year-old woman robbed of purse containing cash while walking in Maspeth: NYPD

Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood are searching for a man who allegedly robbed an 88-year-old woman in Maspeth on the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 7.

The senior was walking near the intersection of Brown Place and 58th Avenue, two blocks south of the Long Island Expressway near Frontera Park, at around 4:45 p.m. when the alleged perpetrator snuck up behind her and forcibly removed her pocketbook, police said Tuesday.

Read More
0
Lawmakers secure federal funding to combat flooding in Queens after impact of Hurricane Ida and other storms

U.S. Congresswomen Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, announced on Jan. 7 that President Joe Biden has signed their legislation into law to address severe flooding in Queens.

The measure aims to mitigate future disasters like those caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021, which inundated the borough with record-shattering rainfall.

Read More
0
Op-ed | New York’s ground lease co-ops: Our families can’t wait any longer 

Jan. 14, 2025 By Michael Tang 

Last December brought a long-awaited victory for New York City. Our City Council adopted the historic City of Yes housing plan, paving the way for more than 80,000 new homes by 2040 with the promise of affordability. As a longtime resident of Flushing, Queens, I naturally welcomed the news – it’s a much-needed reprieve for New Yorkers as housing costs continue to soar in the midst of an unparalleled housing crisis. But entering 2025 on the heels of this win, we residents at  Murray Hill Cooperative remain at risk — our lives are virtually unchanged because we belong to the last class of unprotected “tenants” as ground lease co-op residents. Without legislative action, more than 25,000 New Yorkers face the threat of losing their homes — homes that we own — to landowners seeking to raise our ground rent to astronomical rates.

Read More
0
Man stabbed outside Ridgewood Popeyes, suspect remains at large: NYPD

A man was stabbed in the gut in front of a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Ridgewood last week, and his attacker remains at large nearly a week later.

Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood reported that the bloody assault occurred on the night of Thursday, Jan. 9, when the victim and his assailant began to argue in front of the fast food joint located at 62-58 Fresh Pond Road near the intersection of Metropolitan Avenue at around 6:35 p.m.

Read More
0
Load More Articles