NYC Is On Track to Start Reopening the Week of June 8, Cuomo Says

New York City will start reopening as early as June 8, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at a press conference on Friday. For now, this round of reopening does not include the dining rooms of restaurants and bars, but does include other industries like construction, manufacturing, wholesalers, and some retail like clothing stores, but for curbside or in-store pickup only. All have been designated “phase 1” by Cuomo.

Both Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have been saying for some time now that the city is on for the first phase of reopening in the second week of June, but this is first time that either of them has identified a date.

This date will still be contingent on the health criteria identified by Cuomo — seven markers including declining hospitalizations, deaths, and the percentage of hospital beds available — that will enable the city to reopen. As of Thursday, the city met five of the seven criteria.

For the city’s restaurants and bars, this could mean at least another month-long wait from June 8 before they can return to any form of dining-in, if not more. Cuomo has slotted the city’s restaurants and bars in the third phase of reopening, and — health data permitting — the city is expected to move into the next phase following two weeks of improving statistics.

Assuming New York City is able to move into the second phase of reopening — which includes the return of real estate and financial services, among others — then dining establishments are likely looking at a reopening sometime in the second week of July, though Cuomo and de Blasio have not issued guidelines on what that would like.

On Friday, Cuomo also announced that several upstate regions were moving into the second phase of reopening including the Finger Lakes region, Central New York, and Mohawk Valley.

As of Thursday, New York City was the only region in the state that was still in shutdown. As of Friday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the city had crossed 199,000, and the number of deaths have topped 16,700, though the city also saw the lowest number of deaths — 67 — in a two-month period on Friday, de Blasio said at a press conference.