NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday laid out his plan for reopening New York City under Phase 1, saying 200,000 to 400,000 workers could be heading back to work in the first half of June.
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“I believe all indicators suggest it will be announced in the first or second week of June,” de Blasio said of the city's reopening under Phase 1. “All businesses are paying attention. They’re hearing from the state. They’re hearing from the city. They’re seeing that this is all coming down to this, so they have time to get ready.”
De Blasio cautioned that the city won’t be “rushing back to something we used to think of as normal” and that “we have to make sure this virus is in check.”
The mayor said that under Phase 1 of the state’s reopening plan, construction, manufacturing and wholesale businesses will restart. Retail stores that aren’t already open will be allowed to reopen for in-store and curbside pickup only.
The mayor said the city expects a minimum of 200,000 and a maximum of 400,000 workers will return to work under Phase 1, which is expected between June 1 and June 15.
“Even if you say 200,000 people, that’s a lot of employees coming back to work,” the mayor said. “In other parts of the country, that would be the entire city.”
Under Phase 1, businesses will be required to follow basic rules, such as keeping a distance of 6 feet between people, reducing occupancy to under 50 percent and limiting all in-person gatherings and meetings to large, well-ventilated areas.
De Blasio said businesses should provide employees with free personal protective equipment like face coverings and should make sure they’re frequently cleaning and disinfecting surfaces at their locations. They should also provide health screenings for employees, for example handing out daily questionnaires or taking temperature checks, de Blasio said.
For more details about the guidelines businesses must follow, head to the New York state website.
The mayor said the city will be monitoring businesses’ return, focusing on educating them rather than penalizing them for violations. He said summonses and fines will only be issued in “egregious circumstances or repeat violations.”
“We’re all going to learn together,” he said.
The Department of Buildings, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and Small Businesses Services will educate and do outreach and support for businesses, de Blasio said. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the FDNY and the Sanitation Department will conduct random visits to ensure compliance.
Complaints will be handled by the Office of Special Enforcement with the NYPD, sheriff and other relevant agencies, de Blasio said.
“If we don’t see compliance, of course, we reserve the right, if we need to use fines, if we need to take even more aggressive actions, we can,” the mayor said. It’s not what we want to do. We just want to solve problems. We just want to get these businesses up and running and we want to protect health and safety.”
Despite pressure from the restaurant industry, hard-hit by the shutdown, de Blasio said eateries and bars would not be reopening under Phase 1—but the city is considering measures to allow businesses to open up onto sidewalks and streets.
The City Council was set to introduce a bill Thursday pushing for restaurants to be allowed to expand their dining outside so they can reopen onsite.
"We're really interested in the notion of outdoors being part of the solution for restaurants and bars," de Blasio said.
"I'm very hopeful," the mayor said, before adding, "This is not a Phase 1 thing. I'm going to say it as clear as a bell. We talked about the four industries that are affected by Phase 1, it’s not yet time for restaurants and bars."
De Blasio said the city is working with the restaurant industry continuously to "see what makes sense" for restaurants, which need a certain level of capacity to remain viable while following social-distancing rules.
The mayor also brought up the city's schools at his briefing. He said an education advisory council is working on preparing students for a return to school in the fall.
"We want to work with the hope that we can get as close to a normal school reopening as possible for Sept. 10," de Blasio said.
Schools have been shuttered since early April, and students have been taking part in remote learning. De Blasio said even though the city hopes to have students back in school, the city is making sure it has plenty of options.
"There’s going to be a plan A to reopen school as normal, but with lots of other alternative plans depending on what the health care situation is," the mayor said.