NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed Thursday that New York City will start Phase 2 of its reopening on Monday.
“Based on the really good indicators we’ve seen today and for days and days before that, I’m very comfortable now saying that we will start Phase 2 on Monday, June 22,” the mayor said at his daily briefing.
"We’ve seen consistent progress," the mayor said. "And it’s time to say to everyone getting ready for Phase 2, 'Get on your mark, get set, cause here we go on Monday.' We’ll be ready to take a big step forward for this city."
On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said the city was "on track" to reopen Monday, but it was unclear if de Blasio would agree to that timeline.
Phase 2 includes offices; in-store retail; outdoor dining; hair salons and barbershops; real estate; vehicle sales, leases and rentals; commercial building management; and retail rental, repair and cleaning.
The mayor called Phase 2 “the single biggest piece of our economy.”
An estimated 150,000 to 300,000 workers will return to work under Phase 2, de Blasio said.
De Blasio focused much of his briefing on the reopening of restaurants, which he said “define the greatness of this city.”
“We have to save this industry. It is quintessential to New York City. It’s the heart and soul of who we are,” the mayor said.
The city’s new “Open Restaurants” plan for outdoor dining, which includes sidewalk and curbside seating to encourage social distancing, will help 5,000 restaurants and 45,000 restaurant workers, de Blasio said as he signed an executive order putting the initiative into action immediately.
Under “Open Restaurants,” business can offer the following seating options with restrictions:
The city will help restaurants safely reopen by doing the following:
De Blasio said restaurants can self-certify for sidewalk and curbside seating online, a process he said will only take a few minutes. The application automatically extends the State Liquor Authority license requirements to the new seating. The application will be put online Friday.
“Click, send, you’re in. You’re ready to go for Monday,” the mayor said of the online process.
At his briefing, the mayor also announced that playgrounds will reopen under Phase 2.
Social distancing ambassadors will monitor crowding, distribute face coverings and encourage good hygiene at the playgrounds, the mayor said.
However, team sports like basketball, football, softball and soccer will not be permitted under Phase 2, de Blasio said.
"Those playgrounds for younger kids, we’re ready to open those up on Monday," de Blasio said. "It’s been months and months of being cooped up. We want to give this relief. We’re going to start with those playgrounds for younger kids and then hopefully sometime soon we can go even farther in terms of our parks and all those athletic facilities that they have."
When it comes to daily indicators tracking the coronavirus, de Blasio said it was "another great report" for June 16 (there is a two-day lag in the numbers).
The daily number of people admitted to hospitals with suspected COVID-19 was 59, below the city's threshold of 200 patients.
The daily number of people in intensive care at city hospitals with suspected COVID-19 was 320, below the threshold of 375.
The percentage of people tested who were positive for COVID-19 in the city was 2 percent, below the threshold of 15 percent.