NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that New York City is on track to begin the state's first phase of reopening between June 1 and June 15.
"I want to signal as clear as a bell, all roads are leading to the first half of June," de Blasio said. "The city indicators, the state indicators, we’re seeing very clear progress."
Under Phase 1, manufacturing, construction and agricultural industries can reopen. Retail businesses can also reopen, though stores are limited to curbside or in-store pickup and dropoff.
As of Thursday, the city had checked four of the seven criteria set by the state to begin Phase 1. Among them, the city has reported a 14-day decline in net hospitalizations as well as a 14-day decline in hospital deaths. It has also increased the number of residents tested monthly to 30 per 1,000 and pushed new hospitalizations to below two per 100,000 residents.
The city still has some work to do when it comes to increasing the share of available hospital beds to 30 percent and the share of available ICU beds to 30 percent, but it's expected to have 30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents in the coming days.
But the mayor said if metrics continue at their current pace, "I mean literally the first half of June, so somewhere between June 1 and June 15."
"I'm basing that on everything we know today. I will put an asterisk—that you wont be surprised on—saying this disease has thrown us a lot of curve balls," the mayor said. "We’re basing it on the trend, which has been pretty damn consistent."
"So basically it comes down to: Will it be the first week of June or the second of week of June that we can move into Phase 1, the state’s Phase 1, possibly with some modifications for the reality of the city," de Blasio said.
The mayor said that the city would be providing more information about the reopening over the next week or so.
A reporter asked about de Blasio's projection at Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daily briefing Thursday.
“We’re on the exact same page with them,” Melissa DeRosa, secretary to Cuomo, told the reporter. “Based on the metrics, that is what it looks like.”
At his Thursday briefing, de Blasio said that two of the city's three daily indicators tracking the coronavirus outbreak were positive.
The mayor said the number of people admitted to hospitals daily for suspected COVID-19 was down to 60 from 63.
The number of people currently in public ICUs for suspected COVID-19 was also down to 477 from 483.
However, the percentage of people tested who were positive for COVID-19 was up to 9 percent from 8 percent, the mayor said.
The city had reported 192,374 total cases of coronavirus as of Thursday.
There have been 16,153 confirmed deaths and 4,781 "probable" deaths for a combined death toll of 20,934.
A total of 50,688 have been hospitalized in the city for COVID-19 since the crisis began.
In another sign that the city is churning back to life, de Blasio also announced that the Staten Island Ferry will be making trips every half-hour during rush hours starting Thursday as ridership begins to grow following weeks of limited service because of the coronavirus.
The mayor said there was a 90 percent drop in ridership at the start of the pandemic but that ridership is beginning to creep back up and the city is planning accordingly.
The Staten Island Ferry has been running hourly since late March. It will now run every 30 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours—from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
De Blasio said the move is about “increasing service and giving people more space” as the city churns back to life.
“We want to make sure that those ferries don’t become crowded,” the mayor said.
De Blasio also announced that the Staten Island Ferry is getting a $21 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will help the city increase service.
Asked about who was riding the Staten Island Ferry, as officials request only essential workers take public transportation in New York City, de Blasio said he thinks "folks are gradually growing into what is allowed" and that most riders are within the rules.
"I think you've got essential workers that need to move around. You've got folks that need to get medical care," de Blasio said, adding that the city will keep an eye on the number of non-essential workers taking the ferry.
At his daily briefing, de Blasio also said the city's emergency food delivery plan had served 32 million meals across the city since the outbreak began.
He said the city estimated the pandemic had doubled the number of people in the city experiencing food insecurity.
"We're dealing with an unprecedented crisis," de Blasio said. “Before the coronavirus, we thought somewhere around a million people were food insecure and needed food. Now we think that number is 2 million or more."
The mayor said that by next week over 1 million meals will be handed out each day, with over 500,000 grab-and-go meals being given at 500 schools citywide each day.
De Blasio urged anyone in need of food to call 311 or visit NYC.gov/GetFoodHelp.
As de Blasio outlined the food plan, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called on the city to ramp up its emergency food programs during the outbreak.
“New Yorkers are grappling with food insecurity, as unemployment skyrockets, salaries are slashed, and thousands of residents shelter in place,” Stringer wrote on Twitter. “Amid this pandemic, (Williams) and I are calling on the City to step up efforts to provide food for those in need.”
De Blasio also announced that the NYPD will continue its annual operation, Summer All Out. The operation involves officers going to neighborhoods and working at the grassroots level to prevent violence during the summer months.
The mayor said around 300 officers will work across 10 commands in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
These are the neighborhoods where the officers will be; de Blasio said they’ve been hit hardest by gun violence: Harlem, Brownsville, East New York, Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Wiliamsburg, East Flatbush, Mott Haven, Highbridge, Crotona, Jamaica, Flatbush and Ocean Hill.
De Blasio said the operation has been done for five summers and “we saw the real impact on reducing violence, particularly gun violence, and protecting the families of our city.”
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