NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday urged New Yorkers to make the "tough and painful" decision to avoid traveling this holiday season -- advice he said he is following himself.
"Personally, it's painful – you know, we really – and this is why I say it to all New Yorkers, but I'm feeling it myself – we cherish traveling at the holidays and seeing our family, it's been such a big part of our lives, but right now we have no plans to do so," de Blasio said at a briefing.
"You know, it would be beautiful if things changed between now and, say, Christmas, but, right now, with the reality we're facing, I can't see traveling to family and other places," he continued.
"I can't see it working for anybody. You know, it's sad. It's very sad," de Blasio said. "So, it's something I'm sort of girding myself for. I really, really love it and I really care about it, but I've got to tell you – I'm sort of telling myself what I'm going to tell everyone else – this may be the one year in our life where we have to change all of our patterns, change everything we normally would do, our customs, and just take a deep breath, and know that next year will be better."
Still, de Blasio said he realizes that "everyone's going to make their own decision. And I know there are painful choices, especially if you haven't seen family in a long time, and you're worried about older relatives in other places, I get it. There's going to be tough choices to make, and everyone has to make their own choice. But my recommendation based on the information I've received from our health care leadership is to avoid travel this holiday season, to stay safe, to keep us all safe."
