NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The city's teachers union head
threatened to take Mayor Bill de Blasio to court Thursday if coronavirus infection rates continue to spike, and schools in those high-risk areas aren't closed.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers gave the warning as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Queens and Brooklyn, sending the city's infection rate past 3 percent for the first time since June.
"If those numbers don't come down, this is where it's going to land up in a bit of a fight," Mulgrew said Thursday morning.
Mulgrew suggests that schools in certain zip codes that are seeing high infection rates should close.
Mayor de Blasio warned that if the citywide seven-day average hit 3 percent, in-person learning at schools would be canceled.
"The mayor is continuing to say that — 3 percent — it would be the entire city, all or none," Mulgrew said. "That doesn't work for us. And if that means we have to go to court or do something else, we will."
"If those numbers don't come down, this is where it's going to land up in a bit of a fight," Mulgrew added.
40 percent of students are under a blended learning model while forty-eight percent have opted for remote-only learning, including 60 percent of high schoolers, according to Mulgrew.
"If this continues, if they don't get this trend down, yes, we will definitely be demanding that those schools start to close," he said.
