Glimmers of a new normal are emerging in New York City even as the five boroughs technically remain under state-mandated stay-at-home orders until at least May 28 — and more likely into the first part of June, Mayor Bill de Blasio re-emphasized on Tuesday.
“We still need at least a few more weeks. It’s going to go into the first half of June,” de Blasio said during a TV interview on PIX11.
Nevertheless, New Yorkers are getting relief from the citywide lockdown in dribs and drabs. On Saturday, cars filled a diner parking lot in Queens to watch the 1993 coming-of-age drama “The Sandlot,” as part of a makeshift drive-in theater where some neighbors saw each other for the first time in eight weeks. On Friday, nearby state beaches and the Jersey Shore will open to sunlovers in time for the Memorial Day weekend and offer citydwellers some respite from their often cramped apartments. And Yankees and Mets fans could have their wish for a (nearly) normal season fulfilled, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo encouraged the state’s major league sports to play to empty stadiums, though that decision ultimately lies with team owners and players.
“Downstate, we have a number of sports teams. When a team plays, even if there’s no one in the stands, it gets broadcasted and that gives people entertainment value and something to participate in,” said Cuomo at a daily briefing on Tuesday.
Speaking personally, the governor has said he’s been watching reruns of classic football games until the day he can watch live again.
As of Tuesday, nearly 200,000 New York City residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 16,000 have died (that figure rises to nearly 21,000 if “probable” deaths are included), according to the city’s health department.
But as the fear that gripped the city only weeks ago subsides, the warm weather and a little entrepreneurialism are giving cooped-up New Yorkers the chance to get out of the house.
Last week, an Astoria, Queens, restaurant transformed its parking lot into a makeshift drive-in theater around the same time Cuomo announced that such establishments could reopen statewide. City residents from as far away as the Bronx—and in one case Westchester—drove to the retro-style Bel Aire Diner at the corner of Broadway and 21st Street.
“I know a few people who rented cars so they could come,” said Kal Dellaportas, 35, who’s parents opened the diner in 1965.
For “Throwback Thursday” this week, the diner is screening classic animated films on its inflatable screen for a family-friendly 8 p.m. showing and 1968 cult horror classic “Night of the Living Dead” at 11 p.m., Dellaportas said. The diner is using popcorn sales to fund meals for local first responders.
The events have allowed the restaurant to bring back some of the staff members it had to lay off following restaurant closures in mid-March and brought Dellaportas, who runs operations at the diner, a sense of pride, he said.
“I get chills,” he said, thinking about the “thank you” messages he’s received from movie-night patrons, including one family with a young daughter who “haven’t left the house in eight weeks.”
Dellaportas said he’s heard of other businesses in the city looking to follow Bel Aire’s lead. Indeed, Marco Shalma, a Bronx entrepreneur, plans to convert a parking lot by Yankee Stadium into a similar drive-in venue, potentially with food vendors and even live performances, he told MarketWatch last week.
And while New York City’s beaches will remain closed to swimmers until further notice, two state parks in neighboring Nassau County—Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park—will open on Friday, providing yet another ray of sunshine for cooped-up residents of the five boroughs.
However, the beaches will look different amid the pandemic. The governor has asked beachgoers to wear masks—which, as one epidemiologist remarked, will make for some interesting tan lines—and concessions will remain closed. The two parks, which span about 11 miles of oceanfront, will also operate at 50% capacity, the governor has mandated.
Lawmakers from Nassau and Suffolk counties have balked at the potential onslaught of beachgoers from the city and have rushed through legislation this week to limit county-run beaches to residents only. That includes Nassau County’s Nickerson Beach, which is only a 15-minute drive from eastern Queens. The rules won’t apply, however, to state parks like Robert Moses or Jones Beach.
On Tuesday, Cuomo offered yet another, albeit more somber, reason for New Yorkers to breathe a sigh of relief. Nine New York City hospitals will be part of a pilot program to open up visitation to family and friends for the first time since the crisis began. Up until now, patients sick with COVID-19 have suffered and, in most cases, died alone—truly one of the most disturbing aspects of this health crisis.
Still, New York City, the national epicenter for the virus, has weeks before it can begin reopening, and when it does, it will be gradual enough to ensure the disease doesn’t flare up again, the mayor said on Tuesday.
The state and city have devised a total of 10 health metrics measuring the spread and containment of COVID-19, such as health-care capacity, daily deaths, hospitalizations and tracing capacity, all of which the city must meet before it can begin to reopen.
“There are statistics and facts that interrelate to each other and move in very similar fashions,” de Blasio said at a briefing on Tuesday. “It’s clear to me looking at both that the first half of June is the time where they all come together.”
Daily hospitalizations are below 200 per day and the percent of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 has dropped below 15%, even down to the single digits (9%) for the first time on Tuesday. That means the city has met two of the three health milestones it’s set for itself as preconditions to reopening.
Still, the high number of intensive care patients has proved a challenge. On Tuesday, that reported figure inched up 17 patients from the day before to a total of 492 people in critical condition across the public hospital system. The city’s benchmark for reopening is 375.
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Meanwhile, the city is getting closer to meeting the state metrics. It reached another goal on Tuesday with new hospitalizations below two people per 100,000 residents for the first time. The city still needs to reach three more state benchmarks, including the percentage of hospital and ICU beds available and having an adequate army of contact tracers.
The mayor said he expects to have thousands of new contact tracers trained to meet that state benchmark by early June—when it’s expected that construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade and retail, though limited to pickup only, would reopen downstate as part of phase one.
“There’s been tremendous unity with the state on the fact that we’re going to be careful and smart about when to do the first steps of reopening,” de Blasio said. “We’re going to watch carefully in each phase to make sure things work and don’t go in the wrong direction.”
Other developments:
• Statewide, 105 people died of COVID-19 on Monday, down by one from the day before, Cuomo said at his briefing.
• The Democratic primary in June, which the state’s board of elections had called off over coronavirus concerns, is back on. A federal judge Tuesday ordered officials to hold the primary and include all candidates who qualified on the ballot. The decision in April to cancel the primary drew criticism from former Democratic candidates, including Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang.
• Cuomo announced Nassau and Suffolk counties can resume elective surgeries and outpatient care, joining 50 other counties in the state that have expanded medical care.
