Another beautiful weekend in NYC, another slew of photos showing overcrowding on city streets.
After not appearing to follow social distancing in Parks a few weekends back, this weekend of weather in the 70s seemed to bring lots of New Yorkers out into the streets to “hang out” at their favorite bars and restaurants.
You can probably see evidence in your own social media feeds, or in photos by other media outlets.
Mayor de Blasio said at his press conference today, May 18, that the “vast majority of New Yorkers are doing the right thing” and that it’s only a small amount of people that “haven’t gotten the message.” Still, he said those people will see repercussions from enforcement officers when a reporter asked about the crowded areas.
“The issues with the bars…it’s just common sense here: don’t congregate,” the Mayor said. “Anytime you see gatherings, it’s real simple. NYPD, sheriffs, any enforcement entity is going to come up and say ‘immediately disperse’ and if they don’t disperse, then summonses begin.”
He then reiterated his message from Friday — that the NYPD will no longer give out summonses to people for not wearing face coverings. Instead, they will give reminders and give out free face coverings. They also will not give summonses if a few people are close together, instead reminding them to create space.
“So for all those folks at the bars, just don’t even think about it,” he said. “You want to go drink? Get your drink and then go home. But do not allow gatherings to occur because it’s not safe.
“Do you want to restart this virus growth in this city? Do you want to make everyone less healthy? Do you want to have all of us locked up for longer? Anytime people are doing that, that’s what they’re contributing to, unfortunately. So let’s just get it right.”
Take a look at some social media posts in Manhattan (East and West Village) and some areas of Brooklyn and Queens that show what certain neighborhoods looked like:
In this video of the 7pm clap from restaurant Extra Virgin in the East Village, you can see how many people are waiting on line:
Even NY City Council member Joe Borelli, from Staten Island, also shared photos of crowded streets in Manhattan, though for him it was to encourage the city to reopen.
This is #NYC tonight. Manhattan, not a right wing backwater. People are ready to start reopening and our businesses and workers need it. We need to see some urgency – not blue ribbon commissions, business czars, & bureaucracy – just reasonable guidelines that we can safely follow pic.twitter.com/ZLzuMmafFK
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) May 16, 2020
In other news: Brooklyn’s Domino Park Painted ‘Social Distancing Circles’ So Parkgoers Stay Six Feet Apart
featured image source: Instagram / @tullydiana