Long Island officially started phase 1 of its reopening process today, May 27, which means that NYC is the only New York region left on PAUSE.
Each New York region had to meet seven state requirements in order to begin reopening, and local governments were also able to make their own additions to those.
Regions like The Finger Lakes and Central New York began reopening as soon as May 15, and others could be “UN-PAUSED the moment they hit their benchmarks,” the Governor said. And as of today, all 9 other areas have reached them, except for NYC.
In press conferences this week, both Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio predicted that NYC will meet the requirements in the first or second week of June (which is as soon as next week). We still haven’t met keeping 30% of hospital beds open, and the proper number of contact tracers.
The Mid-Hudson Region begins Phase 1 reopening today, having now met all the required metrics.
Long Island is on track to enter Phase 1 tomorrow.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 26, 2020
Of course, phase 1 only includes the opening of construction; agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; retail (limited to curbside or in-store pickup or drop off); manufacturing; and wholesale trade.
Phase 2, which no region has entered yet, includes professional services, retail, administrative support, real estate and rental/leasing.
For those looking forward to possible outdoor dining this summer, restaurants aren’t until Phase 3. You can see the full breakdown, as well as look up where your own business would fall, here.
featured image source: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash