New York City will enter the last scheduled phase of reopening Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, meaning each region of the state will now be in the last phase of restarting the economy.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio first made the announcement early Friday, but confirmation was followed later in the day by Cuomo, who technically has unilateral control over reopening.
"That is a hallmark for us,” Cuomo said. “Every region of the state will now be in Phase Four. There are no more phases, so we are all in the final phase of reopening.”
Phase Four allows low-risk indoor and outdoor arts and entertainment, media production, and professional sports. Cultural institutions and malls are also allowed in Phase Four, with certain restrictions, but Cuomo said those places won’t open in New York City.
“We're not going to have any indoor activity in malls and cultural institutions,” Cuomo said. “We're going to continue to monitor that situation, and when the facts change we'll let you know."
While there aren’t any additional phases scheduled, officials in New York are still waiting to make a decision on movie theaters and gyms, which have been closed since March. There’s no expectation on when those businesses will be allowed to reopen.
And the timeline is becoming less clear, considering the nationwide trend of COVID-19. Cuomo warned Friday that a second wave of the virus would, without a doubt, come to New York in the coming months, and that the state would take steps to avoid a major resurgence.
"It is inevitable that there will be a second wave," Cuomo said. "The second wave is going to be a confluence of the lack of compliance and the local governments' lack of enforcement, and the viral spread from the other states."
Cuomo has railed on local governments, particularly New York City, in recent weeks over a perceived lack of enforcement of the state’s regulations on businesses and restaurants. Strict rules are in place for those locations dealing with safety and hygiene.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, on Friday, pushed back against those claims and said they haven’t documented any widespread problems with compliance, though there have been problematic isolated incidents.
“Overwhelmingly, restaurants and bars in New York City have been in compliance,” de Blasio said. “We have not seen a profound problem with compliance here. There are some images that have raised concern.”
New York City, because of a perceived risk, has not been allowed to move forward with indoor dining, which was supposed to be authorized in Phase Three. The five boroughs will still not be allowed to offer indoor dining in the last scheduled phase.