What to Know
- Those who've spent a summer in New York City know that there is something exciting to see or do everywhere you turn. However, on Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio bluntly said that summer may look different this year
- The mayor said New Yorkers should keep expectations "low for now" as far as summer as usual in the city, including beaches, sporting events and public gatherings
- "We can't plan for summer now," he said, when unveiling the budget plan for fiscal year 2021, which includes the closing of all outdoor pools for the 2020 season as well as the suspension of 1,000 summer camp slots run by the Parks Department for the 2020 season
Those who've spent a summer in New York City know that there is something exciting to see or do everywhere you turn. However, on Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio bluntly said that summer may look different this year.
"We can't plan for summer now," he said on Thursday after unveiling the budget plan for fiscal year 2021, which includes the closing of all outdoor pools for the 2020 season as well as the suspension of 1,000 summer camp slots run by the Parks Department for the 2020 season.
"The things that would have required spending money now to get ready for the summer, we are just not doing because we don’t have yet a clear roadmap as to how we get to those summer activities," he said.
The mayor said New Yorkers should keep expectations "low for now" as far as summer as usual in the city, including beaches, sporting events and public gatherings.
"I don’t see that happening any time soon. Obviously, you can have a situation with people who go to the beach to walk along the beach but not in large numbers anytime soon," he said.
He went on to clarify, that it is still too soon to tell what summer will be like as the city continues to grapple with COVID-19 cases and mitigate the contagion. However, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to "lower expectations."
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"I think its going to be tough to project. Right now, I’d say lower expectations. Just for everyone’s sanity, lower expectations. We’re at a point right now, middle of April, where we are practicing intense social distancing. Everyone is being very careful to only going outside as much as they need and just to get basics and get back inside. To go from that to mass gatherings of thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, that is a big jump. And that jump should only happen when we are sure it is not going to exacerbate the disease. Because, again, the worst of all worlds would be to see a resurgence," he said.
Lets not have any false moves. Let’s not jump the gun. Let’s make sure we get it right.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
In the city, De Blasio has focused on three key daily indicators he wants to see trend down in unison for at least 10 days to signify a move to the next phase of the crisis, which he has described as low-level virus transmission. Those indicators are the number of hospitalizations, the number of ICU admissions and the percentage of people testing positive. After some positive movement earlier in the week, all three metrics were up on Thursday, the mayor said.
"This is a tough day, this is not what we're looking for," de Blasio said Thursday. "But we have to do this stage by stage, day by day -- stick to it and we'll get there."
De Blasio cautioned about making decisions prematurely.
"Everyone would love to have our summer or part of our summer, but keep expectations low for now. Lets not have any false moves. Let’s not jump the gun. Let’s make sure we get it right," he said.
