Metro

Gov. Cuomo predicts economic reopening of NYC in ‘weeks’

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday teased an economic reopening of New York City, saying he’ll have an update on indoor dining by week’s end, and promising that “you’re going to see the arts coming back.”

The governor also announced that most of the state’s color-coded “microcluster” zone restrictions have been lifted, including those in Brooklyn and on Staten Island, though restrictions in the other three boroughs remain in effect for the time being.

“We’re going to be talking to all the health officials … we’ll be talking to elected officials, I’ll be talking to the mayor [Bill de Blasio], I’ll be talking to the relevant local electeds and the restaurant community from a planning point of view, and by the end of the week, we’ll have a plan on New York City restaurants,” Cuomo said of the Big Apple’s comeback.

“I fully understand how difficult it is that they’re closed, not just for the restaurants, but all the people who work there,” Cuomo said.

The governor was mostly mum on details, but did divulge that a return to a 25-percent indoor dining capacity was on the table.

“We’ll have an announcement by the end of the week, but we’re looking at going back to the 25 percent,” he said. “How and when we would do that is the question.”

Most city eateries had been allowed indoor dining at 25 percent capacity, until Cuomo pulled the plug in December over rising infection rates, forcing diners to rough it with outdoor dining in the dead of winter.

One rule the state is not yet looking at lifting, Cuomo said, is the curfew requiring restaurants to shift to just takeout and delivery orders starting at 10 p.m.

Cuomo on Wednesday also announced that most of the state’s color-coded “microcluster” zones have been lifted.

Those targeted zones, implemented amid a fall resurgence of the virus, carried different restrictions on businesses, houses of worship, schools and restaurants depending on the color.

Only a handful of yellow zones — those with the least burdensome restrictions — remain in effect in the state, though three are in New York City, covering parts of the Bronx, Queens and Upper Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Cuomo earlier Wednesday vowed that the city’s cultural scene would mount a comeback in the weeks ahead.

“You’ll see the reopening of New York City within these coming weeks,” Cuomo said on MSNBC, though he provided few details.

“I laid out in my State of the State … a whole recovery plan because urban areas by and large all across the nation by and large are suffering,” he said.

Joe Biden coronavirus vaccine
States have implored President Joe Biden and his administration for more doses of the vaccine. AFP via Getty Images

“You saw a lot of people leave New York City and other urban areas. If you take away from New York City, restaurants, arts, what’s the point of New York City? The cities survive because of the density and synergy with culture and arts.”

He added: “We’re starting a whole pop-up arts function primarily in New York City where you’re going to see the arts coming back.

“I think it’s a moment to rebuild our urban areas, otherwise with Zoom remote work, remote learning, you’re gonna see urban areas suffer dramatically and I think and we have to anticipate that and start the reconstruction now.”

On Tuesday, President Biden vowed to ramp up states’ allocations of coronavirus vaccine by about 15 percent next week — and said the federal government has standing orders for another 200 million doses in the future.

The move, which will increase the weekly allotment to states from 8.6 million doses to at least 10 million, came as local leaders have repeatedly implored the White House for increased access to the life-saving shots.

This week, New York state got about 250,000 of the first doses. With the boost in doses, the state should receive about 288,000 shots.

“This was a major positive for governors all across the states,” Cuomo told MSNBC on Wednesday.

“States can only do what states can do, right? Only Jesus was capable of the miracle of loaves and fishes, right? We can only administer the vaccine that we receive. Take a state like New York, we are effectively out of the vaccine,” he continued.

He noted that 7 million New Yorkers are now eligible to be vaccinated — but claimed that the state could inoculate its entire population in one month if it had the supplies.

“It would take seven months just to get the vaccine to the people who are now told they’re eligible, so that’s why they sit there hitting refresh, refresh, refresh, they are chasing vaccine supply that is frankly not there,” Cuomo said.

“We have 300,000 providers who are now online. We have mass distribution sites that could do hundreds of thousands. This is purely a supply issue.”

Additional reporting by Aaron Feis