Cuomo Hopes to Devise Regional Plan to Reopen Economy

Gov. Andrew Cuomo repeated calls Sunday for a coordinated effort to reopen the economy as soon as possible, but it must include more testing and collaboration with Long Island, Westchester and hopefully New Jersey and Connecticut.

Cuomo mentioned his plans to try and work out a regional strategy for a second straight day after Mayor Bill DiBlasio declared on Saturday morning that New York City public schools would be closed for the remainder of the academic year. A couple of hours later, Cuomo said he has the authority to determine whether schools in the state will be closed through June or can reopen at some point before summer.

Any reopening of society, including schools, must also be done with businesses, the greater workforce and transportation, he said. If schools are going to be closed that means businesses and transportation can’t operate on a greater scale as well.

Cuomo said in addition to education, schools also serve as day care in many communities throughout New York City and elsewhere and provide critically important meals for children of lower-income families.

“We closed it down in a coordinated fashion and that means we will go forward together,” Cuomo said. “So we’ll have a coordinated plan, we’ll have a regional plan. Hopefully, we’ll get on the same page with New Jersey and Connecticut. We’re going to try. That is the optimum situation.”

The discussion came amidst growing clamor from portions of the private sector and President Donald Trump to move forward with re-starting the economy by sometime next month.

While hospitalizations from the coronavirus have slowed considerably during the past week, public health officials have warned about ramping up too soon. Another 758 New Yorkers died Saturday from COVID-19, increasing the state’s death toll to 9,385. However, there was a net increase of 53 new hospitalizations on Saturday, the lowest total since the start of the crisis. That brings the number of COVID-19 patients to 18,707.

Cuomo said no one has a definitive answer about when to move forward at this point, but he is not prepared to send anyone back to school or work on a significant scale until there is widespread antibody testing to determine who had been infected with COVID-19 and greater diagnostic testing to learn who has the virus.

Any decision will be driven by data and science, he said. A meaningful relaunch of the nation’s economy must include the New York metropolitan area.

“New York is vital to this American economy,” Cuomo said. “It’s not just about New York. Our economy is vital to this country. You want New York’s economy up and running not just for the good of New York but for the good of the nation.”

Another requirement is for a federal stimulus package that helps the states deal with a frightening reduction in revenue, he said. The governor urged Congress to agree to a $500 billion stimulus just for the states, a position he and Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan agreed is necessary.

States such as Nebraska, Minnesota and Montana with low case totals reaped more than $300,000 per COVID-19 patient while New York was provided $12,000 per patient.

Furthermore, Cuomo said he wants repeal of the provision of the 2017 tax legislation that limits the state and local tax deduction to $10,000.

“We want to reopen as soon as possible,” Cuomo said. “Everyone does on a governmental level, everyone does on a personal level to end this nightmare.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo repeated calls Sunday for a coordinated effort to reopen the economy as soon as possible, but it must include more testing and collaboration with Long Island, Westchester and hopefully New Jersey and Connecticut.

Cuomo mentioned his plans to try and work out a regional strategy for a second straight day after Mayor Bill DiBlasio declared on Saturday morning that New York City public schools would be closed for the remainder of the academic year. A couple of hours later, Cuomo said he has the authority to determine whether schools in the state will be closed through June or can reopen at some point before summer.

Any reopening of society, including schools, must also be done with businesses, the greater workforce and transportation, he said. If schools are going to be closed that means businesses and transportation can’t operate on a greater scale as well.

Cuomo said in addition to education, schools also serve as day care in many communities throughout New York City and elsewhere and provide critically important meals for children of lower-income families.

“We closed it down in a coordinated fashion and that means we will go forward together,” Cuomo said. “So we’ll have a coordinated plan, we’ll have a regional plan. Hopefully, we’ll get on the same page with New Jersey and Connecticut. We’re going to try. That is the optimum situation.”

The discussion came amidst growing clamor from portions of the private sector and President Donald Trump to move forward with re-starting the economy by sometime next month.

While hospitalizations from the coronavirus have slowed considerably during the past week, public health officials have warned about ramping up too soon. Another 758 New Yorkers died Saturday from COVID-19, increasing the state’s death toll to 9,385. However, there was a net increase of 53 new hospitalizations on Saturday, the lowest total since the start of the crisis. That brings the number of COVID-19 patients to 18,707.

Cuomo said no one has a definitive answer about when to move forward at this point, but he is not prepared to send anyone back to school or work on a significant scale until there is widespread antibody testing to determine who had been infected with COVID-19 and greater diagnostic testing to learn who has the virus.

Any decision will be driven by data and science, he said. A meaningful relaunch of the nation’s economy must include the New York metropolitan area.

“New York is vital to this American economy,” Cuomo said. “It’s not just about New York. Our economy is vital to this country. You want New York’s economy up and running not just for the good of New York but for the good of the nation.”

Another requirement is for a federal stimulus package that helps the states deal with a frightening reduction in revenue, he said. The governor urged Congress to agree to a $500 billion stimulus just for the states, a position he and Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan agreed is necessary.

States such as Nebraska, Minnesota and Montana with low case totals reaped more than $300,000 per COVID-19 patient while New York was provided $12,000 per patient.

Furthermore, Cuomo said he wants repeal of the provision of the 2017 tax legislation that limits the state and local tax deduction to $10,000.

“We want to reopen as soon as possible,” Cuomo said. “Everyone does on a governmental level, everyone does on a personal level to end this nightmare.”