If many European cities are gradually relaunching their economy, the largest city in the United States, epicenter of the American epidemic with more than 20,000 dead, will remain confined at least until June 13, according to a new decree from the governor of the United States. State, Andrew Cuomo.
No one knows when its businesses, restaurants or theaters, which attracted millions of tourists, will be able to reopen.
We have to be really, really disciplined
, Mayor Bill de Blasio repeated on CNN on Thursday. “We’re going to take it slowly and gradually. “
If the containment decree for New York State expires this Friday, only sparsely populated areas will be able to revive certain commercial, industrial and recreational activities.
Despite the epidemic slowing – the daily death toll is down sharply, below 200, and ambulance sirens have become scarce – authorities refuse to commit to the resumption of schools in September, leaving millions parents in uncertainty.
We have to be smart
, hammered on Thursday Governor Andrew Cuomo, who continues to warn them against a new outbreak of the virus.
For the moment, this metropolis of 8.6 million inhabitants is far from fulfilling the key criteria necessary to gradually revive the economy: continuous decline in the number of hospitalizations, people in intensive care and positive tests for the coronavirus.
Calm reigns
In the face of dragging on confinement, New Yorkers have so far remained relatively disciplined, despite the dramatic consequences for hundreds of thousands of people now deprived of income, especially among black and Hispanic minorities.
While elsewhere in the United States, protests have multiplied against containment, many adhere to the caution of their leaders. Especially since more than 80 New York children have suffered from rare pediatric inflammation, probably linked to the virus.
The confinement needs to continue for another two or three months, because we live in a big city with a lot of people.
Many people are in a hurry to resume quickly […] but in the places that have reopened, it’s chaos
, underlines Kiyona Carswell, now unemployed model.
Teleworking and declining income
However, the more the economy remains immersed in lethargy, the more uncertainty rises about the future of a city which owes its influence to its density and permanent hyperactivity.
Many affluent New Yorkers have already left to go green, and some are considering never coming back.
<q data-attributes="{"lang":{"value":"fr","label":"Français"},"value":{"html":"Toutes les raisons pour lesquelles on est (à New York) –restaurants, concerts, etc..– have disappeared “,” text “:” All the reasons why we are (in New York) – restaurants, concerts, etc. – have disappeared “}}” lang = “fr”>All the reasons we’re (in New York) – restaurants, concerts, etc. – disappeared, says Hans Robert, 49, IT executive at a major New York bank.
He and his family, for 10 years in Manhattan, moved at the end of April to their country house in northern New York, from where they telecommute.
If their daughter’s school does not reopen in September, Mr. Robert does not rule out staying there. Especially since his bank is thinking, like other companies, of allowing its employees to continue working remotely.
Another question: the financial health of the city, whose tax revenues have melted with the stoppage of the economy.
The Democratic mayor brandishes the specter of bankruptcy like the one in the 1970s, which dramatically reduced public services and exploded crime.
He begs Republican President Donald Trump to validate a new stimulus plan, concocted by the Democrats in Congress, which would bail out the city to the tune of 17 billion over two years. But the president has already ruled out adopting it as it is.
New York has seen a lot of crises and always ends up bouncing back
, assures Maria Kopman, anesthetist in a New York hospital. Even if everything will not be as before, people who come here for boiling, socializing, I don’t believe this will go away
.
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