Still confined, New York is organizing to live within the authorized margins

Gradually, promotional letters are returning to the mailboxes of New Yorkers. Messages of support are followed by announcements of the reopening of shops in recent days. Restaurants that had lowered the curtain have started to take over a delivery service, and bars are opening their storefronts to serve customers who drink outside, standing. On the edge of a park in Manhattan, a sports coach is also trying to attract new clients, with hydroalcoholic gel and mask in evidence.

For two months, heavy restrictions continue to apply but life is now organized within the authorized margins. The service is often done on the sidewalk, when other stores allow only one customer to enter at a time, and only if it is masked … It is also compulsory for everyone (including children beyond. two years) in public spaces.

Very cautious authorities

The authorities remain very cautious. Five regions of New York state are due to start reopening this weekend, but New York City will continue to live with the lockdown until at least May 28, and possibly even until June 13. . The peak of deaths has been past for more than a month but the city, of which one inhabitant in five has antibodies to the virus according to a sample of 15,000 people tested, so far only meets four of the seven criteria set. “We will go slowly to New York, we will be very careful, indicated this week the mayor of the city, Bill de Blasio . The last things we can do are those that involve large crowds, we will have to wait several more months. “

In his marathon of daily press conferences, Andrew Cuomo also announced that New York State would rebuild production capacity in medical equipment. “We never want to be in a position where we have to rely on foreign imports for essential supplies like N95 masks again.”, he explained.

Difficult summer season for New Yorkers

The temperature is likely to rise in the coming days, and the suffocating New York summer will push residents to go out more. As some parks continued to be crowded for the past weekends, the city decided to restrict access to two of them, Domino Park in Brooklyn and Hudson River Park in Manhattan. Unlike in France, parks and gardens have always remained open and travel for air is not limited in time or distance.

The authorities are banking for the moment on pedagogy. The “rangers” roam the parks and distribute masks, advising people who do not wear one to put on one. They also ensure that safety distances are respected on lawns, and the municipality has just closed kilometers of streets to cars to give space to pedestrians and cyclists.

Frozen won’t be reprising on Broadway

The summer season may however be difficult in New York: Bill de Blasio announced that outdoor swimming pools and beaches will remain prohibited this summer, in particular for budgetary reasons. The entertainment economy has also ignored the summer season.

Broadway theaters – a veritable economy in the city, with nearly 100,000 jobs – will remain closed, at least until September 6. Several shows have been canceled, others are postponed until next year … Disney has just announced that Frozen will not resume.

Défense du « Work From Home »

While the governor has confirmed the closure of all schools until the end of the school year, the organization of the start of the school year is already in everyone’s mind and parents are worried about the selection criteria for schools, so that school grading has been simplified so as not to penalize those who have had difficulty in taking online courses.

Office life also promises to be upset , and Grand Central Station, that rail hub for all commuters working in Manhattan, may never find the hustle and bustle it once knew. Bosses in search of savings and elected officials from counties neighboring New York are already beginning to defend the interests of “WFH” (“work from home”) in the long term.

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