NEVER MIND! NYC schools in COVID-19 hotspots will close Tuesday after one week open

New York City School

After less than 1 week of in-person learning, schools in Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods – where COVID-19 numbers are spiking – will be shut down Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

The governor additionally announced that the state is urging the city to take the reins on enforcement – using city personnel – for breaches in those areas, and recommending putting businesses and religious institutions on notice about gatherings in houses of worship until case numbers plateau, according to the New York Post.

Cuomo made the announcement during a Midtown Manhattan press briefing, just one day after Mayor Bill de Blasio sought his blessing to shut down nine zip codes in the boroughs, closing schools, non-essential businesses and dine-in restaurants.

The governor, however, said only schools would be closing for the time being.

“These clusters have to be attacked,” he said. “New York City has clusters.”

“I would not send my child to a school in a hot-spot cluster,” Cuomo continued. “I am not going to recommend or allow any New York City family to send their child to a school that I wouldn’t send my child.”

In these clusters, both public and private schools are experiencing outbreaks and will thus be closed to in-person classes starting Tuesday.

But, the governor did not give a timeline for reopening.

Cuomo said that he made the decision following a “good, collaborative” conference call with de Blasio, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, City Council President Corey Johnson and Michael Mulgrew, president of the powerful United Federation of Teachers union, the New York Post reports.

The governor’s partial approval of de Blasio’s plan comes less than a week after calling out the city for not doing enough to stop the outbreaks, a point he further stressed Monday.

“Enforcement is kind. You know why? Because enforcement saves lives,” Cuomo said. “Any rule is only as good as the enforcement.”

“Too many local governments are not doing enforcement,” he continued. “Warnings are not enforcement.”

Cuomo said that the state would take over enforcement for coronavirus in hotspots after slamming de Blasio for the city’s poor response mechanisms.

In the city, the Department of Health and the state police would run a task force to issue summonses at a clip far more furious than the city has, he said.

The governor also noted that de Blasio’s plan left religious institutions in the dust, even though many of the areas experiencing spikes are home to large Orthodox Jewish populations.

And it’s these neighborhoods that the city has failed to get in touch with.

Cuomo said he would meet Tuesday with leaders of the community both from city sects and those in Rockland and Orange counties also seeing outbreaks, according to the New York Post.

The nine zip codes seeing large increases in coronavirus cases are:

• 11219: Borough Park, Brooklyn
• 11223: Gravesend/Homecrest, Brooklyn
• 11230: Midwood, Brooklyn
• 11204: Bensonhurst/Mapleton, Brooklyn
• 11210: Flatlands, Brooklyn
• 11691: Edgemere/Far Rockaway, Queens
• 11229: Gerritsen Beach/Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
• 11367: Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok, Queens
• 11415: Kew Gardens, Queens

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