Upper Manhattan Still 'Yellow Zone' As Cuomo Lifts Most Areas

NEW YORK, NY — Color-coded coronavirus cluster "zones" will disappear across the state, after a drop in COVID-19 cases following the post-holiday spike, but much of Upper Manhattan will still be subject to yellow-zone restrictions.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday he would eliminate nearly all of New York State's COVID-19 cluster zones and their associated restrictions. Among the five zones not included: the yellow zone that covers much of Washington Heights and parts of Harlem.

Yellow "precautionary" zones are the third tier of Cuomo's cluster action initiative to tackle local coronavirus spikes, with orange zones having even tighter restrictions and red zones drawing the most severe measures.

Under the "yellow zone" designation, restaurants may offer indoor and outdoor dining with a maximum of four people per table, gatherings of up to 25 people are allowed and houses of worship can operate at 50-percent capacity. Schools must conduct 20-percent weekly testing of in-person students and faculty.

The Upper Manhattan yellow zone stretches from 133rd to 187th streets between the Hudson River and East River to the north, before narrowing along St. Nicholas Avenue further south.

Also still under the yellow zone designation are Astoria, Queens and parts of The Bronx, Cuomo said Wednesday.

Upper Manhattan has been a "yellow zone" since November, after positivity rates surged. Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood have consistently had some of the highest coronavirus positivity rates of any Manhattan neighborhoods.

Patch editors Matt Troutman and Maya Kaufman contributed to this report.