City Council To Go To Cuomo If Mayor Won't Open Streets: Speaker

NEW YORK, NY — Another squabble between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo over handling the coronavirus pandemic could be imminent about opening New York City's streets.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Sunday that City Council is prepared to go to the governor for help opening New York City streets for social distancing if the mayor continues to refuse to do so, as he has so far despite calls from elected officials and a council bill introduced last week.

"If the mayor won't open streets to New Yorkers, who so desperately need safe public spaces right now, the @NYCCouncil will look to @NYGovCuomo for leadership on this issue," Johnson tweeted, along with an opinion piece from the New York Times arguing that closing streets to cars should be a priority to help "save summers" during the pandemic.

De Blasio has so far resisted closing some streets to cars so that New Yorkers have more room to social distance when they go outside during the coronavirus pandemic. His own pilot program to do so lasted just 11 days, citing enforcement problems and objections from the NYPD.

City Council has said it hopes to close 75 miles of streets to cars so that they can be used by pedestrians and cyclists. Other elected officials have proposed opening 16 streets on Manhattan's west side and opening up Broadway from Union Square to Central Park.

On Sunday, the mayor reiterated his concerns about enforcement, but said he has been talking to the Parks Department and NYPD about social-distancing problems.

"We need to do more," he said. "But to me it is about enforcement and about making sure people understand how this needs to work."

In his own Sunday briefing, though he didn't specifically refer to opening New York City streets, Cuomo seemed to support the idea of giving more space for those living in New York's metropolitan area.

"You can’t tell people in a dense urban environment in the summer months that we don’t have anything for you to do," Cuomo said. "There’s a sanity equation here."

Should City Council go to Cuomo for help opening New York City's streets, it would be the latest in a series of power struggles between the mayor and governor during the coronavirus pandemic.

The two leaders have also scuffled about when to open New York City schools and when to put in place a shelter-in-place order.