NYers Can Still Avert Coronavirus Shutdowns, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers worried about another wave of coronavirus shutdowns should heed A. J. Parkinson’s words of wisdom, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.

“Don’t speculate about the future. Create the future,” Cuomo said, claiming to quote Parkinson.

That Parkinson is a fictional philosopher created by Cuomo’s father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, as an inside joke to dispense harmlessly self-serving quotes is besides the point.

The point, as the younger Cuomo made clear, is that New Yorkers can avert shutdowns if they step up and take actions to stop the coronavirus.

“It is all in our control,” he said. “New Yorkers can stop a shutdown. New Yorkers can save lives. It depends on what we do. We just have to do it and New Yorkers are good at doing.”

Both Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have recently warned that shutdowns could be imminent if coronavirus cases continue to surge and hospitalizations rise.

The city’s current positivity rate is 5.17 percent, with 2,785 new cases on average, de Blasio said Wednesday.

De Blasio recently said he believes a shutdown will happen and, if it does, he hopes it will happen after Christmas.

Cuomo took a different tack. He said he believes New Yorkers will be more careful and personally responsible through the holiday season.

“And call me a foolish optimist but I think New Yorkers are capable of getting us to the point where there's no shutdown,” he said.

“It’s not a foregone conclusion,” he said.