Cooperation Is Key To Re-Opening Safely: New York Governor

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — As the Hudson Valley finishes its first week reopening after the coronavirus outbreak, as upstate New York starts Phase 2, as New York City prepares for Phase 1, it's not the state it's the people who make fighting a pandemic work, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his Friday news briefing, which he held in New Rochelle.

He pointed to the local community as the perfect example. It wasn't state officials, it was the residents who limited gatherings and took the other precautions they were asked to take, who went to get tested at the state's first drive-thru site on Glen Island, who shut their schools and stayed home.

New Rochelle, he reminded listeners, had the first neighborhood in the nation to be shut down because of the new coronavirus. SEE: Coronavirus: 1-Mile Containment Area In New Rochelle.

"We're in New Rochelle today where we had the first hot spot in the nation," Cuomo said. "There was no such thing as a "hot spot" before New Rochelle had a hot spot. Congratulations, New Rochelle, created a new term now used by every American, hot spot, in this regard."

New Rochelle has had almost 3,000 cases since the beginning of March. There are currently 78 active cases in the city, according to Westchester County health officials.

New COVID-19 cases confirmed yesterday in the Hudson Valley:

• Dutchess: 20
• Orange: 36
• Putnam: 5
• Rockland: 24
• Ulster: 5
• Westchester: 56

The Hudson Valley is prepping for Phase 2, which covers reopening all office-based jobs; real estate services; limited services at hair salons and barber shops; rentals, repairs and cleaning; motor vehicle leases, rentals and sales; and in-store shopping.

"What happens is up to us. People say, 'Governor tell me what's going to happen next week, the week after.' I can't tell you. Only you know. It's the person in the mirror," Cuomo said. "You tell me how the people of New York City respond, I'll tell you what happens in New York City. You tell me how the people in Westchester, I'll tell you what happens in Westchester. The New Rochelle hot spot, that was all done by New Rochelle. It was no act of God, it was no external force. It happened because of what people in New Rochelle did. We know how we got here, we know how we can get from here. If we act smart, these stores open and they're smart, the customers are smart, people are smart, people on public transit are smart, then we won't see those numbers go up."

Metro-North is also preparing for more commuters into New York City from the Hudson Valley. Cuomo said commuters will make their own choices about getting to work.

"The public transit system is operational and we wouldn't operate it unless it was safe," he said. "Individuals will make their own choice as they always do: take the train, take the car."

He did point out that taking the car "has obvious environmental issues and is incredibly expensive."

SEE: Metro-North Adds Trains As Hudson Valley Reopens