New York City takes its first steps to reopening on Monday after nearly three months in lockdown, with retailers finally being allowed to ...
New York City takes its first steps to reopening on Monday after nearly three months in lockdown, with retailers finally being allowed to open their doors again to provide curbside pick up, but much of the city remains closed.
Dine-in service at restaurants and bars remains prohibited, gyms are closed and hair salons and offices are still not yet allowed to reopen.
Monday's long-awaited reopening lets all retailers open up on a pick-up basis only, and allows manufacturing and construction workers back to work.
But there has not been a sudden rush back to business that might have been expected several weeks ago. After a week of riots and looting, many stores in Manhattan remain boarded up.
Some retail workers are also scared to go back to their jobs because they fear contracting COVID-19.
Kate Spade, Sephora and Coach - all of which had their windows smashed in at least one location by looters last weekend - will not reopen on Monday.
More than 17,000 people have died in New York City since the pandemic began. At the height of the crisis, 800 people were dying every day and field hospitals were erected to help cope with the staggering body count.
Now, they have been dismantled and temporary morgues that lined the streets have all been removed.
Bloomingdale's shoppers will also be able to purchase items through curbside pickup beginning on Monday
The Macy's flagship store in New York's Herald Square, which was also hit by looters late on Monday, will offer curbside pickup service to customers beginning on Monday
A Coach store on Fifth Avenue which was looted on Monday night is boarded up as seen on Tuesday. Coach will also not be opening its doors on Monday
Construction, manufacturing, wholesalers, and other 'nonessential' industries can begin trading from today.
Retail shops can reopen for delivery and pick up service, though customers are not allowed to go inside yet.
But it will not be business as usual for some retail stores - business will be limited to curbside or in-store pickup in order to limit transaction times as well as interaction between shoppers and employees.
But some popular brand names will not be opening their stores at all on Monday.
Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman locations in the Big Apple will remain closed on Monday - this despite the fact that hundreds of their stores across North America, Europe, and Asia have reopened in recent weeks.
All three brands are properties of their parent company, Tapestry Inc.
Sephora will also remain closed as of Monday, according to the New York Post.
According to Bloomberg News, around half of Tapestry's retail locations in the United States and Canada are open for curbside service.
But the company is being more cautious when it comes to its New York operations, given that the city was hit hardest by COVID-19.
Ulta Beauty Inc, the popular cosmetics brand, also has no plans to resume business in New York City today.
Of the company's 51 locations in New York State, just seven will be open for curbside pickup on Monday, but none of those will be in New York City.
Retailers are taking it very slow since many of their employees do not feel safe enough to go back to work given the possibility of additional COVID-19 outbreaks.
'Phase 1 is only going to have a minor impact on retail and retail employment,' Stuart Applebaum, president of the 60,000-member Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, told the New York Post.
'Most retail workers will remain unemployed.'
Sephora, the popular beauty products seller, will also remain closed as of Monday. A Sephora store is seen above on Thursday on New York's Fifth Avenue
A boarded-up Stuart Weitzman location is seen on Madison Avenue in New York City on Tuesday. The store will remain closed during phase one of the city's reopening on Monday
Applebaum said workers are 'frightened' to return to work, which for many requires them to take mass transit.
The Bloomingdale's location on East 60th Street will offer curbside pickup services, as will the Macy's in Herald Square.
The Macy's flagship store was looted on Monday just after 11pm, when dozens of people broke their way through the boarded-up entrance and ran into the store.
'It's a big day for New York City,' New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday, adding that it had 'met all the [health] metrics needed to reopen'.
One such metric is the number of new infections which dropped to 781 cases, or around 1 per cent of those tested on Saturday.
That is the lowest rate recorded since March 16, the New York Post recorded.
Other metrics needed before reopening was granted include at least 30 contract tracer for every 100,00 residents and the capacity to perform 30 diagnostic tests for every 1,000 residents.
Thirty per cent of hospital beds and ICU beds must be available and wards must have a 90-day stockpile of PPE.
Officials said the city's subways should be operating at around 95 per cent of their pre-pandemic service by Monday to help facilitate New Yorkers' return to work, officials said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio estimated that up to 400,000 people would be returning to work today under Phase One of the reopening scheme.
On Sunday he emphasized that Monday's reopening was 'a moment that every New Yorker should celebrated', ABC News reported.
It is mandatory for masks to be warn in a bid to reduce the chance of catching the virus, and the MTA has said it will test 'real time' air filtration systems on trains.
A source told the NY Post: 'It complements the disinfecting and cleaning that is happening multiple times a day in every car, and the requirement that everybody wears a mask'.
Workers will also distribute masks at kiosks as well as other locations to help keep New Yorkers safe
Normal, pre-pandemic service levels will resume by Tuesday, Interim Transit President Sara Feinberg told 1010 WINS.
Last week the MTA called for a wave of volunteers to help hand out the masks as well as hand sanitizer.
A deserted 42nd Street is pictured in midtown New York on April 19 amid the coronavirus epidemic
A letter sent to to the mayor and city leaders said: 'The vast majority of our workforce will of course be operating and maintaining the system itself.
'The MTA has requested the city provide 3,000 volunteers to support this customer facing effort.'
The city's reopening today comes after thousands of people marched through streets to protest racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
Mayor Bill de Blasio lifted New York City's 8pm curfew yesterday, a day early, ahead of today's reopening. The curfew was put into effect to stop George Floyd protesters from looting and destroying businesses
De Blasio announced an early end to the 8pm curfew that was set to remain at least through early Monday, with officials planning to lift it at the same time the city was to begin reopening after shutdowns because of the coronavirus.
He said he was 'cautious' about moving to Phase Two , which would allow a surge of workers to return to offices, restaurants and bars to offer outdoor seated services and retail shops to allow people in store.
Hair salons will also be allowed to reopen at 50 per cent capacity in this stage.
While state guideline say Phase Two could be implemented in two weeks' time on 22 June under state guidelines, Blasio told New Yorkers to 'think about the beginning of July as the target'.
He said New York City has was 'not like other regions' of the state and said the reopening process could be either slowed down or sped up depending on its success.
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