NYC beaches, pools could stay closed all summer
NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has outlined a new budget proposal to make up the over $7B in revenue lost in New York City due to the coronavirus pandemic.
De Blasio is relying on a series of budget cuts, like closing the city’s public pools and beaches this summer in an effort to recoup the losses through mid-2021.
"I don't see that happening anytime soon," de Blasio said at a Thursday morning news conference. "The notion of having lifeguards and people coming into the beach like normal, we don't have that in our sights yet."
The New York City Parks department manages 14 miles of beaches. They were scheduled to reopen on May 23, 2020.
The mayor's updated budget proposal calls for the closure of all outdoor pools for the entire summer to save $12 million.
The closings are part of a $89.3B proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year. The budget is $6B smaller than the one he had originally proposed in January.
“The bottom line on the Mayor’s budget is that it’s a prayer,” said Greg David of Crain’s New York. “A prayer that Washington will come to the aid of New York City with billions of dollars to close the budget gap and mean that the Mayor won’t have to make the tough choices he clearly doesn’t want to make.”
De Blasio said that New Yorkers need to start lowering their expectations and that the idea of large groups of people gathering is not coming anytime soon.
"That jump should only happen when we are sure we are not going to exacerbate the disease," de Blasio said.
He said he has not even started to see the indicators moving in the right direction to loosen social distancing rules.
"You can't plan on summer right now," de Blasio said.