A Brooklyn bar owner asked New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for hope for a reopening, but the business owner was giving a brush off of "few months, at minimum."
"I'll have more to say on that soon, on other ways we can help small businesses to get through to the point where we can really start at reopening, which obviously is a few months away at minimum," de Blasio told WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show" on Friday, the Washington Examiner reported.
"There's a lot of ideas out there we're working on right now."
New York state has been the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, with 24,368 deaths. That total is more than all but four other countries in the world. Also, New York's death count accounts for more than one-third of all the COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. (67,448) to date.
Mayor de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have struggled in their response to contain the virus, at times quibbling with the White House over myriad needs as they were left unprepared.
De Blasio has drawn ire for calling out the "Jewish community," warning against large gatherings.
"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed," he tweeted. "I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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