WPCNR THURSDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey. May 28, 2020:
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo introduced a new Executive Order this morning, giving business owners the right to bar customers not wearing a mask to enter their stores.
He also introduced Chris Rock and Rosie Perez, two well-known entertainers from Brooklyn asked by the Governor to volunteer to help spread the message to wear masks everywhere in the city, and particularly in the hard hit communities in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens where new coronavirus infections are double the rate of the rest of New York City boroughs.
Mr. Rock, in the news conference said he estimated only about 40% of persons he has noticed to be wearing a mask.
Ms. Perez speaking the ‘Q & A” in the press conference that disputes arise in street retail stories between patrons telling an unmasked person they should bwe wearing a mask. She welcomed the governor’s new executive order giving storekeepers the right to bar patrons not wearing a mask as they attempt to enter the store.
The Governor said: “Facts today are looking good,” citing the lowest number of new infections (163) since the coronavirus started to spread.
Asked whether New York City with daily death rate from the virus running at 74 a day would have a higher threshold for opening than other regions, the governor said “New York City will have the same metrics as all other regions in the state.”
The governor said he would attempt to avoid layoffs in any cuts to the state budget, but he will not make cuts until he sees how much aid congress eventually provides to New York funding relief. He said he doubted it would be all that the state needs,.
WPCNR REOPENER REPORT. From the New York State Department of Labor. May 27, 2020:
The April 2020 unemployment rate for the Hudson Valley Region is 14.2 percent.
That is up from 4.0 percent in March 2020 and up from 3.3 percent in April 2019. In April 2020, there were 156,200 unemployed in the region, up from 45,600 in March 2020 and up from 37,100 in April 2019.
Year-over-year in April 2020, labor force decreased by 37,900 or 3.3 percent, to 1,096,800. The region’s April 2020 unemployment rate of 14.2 percent is the highest (regardless of month) in the history of the current series (dating back to 1990).
The Hudson Valley Region’s April 2020 unemployment rate at 14.2 percent is ranked third among the 10 Labor Market Regions in New York State, trailing only the Capital Region (12.9 percent), and the Southern Tier Region (13.9 percent).
In April 2020, the highest unemployment rate within the region (15.6 percent) was recorded in Orange County.
Jobs data for May 2020 will be released on Thursday, June 18 and the labor force data will be released on Tuesday, June 23.
I am deeply saddened by the passing of Larry Kramer, a great New Yorker who helped galvanize the nation’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
At a time when the federal government sat paralyzed in denial of a disease that was ravaging an entire generation of LGBTQ people, Larry Kramer was fearless, uncompromising, relentless and loud — characteristics that ruffled feathers but that forced a response to a public health crisis.
He was “one of the men who fought the war” – the epitome, in the midst of a different plague, of New York Tough. He demanded action, and countless people are alive today because of his work, and the work of so many others who refused to accept indifference.
On behalf of the family of New York, my thoughts are with Larry’s loved ones today, especially his husband David. We will miss him, and we will remember him.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo