Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that New York is lifting nearly all COVID-19 restrictions, after the state cleared the threshold of 70 percent of adult residents having received at least one vaccine dose.
“What does 70 percent mean? That means that we can now return to life as we know it,” Cuomo said Tuesday.
Effective immediately, the state’s coronavirus precautions are lifted in all commercial settings, including: offices, sporting events, manufacturing buildings, malls, movie theaters, camps, child care and personal care businesses, construction sites, food service establishments, amusement parks, and retail buildings.
In addition, social gathering capacity restrictions have been removed, and health screenings, as well as the cleaning and disinfecting protocols, will no longer be required in New York.
Though masks are no longer required indoors by New York state, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mask mandates will continue to be in effect for pre-K schools, mass transit, ride-hail services and health care settings, since those are federal guidelines.
“All the state-mandated restrictions are lifted on commercial social settings, sports and recreation construction, manufacturing, retail buildings, all across the board we can get back to living and businesses can open, because the state mandates are gone, social gathering restrictions, capacity restrictions, the health screenings, [and] the cleaning and disinfecting protocols,” said Cuomo.
Cuomo made the announcement during his final COVID-19 briefing at One World Trade Center, where he handed out awards to New York union leaders at a campaign rally-style event.
“We’re no longer just surviving,” Cuomo went on. “Life is about thriving. Life is about seeing people, life is about loving, life is about celebrating, life is about enjoying, life is about interacting. And now we get back to living life.”
To celebrate the milestone, cities across the state, including New York City, Nyack in the Hudson Valley, Syracuse and Albany will hold fireworks shows Tuesday evening, according to the governor.
“Tonight, we’re going to light all the state assets, Empire State Building and blue and gold,” Cuomo said. “And we’re going to have fireworks all across the state of New York tonight to celebrate and honor the essential workers.”
Cuomo’s office says fireworks will be shot into the air at 9:15 p.m. in the New York Harbor, Albany’s Empire State Plaza, Binghamton University, Jones Beach, the Lake Placid Club, Niagara Falls State Park, Nyack Memorial Park, the Rochester Dome Arena, Syracuse and downtown Utica.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, when asked about fireworks Tuesday morning, said he had not gotten any details about it yet.
“We’re waiting for more information on that, obviously want to make sure that the NYPD and everyone else relevant is coordinated with,” de Blasio told a reporter at his daily briefing.
According to New York’s data, 55.7 percent of the state’s total population have received at least one shot as of Tuesday at 2 p.m. More than 67 percent of New York State residents ages 18 and over have received one or both shots of a vaccine, and 50 percent of New Yorkers have completed their vaccine series, the data shows.
The restriction lift comes after Cuomo on June 7 first announced that “virtually all” state-mandated COVID-19 rules in the Empire State would soon be a thing of the past, due to more expansive CDC vaccine data that showed the state was approaching the 70 percent figure.
“When we hit 70 percent, then I feel comfortable saying to the people of this state we can relax virtually all restrictions,” he said at the time.
On Monday, the governor said, citing CDC data, that 69.9 percent of New York adults had received at least one jab, which put New York a hair shy of the 70 percent benchmark.
De Blasio said Tuesday he’s “very comfortable” with the complete New York state reopening.
“More than half of the city [is] on their way to full vaccination. It’s time, I’m very comfortable that it’s time,” de Blasio said during his daily press conference.
Additional reporting by Nolan Hicks
