Making it crystal clear how seriously he’s taking the violations, Cuomo warned New Yorkers that if the laws continue to be ignored, bars and restaurants could lose their liquor licenses — and he could even reverse reopening plans.
Although the number of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations across the state has continued to decrease, Cuomo warned during his daily press conference on Sunday that “those numbers can change in a week.”
“This is a very serious situation, and I want to make sure everyone knows the consequences,” he continued. “We are not kidding around with this. You’re talking about jeopardizing people’s lives.”
While Cuomo noted that he understands that enforcing these kinds of laws are “not popular,” the alternative would be much worse. “You know what’s more unpopular?” he asked. “If that region closes because that local government did not do their job. And that can happen.”
Noting that the majority of the complaints the state has received were from violations that took place in Manhattan and the Hamptons, which recently entered phase 2 of reopening, the governor warned that those are the areas he would close first, before making a statewide decision.
“I am warning today, in a nice way, consequences of your actions,” he said. “I’m not going to turn a blind eye to them. New Yorkers deserve better.”
“I am not going to allow situations to exist that we know have a high likelihood of causing an increase in the spread of the virus. And if we increase the spread of the virus in Manhattan because of bars and restaurants well then everyone in Manhattan is going to suffer, and that’s not fair either,” he added.
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