New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refuted Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proclamation that schools would be closed until September.
De Blasio made the announcement that schools would remain closed throughout the rest of the school year during a Saturday morning press conference. Cuomo threw water on that claim at his own press conference hours later.
“He didn’t close them, and he can’t open them,” the governor said. “It is my legal authority in this situation.”
Cuomo also said a decision likely would not be made in the next couple of days because it remains unclear how the virus will play out in the coming months.
“It’s not going to be decided in the next few days, because we don’t know,” he explained. “I can’t tell you what June is going to look like. I can’t tell you what May is going to look like.”
Cuomo also noted that de Blasio’s decisions will affect more than just New York City and should be “coordinating that decision with the whole metro region.”
The mayor closed schools in mid-March, and local officials were hoping schools could reopen in mid-to-late April.
New York has become the epicenter of the virus in recent weeks. In recent days, the state surpassed every other country in reported coronavirus cases excluding the United States, but some nations have been accused of falsifying data. New York has approximately 160,000 cases, which is slightly more than Spain and Italy, two of the hardest-hit countries.
