COVID-19: NYC Quote of the Day 2020-06-10

Tuesday, June 9, 2020, NYC Mayor de Blasio - Could We Get to Phase Two by the End of June?

Question: My question has to do with outdoor dining and phase two in New York. You had indicated it would be the beginning of July. All the other regions have been able to move to phase two in two weeks, which would put New York City on June 22nd. How close are you to giving restaurants the details about how they can reclaim some of the street space?

Mayor: Two parts to my answer. Is it legally possible that we could get to phase two by the end of June? Yes. We need to provide answers on that timeline. So, that means over the next week or 10 days, we have to fill in as many of those blanks as humanly possible. But I've been very clear, and I said it yesterday, that I'm not saying June 22nd, which is the earliest, you know, official date, according to State guidance, because I do not want to unduly raise expectations. We are not like the other regions of the state. I love the whole State of New York. I've been all over the State of New York. We are different and we're different than almost every place in the country, that's why we were the epicenter – just the nature of life in the nation's largest city. So, I want people to hear that we'll work with the State. We're going to constantly communicate with the State. If we're ready on June 22nd, that's beautiful, but I don't want people to have undue expectations. We're trying to do something so difficult in these next few weeks, bring back hundreds of thousands of workers and ensure that we keep the coronavirus down and then bring back many hundreds of thousands more. So, I said July because I wanted to keep expectations a little lower. But if we can get there sooner, of course, if the State and the City agree and we think it's safe, of course. So, yes, an answer to your question, we owe those restaurants guidance very quickly this week, next week.
Edited for redundancy, grammar, and emphasis
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