Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was as still aligned with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on coronavirus response measures — a day after the two delivered conflicting messages on whether the city would institute a shelter-in-place order.
“Throughout this entire situation, week-to-week, the state and the city have been very well coordinated,” de Blasio said today on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning.
“We’ve agreed on all the big decisions.”But just Tuesday, the two delivered opposing messages — almost simultaneously — on whether New York was preparing to issue a shelter-in-place order for the city. While de Blasio said New Yorkers “should be prepared right now for the possibility“ and a decision would be made “very soon,” Cuomo showed little interest in the idea.
"There’s not going to be any 'you must stay in your house' rule, because again that will just cause people to go somewhere else and that would be counterproductive,” Cuomo said within an hour of the mayor issuing the warning Tuesday. Cuomo has the final say on such an order, as what the city does has a direct impact on surrounding communities.
De Blasio said today his intent was to prepare New Yorkers for the possibility of such a change — taking, in part, the advice of his wife, Chirlane McCray.
“One of the things is — I want to quote a wise person, our first lady — Chirlane said to me the other day, remember that people need to get acclimated to new things,” de Blasio said. “They need time to get used to things — that’s just human. And to give people a heads-up that this is starting to happen around America and this could well be where we end up.
”But he added that state approval would be necessary to make such a change.
“This is a decision that can only be made with the state — and that’s fine I’m very comfortable with that,” de Blasio said.