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Cuomo, de Blasio face blowback over handling of NYC school closures
By Brittany De Lea
Published November 18, 2020
New York City's mayor and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are facing criticism over their handling of the city school closure, which will – as announced Wednesday – go into effect on Thursday.
Bill de Blasio arrived hours late to his press conference, after New York's governor largely dodged reporters' questions about whether schools were set to close.
Many vented on Twitter about the lack of clear leadership.
One Twitter user said reopening schools was a great ploy to get parents to bring their families back to the city, so that local officials could collect their tax dollars.
NEW YORK CITY'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO SHUT DOWN THURSDAY OVER COVID SPIKE
Another ruminated on what could have caused enough animosity between Cuomo and de Blasio that communication effectively broke down eight months into the pandemic.
The closure, which is expected to be temporary, comes as the local positivity rate averaged 3% over a week-long period. In-person instruction will not restart until the average falls below that threshold.
Last week, Cuomo reinstated restrictions on bars, restaurants and gyms, effective Friday. However, these establishments currently remain open even as schools close, which is another sore spot.
New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak earlier this spring, currently has rates lower than other areas of the U.S.
But de Blasio said Wednesday that the city needed to fight back against a “second wave” of the virus.
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