8 JUNE 11, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Your guide to phase one of NYC’s reopening
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@QNS.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Aft er nearly three months, New
York City is making its comeback
from COVID-19.
On Monday, June 8, the fi ve boroughs
fi nally entered the fi rst phase
of reopening following the pandemic.
About 400,000 New Yorkers are
getting the signal to return to work
in various trades that have been
suspended or severely curtailed for
weeks.
But no one heading back to work
this week should expect to fi nd the
New York City that existed before the
fi rst COVID-19 case was detected here
back on March 1. There will be plenty
of restrictions, both in and out of the
offi ce, designed to protect workers,
employers and customers alike from
becoming potentially infected with
the illness.
The MTA will also be ramping
back up toward regular service come
Monday, according to acting New York
City Transit President Sarah Feinberg.
Subway and bus service was reduced
in late March aft er ridership plunged
by 90 percent; the MTA implemented
an altered “Essential Service” plan to
keep essential workers across the city
moving.
While regular subway and bus service
will come back online, the MTA
will continue overnight closures of the
transit system for disinfection until
further notice, Feinberg said Friday.
The alternative service program for
essential workers will remain during
the overnight periods.
With that in mind, here are the
major sectors of the New York City
economy reopened Monday, and how
it will aff ect you:
CONSTRUCTION
The long-missed sound of jackhammers
hitting concrete will resume
under phase one, with building equipment,
building fi nishing, foundation,
structure and building exterior
contractors all permitted to get back
to work.
The types of projects that will resume
include non-emergency highway,
bridge and street construction (emergency
work was permitted during the
New York PAUSE), land subdivision,
nonresidential building construction,
residential building construction and
utility system constructions.
But all workers will need to socially
distance and wear face masks while on
the job to prevent the possible spread
of COVID-19. Some other mandatory
regulations on construction sites include
limiting the number of workers
in confi ned areas; limited equipment
sharing; regular daily cleaning and
disinfection of the job sites; and providing
hand hygiene stations.
Photo via Flickr Creative Commons/slgckgc
MANUFACTURING/
WHOLESALE TRADE
Machines will start humming in
factories and warehouses across
the city with the resumption of
manufacturing and wholesale trade
in the following fi elds as of Monday:
apparel, computer and electronic
product, electric lighting equipment,
fabricated metals, furniture and
related product, leather and allied
product, machinery, nonmetallic
mineral product, paper, petroleum
and coal products, plastic and rubber
products, printing and related
support, textiles and wood.
As with construction, there will
be limits to the number of workers
who can gather in a certain space.
Workers will be required to wear
face masks. In-person gatherings
will be limited; events such as
conference calls must take place in
well-ventilated areas.
Each business must designate dropoff
/pickup sites to limit contact and
loitering. Employers must provide
free masks to their workers and establish
hygiene stations. There will
also be limits with regard to sharing
equipment.
RETAIL
A litany of non-essential retailers
will also be cleared to lift the gates on
their brick-and-mortar businesses —
yet it won’t be business as usual for
both clerks and customers alike.
The retailers that will reopen in
June include clothing stores, direct
selling establishments, electronic/
appliance stores, electronic shopping
and mail-order houses, furniture
and home furnishing stores, fl orists,
general merchandise stores, health
and personal care stores, jewelry/
luggage/leather stores, lawn and
garden equipment/supplies stores,
offi ce supplies/stationery/gift stores,
used merchandise stores, shoe stores,
sporting good retailers, hobby shops,
musical instrument stores, book
stores and other miscellaneous
retailers.
All in-person sales must occur
through a curbside or in-store pickup
station. Browsing through the stores
is off -limits to customers; in other
words, you’ll need to call in your
order or place it online in advance.
Retailers can only employ enough
workers to operate the pickup
station.
Store personnel must wear face
masks at all times and be kept six
feet apart, or separated by plexiglass
partitions if it’s impossible to meet
that social distancing limit. Customers
picking up items must stand in a
queue with designated markings to
keep all separated by six feet.
As with manufacturers, retailers
must set up designated pickup/dropoff
areas for deliveries and limit inperson
gatherings.
WHAT’S NOT OPEN?
There will remain plenty of industries
in New York City that will not
reopen Monday, but there’s hope that
they will reopen soon under phase
two. There’s no timetable set for when
New York City will go to the second
phase of reopen, but that could come
as soon as July — provided there isn’t
a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases.
Five regions in New York state are
already in phase two. The businesses
that would reopen in that phase
include regular offi ces, real estate
brokers, car dealers, hair salons and
barber shops, retail/rental repair
and cleaning, outdoor dining and
commercial building management.
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