The Wall Street Journal - 16.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ** Monday, March 16, 2020 |A10A

SARAH BLESENER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

GREATER NEW YORK

benefit of sorts: A chance to

attend a birthday gathering.

Ms. Cavett was able to join

her friend Elizabeth Brewster

and several others at Marie-

Belle, a chocolate shop and

café in Manhattan’s SoHo

neighborhood, on Saturday af-

ternoon to toast Ms.

Brewster’s 58th birthday.

“I never get to see my

friends on the weekend,” said

Ms. Cavett, who is normally

busy with the show.

Ms. Brewster, an actress

not currently in a show, also

saw something of a silver lin-

ing. A lot of theater profes-

sionals may use the time to

develop new material.

“Maybe we’re going to get a

lot more cable network shows

from people’s basements,” she

said.

Mazumdar said. “We have to

figure it out.”

For Wendy Bobbitt Cavett,

music director of the hit

Broadway show “Come From

Away,” the sudden shutdown

of her industry had an odd

nouncement Sunday, he said

he planned to stay open, but

would be encouraging more

takeout. He expects a financial

hit that could take at least a

year to recover from.

“It’s a time of survival,” Mr.

other restaurants and bars

were still booming, prompting

some lawmakers and health-

care workers to reiterate the

need for social distancing and

to call for the shutdown of the

nightlife industry.

On Saturday evening, Adda,

a restaurant in the Long Island

City neighborhood of Queens,

was full. Owner Roni Mazum-

dar, though, said he had seen a

40% to 45% drop in customers

during the past week.

Before the mayor’s an-

On a normal weekend night,

Bond 45 sees about 600 diners.

On Friday night, it served

about 90.

Perhaps the scariest part,

said Benjamin Grossman, chief

strategy officer of the Fireman

Hospitality Group, which owns

the restaurant in the heart of

the theater district and sev-

eral others throughout Man-

hattan, is that the effects of

the new coronavirus are so

different from previous slow-

downs in that it is difficult to

predict when it will end.

“This is not a two-week

thing. This is going to be a

marathon,” he said.

On Sunday evening, Mayor

Bill de Blasio said restaurants

would be limited to providing

takeout and delivery, effective

at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

With surprising speed, New

York is shutting down. During

past catastrophes such as the

terrorist attacks of 9/11 or su-

perstorm Sandy in 2012, New

Yorkers viewed going out in

groups to support local busi-

nesses as almost an obligation

to help their city. But with the

current pandemic, they are

supposed to avoid groups.

For restaurants, the effect

on business is devastating.

Several already have an-

nounced closures—at least un-

til the pandemic eases.

Among those are such ma-

jor dining destinations as the

restaurants in Danny Meyer’s

Union Square Hospitality

Group, which include Union

Square Cafe and Gramercy

Tavern, and restaurants that

are part of David Chang’s Mo-

mofuku Group.

While many restaurants

were losing patrons, grocery

stores such as Trader Joe’s

were jammed with customers

trying to stockpile food. And

Mayor Bill de Blasio on
Sunday said he would limit
New York City restaurants,
bars and cafes to providing
takeout and delivery, and will
close nightclubs and movie
theaters to contain the spread
of the new coronavirus.
The mayor said he plans to
sign the order tomorrow, and
it would go into effect at 9
a.m on Tuesday.
“This is not a decision I
make lightly,” Mr. de Blasio
said in a statement. “But our
city is facing an unprece-
dented threat, and we must
respond with a wartime men-

tality.”
As of Sunday, New York
state had 729 confirmed cases
of the virus, including 329 in
New York City, more than any
other state, according to state
officials. The city has re-
corded five virus-related
deaths, Mr. de Blasio said
Sunday.
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo on Friday restricted
most gatherings of more than
500 people and limited busi-
nesses to half their legal oc-
cupancy.
Mr. Cuomo on Sunday said
that in the coming weeks he
expects the state’s hospital
system to be overwhelmed.
He said the state had only
3,000 intensive care beds with
the ventilators necessary to
help people infected with the
virus.
Already, 80% of those beds
are occupied by patients with
other health issues, he said.
Public-health experts say
the best way to slow the
spread of the virus is for peo-
ple to socially distance them-
selves from others. Still, many
New York City bars and res-
taurants were busy over the
weekend.
New York City elected offi-
cials on Sunday called on the
mayor to close such busi-
nesses.
Councilman Brad Lander, a
Brooklyn Democrat, said in an
interview that collective ac-
tion would be more effective
at slowing the spread of the
virus than the current reli-
ance on people’s personal ac-
tions.
“It’s got to be done at a
mass scale,” Mr. Lander said.
Mr. de Blasio, in radio and
television interviews that
aired Sunday, reiterated the
importance of the ban on
large gatherings. He said that
other options remain on the
table, but that for now the
city is monitoring the situa-
tion.
Meanwhile, the Metropoli-
tan Transportation Authority
said Sunday that one of its
employees on the Long Island
Rail Road had tested positive
for the virus. The worker’s
role didn’t involve interaction
with customers, officials said.

STATE STREET|By Jimmy Vielkind

Coronavirus Spread Roils New York Election Plans

New York
City Mayor
Bill de Blasio
on Sunday
postponed an
election for
Queens borough president
amid the growing coronavi-
rus crisis, and Gov. Andrew
Cuomo amended ballot-ac-
cess requirements for candi-
dates around the state.
The election in Queens
had been set for March 24.
One of the six candidates,
City Councilman Donovan
Richards, who has the en-
dorsement of the Democratic
Party in the county, said Fri-
day that the contest should
be postponed because many
polling places are located in
nursing homes.
The Democratic mayor
said Sunday that he would
look at options to reschedule

voting for later in the year.

“In a democratic society,

the canceling of an election

is such a rarity it should be

avoided at all costs. But in

this case, with the nature of

this crisis, I’ve come to the

decision that it is necessary,”

Mr. de Blasio said.

The other candidates pre-

viously had urged voters to

cast early ballots, which offi-

cials began accepting on Sat-

urday. Jim Quinn, the Repub-

lican-endorsed candidate, said

Friday that delaying the elec-

tion would “only create undue

confusion and chaos,” but by

Sunday agreed with the deci-

sion to postpone.

On Friday, Mr. Cuomo said

there weren’t any plans to

delay the state’s Democratic

presidential primary, which

is scheduled for April 28.

However, on Saturday he

signed an executive order

making it easier for voters to

request an absentee ballot.

The order also reduced

the number of nominating

signatures candidates must

submit to secure a spot on

the ballot ahead of primary

elections set for late June

for seats in the U.S. House of

Representatives and State

Legislature.

The governor ordered pe-

titioning to end at 5 p.m. on

March 17. It had been set to

run through April 2.

“This is not the best time

to be sending people door to

door. It’s the exact opposite

of what we’re trying to do,”

Mr. Cuomo said Friday.

The number of required

signatures varies by office,

but is reduced to 30% of the

amount set in statute by the

governor’s order. Candidates

for Congress would need 375

signatures rather than 1,250,

and candidates for state Sen-

ate would need 300 signatures

instead of 1,000, for example.

People from around the

state reported added ex-

pense and problems gather-

ing signatures during the

past week. One person on

Long Island said he was of-

fering people a new pen

from a box, but still got

slammed doors. Other cam-

paigns said they were spend-

ing money on hand sanitizer

for door-to-door petitioners.

More than 50 candidates

signed a letter last week ask-

ing for a reprieve. Many

were progressive insurgents

gathering petitions for pri-

mary challenges against

party-backed incumbents.

Gary Greenberg, who is

running for the state Senate

in the upper Hudson Valley,

said he supports the gover-

nor’s change and believes in-

surgents were disproportion-

ately affected.

“I’m sure the incumbents

are even having difficulties,”

Mr. Greenberg said Friday.

“It’s become more of an ob-

stacle.”

LGBT LOBBYING:A veteran

LGBT lobbyist is launching

the New Pride Agenda, a

statewide organization that

she says would focus on edu-

cation and advocacy for the

community.

Cynthia Dames, a project

manager for the New Pride

Agenda, was a former lobby-

ist and board member of the

Empire State Pride Agenda.

ESPA was a major advo-

cate for the 2002 law pro-

hibiting discrimination based

on sexual orientation and the

legalization of same-sex

marriage in 2011.

The Empire State Pride

Agenda disbanded in 2015,

saying its mission had been

largely fulfilled.

Ms. Dames said she felt

there was a resulting void

that she hoped to fill.

The New Pride Agenda

has raised about $300,

and initially will focus on in-

creasing funding for LGBT

health and making sure laws

against bullying and prohib-

iting discrimination against

transgender people are being

implemented.

“If you don’t put money

and muscle behind imple-

mentation of some laws,

they just don’t go any-

where,” Ms. Dames said.

[email protected]

De Blasio

Orders Bars,

Restaurants

To Close

BYCHARLESPASSY

ANDKATIEHONAN

Businesses Suffer as Life Grinds to Near Halt

A Manhattan restaurant lacked

customers Sunday, before the

city mandated that food service

will be limited to takeout and

delivery. On Friday morning, the

J train was unusually empty.

Officials have been urging

people to work from home.

JEENAH MOON/REUTERS

BYPAULBERGER
ANDKATIEHONAN

Clubs and theaters

will shut, and food

retail is limited to

takeout and delivery.

citizen centers will be

transformed into dispensaries

from which meals could be dis-

patched to elderly residents.

As of Sunday, New York

City temporarily had closed

nine public schools because a

student or school personnel

had tested positive for the vi-

rus or had possible contact

with an infected person.

Many counties in New York

and New Jersey already have

decided to temporarily close all

schools as a precaution.

Nassau, Suffolk and

Westchester counties in New

York announced Sunday that

they would shut their school

systems, which serve hundreds

of thousands of students. The

schools would stay closed for

two weeks, county officials said.

Many parents in New York

City started pulling their chil-

dren from school last week.

On Friday, public student at-

tendance fell to 68% compared

with an average attendance

rate of 93% during the previ-

ous school year.

Samantha Daves, a 10th-

grade chemistry teacher at

Stuyvesant High School and

the leader of a chapter of her

teachers union, said many

teachers, especially those over

the age of 50 or caring for el-

derly relatives, were concerned

about potentially contracting

the virus from students.

teachers will be trained to

teach remotely ahead of the

start of online learning. The

city will provide physical loca-

tions where front-line work-

ers, such as health-care and

transit workers, can send their

children, Mr. de Blasio added.

Moreover, the mayor said

he would sign an executive or-

der canceling elective surger-

ies in the city and that senior-

for low-income families.

“I know the full cost of

shutting our schools, I know

all of the negative ramifica-

tions of this decision, and it’s

very painful,” Mr. de Blasio

said. “It’s going to be very dif-

ficult for a lot of families.”

During the next week, city

schools will be open for grab-

and-go lunches for students,

the mayor said. Meanwhile,

downstate schools would

close.

Messrs. Cuomo and de Bla-

sio, both Democrats, had been

reluctant to take such action

because of concerns that the

city schools are the only source

of child care for many front-

line workers in health and

emergency services. The city’s

public-school system also pro-

vides a crucial source of food

New York City’s public

school system—the largest in

the country—and all other

school districts in downstate

New York will close to stem

the spread of the coronavirus.

Schools in the city will

close Monday and stay shut

until at least April 20, Mayor

Bill de Blasio said at a news

conference Sunday.

“We may actually have to

go out for the whole school

year, which is just extraordi-

narily painful,” he said.

Remote learning for the

city schools system will begin

March 23.

The decision to close the

city’s system—which serves

more than one million chil-

dren—came after mounting

calls from parents, lawmakers

and the city’s teachers union.

Michael Mulgrew, president

of the United Federation of

Teachers, said earlier Sunday

that the union planned to file

lawsuits Monday with the New

York Supreme Court and the

Labor Department if schools

weren’t closed.

Officials had debated for

days. Gov. Andrew Cuomo set-

tled the issue by announcing

ahead of the mayor that all

City Public-School Classes Canceled

City schools will remain closed until at least April 20, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

LEV RADIN/PACIFIC PRESS/ZUMA PRESS

ByPaul Berger,

Katie Honan

andLee Hawkins

NY