Weather: Mild, with some sun and a high in the upper 50s.
Alternate-side parking: Suspended through April 28. Meters are in effect.
New York and nearby states will cooperate on reopening.
The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Delaware said on Monday that they would work together to plan for reopening the region’s economies, schools and other important elements.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that health and economic officials from the states were starting work immediately on developing strategies for easing restrictions that have brought much of daily life to a halt.
Of the seven states, only Massachusetts has a Republican governor.
The officials participating in the effort, Mr. Cuomo said, would “study the data, study the research, study the experience of other countries and give us guidelines and parameters to go forward.”
[Get the latest news and updates on the coronavirus in the New York region.]
“The worst is over” if New Yorkers remain resolute, Mr. Cuomo said.
Mr. Cuomo said on Monday, for the first time, that he believed the most horrific phase of the coronavirus outbreak may have passed.
“I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart,” Mr. Cuomo said at his daily briefing. “I believe we can start on the path to normalcy.”
But the governor wavered on the pronouncement several times. Asked a follow-up question about whether he was confident the worst was indeed over, Mr. Cuomo said he was not. He repeated that the state was experiencing plateaus in key categories, but that if New Yorkers did not continue to follow the current restrictions, the situation would worsen.
“The worst can be over, and it is over, unless we do something reckless,” he said. “And you can turn those numbers on two or three days of reckless behavior.”
[Coronavirus in New York: A map and the case count.]
New Jersey bans halting internet and phone service for nonpayment.
Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said he was ordering that no state resident’s internet or phone service be shut off for a failure to pay until 30 days after the public health emergency had ended. He also said he was banning almost all late fees and reductions in service. Any internet or phone service that had been disconnected over unpaid bills after March 16 should be restored, Mr. Murphy added.
“This is no time for anyone to have their connection to the world severed,” he said.
From The Times
3 Vans, 6 Coolers, a Plane, a Storm and 2 Labs: A Nasal Swab’s Journey
Richard Brodsky, Legislator Known as Albany’s Conscience, Dies at 73
Shut by Virus, Met Opera Announces Starry ‘At Home’ Concert
Want more news? Check out our full coverage.
The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.
What we’re reading
A journalist explains the “ever-evolving messaging offered to the public” about coronavirus testing capacity in the city. [City Limits]
Referring to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Mr. Cuomo said: “I speak to him quite frequently. He gives me advice. I bounce ideas off him.” [Rolling Stone]
Motorcyclists are enjoying the city’s open streets. [Gothamist]
And finally: A standing ovation
The Times’s Andy Newman writes:
For a lot of New Yorkers, the coronavirus lockdown will be defined by two sounds.
One is the ambulance sirens, shrieking at random, at all hours, through deserted streets.
The other is the nightly 7 p.m. cheer for the hundreds of thousands of people saving lives and keeping the city running: health care providers, emergency medical workers, grocery employees, delivery riders.
[Hear what New York City sounds like every night at 7.]
In a city where the instinct to gather in crowds has been thwarted by the virus, the cheering gives people — from their separate windows, terraces, fire escapes, stoops and rooftops — a way to connect.
The daily ovation, which began in China and has traveled around the globe with the virus, cheers some of the front-line workers, too.
[In praise of quarantine clapping.]
“I avoid being out on the street at 7 p.m.,” said Oswaldo Luciano, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, “because if on my walk home I would hear all that cheering, I would break down and cry. I cannot let myself cry at this very moment.”
It’s Tuesday — clap your hands.
Metropolitan Diary: Turtle time
Dear Diary:
I was at home one afternoon when a man rang the intercom and asked whether I could buzz him into the building. He said that his turtle had fallen out the window and into the alley between his building and mine, and that he wanted to get to the alley from my building’s basement.
I paused. No one could make this up, I decided.
“I love turtles,” I said, buzzing him in. “I hope he’s OK.”
About five minutes later, I looked out the window and saw a tall man come out my building’s front door. He was holding a good-size turtle that was moving its arms and legs.
It was OK, I guess, just shook up.
— Jody Friedman
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