New York City’s first step to reopening its economy after the coronavirus pandemic will allow 32,000 city construction sites to reopen and put hardhats back on the job, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
“That means a lot of New Yorkers will come back to work but it has to be safe it has to be healthy,” Hizzoner told reporters during his Friday press briefing.
The reopened construction sites will be required to shake up their worksites to better protect employees from potential exposure to COVID-19, including making hand sanitizer available and requiring workers to wear face coverings.
However, de Blasio added that the Buildings Department would hold off on issuing fines for noncompliance for a month to allow the worksites to voluntarily come into compliance.
“I don’t want to give a single fine,” he said. “I don’t want to take money from anyone”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down construction sites for projects that were deemed not essential in March as officials struggled to slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state.
His decision came after The Post revealed that construction workers were still showing up to work sick, even as the pandemic grew worse.
