They’re partying like it’s 2019.
Lockdown-weary New Yorkers ditched the distancing to get social this weekend — transforming parts of the Big Apple into a raucous, late season Mardi Gras.
Yet the city’s COVID-19-be-damned attitude was nothing compared to the scene in Belmar, NJ, where huge crowds also flouted state-mandated guidelines to stay six feet apart to curb the spread of the bug — as they waited shoulder-to-shoulder on the boardwalk for their turn to buy beach badges.
Outside popular bars in the Upper East Side, the East Village and in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, booze-hounds came for the take-out cocktails, and then stayed, and stayed — sipping drinks on packed sidewalks — and soaking up lively scene, which rubbed those most vulnerable to the virus the wrong way.
“They don’t care about us,” said Ann Trent, 72, as she sat on a bench by the Brooklyn Bridge. “What happened to all of us protecting everyone else?”
But the crowds, who enjoyed summer-like weather that climbed Saturday to a high of 76 degrees, were carefree, apparently forgetting that they live in the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
Outside the East Village Social on St. Marks Place, two guitarists helped kick off the weekend’s festivities Friday night by plugging into a portable amp and jamming for tips from the gathered crowd.
“Obviously, too many people,” one bartender conceded to The Post on Saturday.
Most of the city’s bar-hopping social-distance scofflaws are young — and many choose not to wear masks.
Councilman Mark Levine, who chairs the city’s health committee, blamed the crowds on “quarantine fatigue” — and fears such recklessness could lead to a rebound-spike in COVID-19 deaths.
The virus killed 100 people in the city during the 24 hours ending 2 p.m. Saturday, according to official stats. At the height of the city’s outbreak in mid-April, some would 500 die in a single day.
“It’s only going to get worse as we head into a hot New York City summer,” Levine added.
He urged the mayor’s office to plan now for the safe outdoor use of streets, beaches, playgrounds and parks — “or we will drive non-compliance underground.”
The result will be massive indoor houseparties, swimming without lifeguards and neighborhoods “busting open fire hydrants,” he warned.
PBA President Patrick Lynch agreed — and added that cops can’t be responsible for policing every scofflaw on every corner of the city.
“As the weather heats up, the situation is only going to get worse,” he said.
“Any policy that continues to deploy police officers to enforce social distancing is not only bound to fail — it is putting cops in dangerous situations with no support.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, urged New Yorkers not to ease up on social distancing, despite improving data.
“We just want to make sure we don’t go back to the hell that we’ve gone through,” he said from Albany, during his daily press briefing.
Statewide, the daily death toll as of Saturday afternoon was 157, up from the 132 reported the day before, for a new total of 22,459 COVID-19 fatalities.
Close to 350 new cases were reported, according to Cuomo, who said those are predominantly people who left their homes to go shop, exercise or socialize — and not essential workers.
The slow, steady decrease in deaths and hospitalizations has led to lockdown relaxations in half of the state’s regions, all upstate, Cuomo said.
And in another step toward a better, new normal, horse and car racing will resume across the state next month, albeit with less noise — spectators are banned from the stands, the governor said.
The race tracks and Watkins Glen International car track will reopen as early as June 1.
And Major League Baseball may be next — also without fans. “If it works economically, that would be great,” he said.
Cuomo also announced that residents of suburban Westchester and Suffolk counties — two of the nation’s early hotspots — will again be able to undergo elective surgeries and ambulatory care.
“There was a period where hospitals were dealing basically with COVID patients,” he said. “We are past that period. If you need medical attention, if you need a medical procedure, you should get it.”
Lockdown frustration led to several dozen protesters gathering in front of the state Capitol in Albany on Saturday, holding American flags and signs demanding that businesses reopen.
Michelle Fusco, of rural Knox, who had worked as a waitress for 33 years, said she’s been out of work since March 16.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to me in the coming years,” she said. “I like to think I was essential.”
Worldwide, the total death toll topped 310,000 Saturday, with the US continuing to lead the list of deadliest nations with 88,447 fatalities.
Additional reporting by Ruth Brown and Dean Balsamini
