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New York City Could Begin Reopening In Early June, Mayor De Blasio Says

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City has been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and now the Big Apple could be close to phase one of reopening.

The mayor hopes it will happen in the first two weeks of June, CBS2's Dave Carlin reports.

"All roads are leading to the first half of June," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

He says June could bring a sunny, long-awaited burst of progress.

He announced the door to reopening inches open as early as June 1.

"To get to a restart that is sustainable and not sort of skittish and moving back and forth all the time," de Blasio said.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

The metrics or targets would need to keep trending favorably with sustained downturns in hospitalizations, ICU admissions and positive tests.

De Blasio said those indicators need to decline in unison for 10 to 14 consecutive days for the city to begin to phase one of reopening.

Phase one includes retail stores with modifications and construction jobs.

CORONAVIRUS: NY Health Dept. | NY Call 1-(888)-364-3065 | NYC Health Dept. | NYC Call 311, Text COVID to 692692 | NJ Health Dept. | NJ Call 1-(800)-222-1222 or 211, Text NJCOVID to 898211 | CT Health Dept. | CT Call 211

It would still be no to going back to campuses for students or crowded events.

When asked about the mayor's cautious optimism about June, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had this response: "You do it on the signs and you do it on the data and you do it on the numbers."

Cuomo says he talks regularly with the mayor and any next steps would not come as any surprise.

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