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Tomorrow, May 15, marks the expiration date of the blanket restrictions put into place by Governor Cuomo at the onset of the crisis, as well as the beginning of a region-by-region reopening of New York state. The city itself is exempted, as the so-called "pause" that started in mid-March will continue here until at least June, if not longer. Indeed, Broadway theaters will officially remain dark until September 7.
None of that has curtailed speculation on how life in will change in NYC, or dampened enthusiasm for the eventual reopening of restaurants and bars. New Yorkers are understandably sick of being in lockdown, though they have yet to storm City Hall with AR-15s and rocket launchers in tow.
Still, it's important not to let yourself get out over your skis with anticipation, and in that sense, it's worth taking a look at an interactive map that's just been released by Albany. Called the Regional Monitoring Dashboard, it breaks the Empire State down by region, color-coding them to represent how ready each of them are to re-open according to seven specific criteria. These include the decline in hospitalizations over a three-day average, and the number of contract tracers (at least 30 per 100,000 residents) available to take the field.
Click on any region and you’ll see what metrics have the been met, and by what percentage. As of May 12, the map shows that only three—the Finger Lakes region, the North Country along the Canadian border and the Southern Tier between Binghamton and Ohio—have met all seven criteria, though Governor Cuomo has given the green light for Mohawk Valley and Central New York to reopen as well.
You can find the map here. But don't bother heading to these places from the city. At this moment in time, the locals don't want you.
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