Big city, big worry: Pressure mounting to close NYC schools
A pedestrian wearing a face mask stops in Times Square, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday he will announce new restrictions on gatherings to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the coming days. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A mask-wearing costumed character in Times Square looks through bills during a lull in activity Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. Earlier Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned gatherings of 500 or more people. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A commuter wears a face mask while riding the a nearly empty subway car into Brooklyn, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday he will announce new restrictions on gatherings to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the coming days, but he hopes to avoid closing all public events such as Broadway shows. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Members of the New York National Guard help to organize and distribute food to families on free or reduced school lunch programs in New Rochelle, N.Y., Thursday, March 12, 2020. State officials have set up a “containment area” in the New York City suburb, where schools and houses of worship are closed within a 1-mile radius of a point near a synagogue where an infected person with coronavirus had attended events. State officials stress it is not a lockdown. The vast majority of people recover from the new coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, most people recover…
Shoppers wear masks while carrying their groceries out of a supermarket, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday he will announce new restrictions on gatherings to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the coming days, but he hopes to avoid closing all public events such as Broadway shows. The vast majority of people recover from the new coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, most people recover in about two to six weeks, depending on the severity of the illness. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Pedestrian uses her phone while wearing a face mask in Herald Square, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday he will announce new restrictions on gatherings to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the coming days, but he hopes to avoid closing all public events such as Broadway shows. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A pedestrian wears a face mask while crossing West 34th Street in New York on Thursday, March 12, 2020. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday he will announce new restrictions on gatherings to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the coming days, but he hopes to avoid closing all public events such as Broadway shows. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Brooklyn resident and waitress Casey Stewart peers out from a ski mask she adapted to protect herself from coronavirus after riding the subway to Times Square, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York to see for herself the virus outbreak's effect on the city. She is also wearing a protective mask beneath the ski mask. Stewart, who works at two restaurants, said she's definitely noticed a drop in the number of customers. She's also concerned because at least one of the places she works may have to close for at least a week or possibly longer. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
People embrace inside a coffee shop as a U.S. flag is reflected by the store's window Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Times Square in New York. Broadway theaters were shuttered Thursday after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned gatherings of more than 500 people amid a rise in coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Tourists Gabby Vela and her husband, of San Antonio, bring a pizza back to their hotel Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York's Times Square area near Broadway. The couple said they purchased the masks at Home Depot. The two were on spring break in the city, where New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has banned gatherings of more than 500 people amid concerns over the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Tourists, including one using a scarf to protect her face against coronavirus in spite of relatively mild winter temperatures, walk through Times Square, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. New York's Gov. Cuomo banned gatherings of more than 500 people in the city, forcing Broadway theaters and many city attractions to close. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A man checks his cellphone near shelves at a New York City Trader Joe's market in disarray, Thursday, March 12, 2020. Coronavirus fears have some New Yorkers stocking up on essentials as uncertainty grows over what would be available and whether they would be able to leave home to get what they need. (Sarah Vaynerman via AP)
A pedestrian passes an entrance to the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Thursday, March 12, 2020, after the NCAA's Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament was announced cancelled due to concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A sign announcing the suspension of all Broadway shows is posted on a door at the Minskoff Theatre, where "The Lion King" had been playing, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned gatherings of more than 500 people. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A sign on the door of the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center Thursday, March 12, 2020, announces the cancellation of Shen Yun performances through March 29, in New York. Nearly all of Lincoln Center's performance spaces closed their doors after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a temporary statewide ban on gatherings of more than 500 people. For most people the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kathy W…
A mask-wearing woman walks in front of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. Most of Lincoln Center's performance space including the Metropolitan Opera, shuttered their doors Thursday after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo temporarily banned gatherings of more than 500 people amid a rise in cases of coronavirus. For most people the new virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness including pneum…
Two Lincoln Center security officials walk in front of the Metropolitan Opera box office Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo temporarily banned gatherings of more than 500 people. Most of Lincoln Center's performance space,s including the Met Opera, shuttered their doors Thursday after the ban was announced. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A poster advertising "The Phantom of the Opera" is shown on the shuttered Majestic Theatre on a nearly deserted side street near Times Square, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York, after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned gatherings of more than 500 people amid a rise in coronavirus cases. The ban for Broadway theaters started Thursday and will be in effect through April 12, according to a statement from the Broadway League, an organization of theater owners and producers. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
The Minskoff Theatre is shuttered Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York, near Times Square after Broadway theaters closed following New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's banning of gatherings of more than 500 people over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus sapped New York City of its famous hustle and bustle Friday, with no Broadway, no basketball games, no big gatherings, a populace unnerved by an ever-worsening crisis and mounting pressure to close down public schools.
A dizzying series of temporary coronavirus-related closures announced Thursday included some of the city’s cultural jewels: the Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Hall.
It wasn’t just high culture. The St. Patrick’s Day parade will not step off next week. Concerts were canceled. NBA games were scuttled. CBS News, which temporarily shut down its city headquarters Wednesday after two employees tested positive, continued to air its local Thursday night broadcast — from Los Angeles.
Restaurants, subway cars and sidewalks were noticeably emptier. Without a flake of snow, the city began to take on the thinned-out look it gets after winter blizzards, with people telecommuting to work or avoiding public places. Colleges across the city were closed or having students attend class online.
“People are scared to come outside,” said Justin Rahim, a tour guide at Manhattan’s Central Park, who said several of his pedicab drivers — reliant on tourists for their living — quit Thursday to drive for Uber's food delivery service. “It’s crazy. How am I going to survive this?”
Parents citywide fretted about whether the public school system, with its 1.2 million pupils, might be shut down, as happened in nearby New Rochelle, a suburb that has been a focus of the outbreak in the U.S.
“It is time to close our public schools. This isn’t an easy decision, but we must take aggressive measures to stop the spread of #COVID19,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted Friday. “Teaching and learning can not take place under these circumstances for the safety and well being of the teachers and students.”
The virus, as of Thursday afternoon, had been confirmed in more than 320 people in New York state, including 95 in the city, and had caused one death in the metropolitan area. The number of illnesses may be higher because of a shortage of test kits. The state on Friday opened a drive-through testing center in New Rochelle.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading, gatherings with more than 500 people would temporarily be banned in the state, starting in most places at 5 p.m. Friday, though evening shows on Broadway were called off a day sooner.
“I think we're looking at a matter of months," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference on Friday. "I think this could be 6-7-8-9 month affair. ... This is not going to be over in 30 days; this is not going to be over in a couple of weeks.”
Many gatherings in smaller event spaces would have to cut capacity in half.
The restrictions, imposed by an emergency order, don't apply to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, shopping malls and mass transit, and there were exceptions for other types of businesses, like casino floors.
People are also still free to go to work, and Mayor Bill de Blasio counseled against giving up.
“The city has to keep going,” de Blasio said Friday on Fox 5. “We need people to have their livelihoods. We need folks to show up at work. We need our public servants to be where we need them to be to take care of folks — hospitals, schools, first responders.”
Yet it was clear the slowdown would be painful for a city that relies on the economic engines of tourism, entertainment and Wall Street.
Restaurants and nightspots are reporting drop-offs of 20%-80% over the past week, particularly around touristy Times Square, said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.
At the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, security officers reported some of the sparsest crowds they've seen as they prepared to shutter Friday.
The coronavirus dominated conversation, even in parks where joggers were intent on maintaining some normalcy.
Danielle Xuereb, 38, of Manhattan, had been preparing to run a half-marathon but learned it was canceled. She said she's been working from home and expected to continue to low for a week or two, maybe skipping her normal yoga classes.
“I guess my main concern,” Xuereb said, “is how long this will all last.”
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Villeneuve and Hill reported from Albany, New York, and Porter reported from Newark, New Jersey. Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela, Marina Villeneuve, David Porter and Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report. The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak