Schools shuttered in COVID hot spots as Brooklyn battles flare-ups

October 6, 2020 Associated Press

PS 95 in Gravesend was one of many Brooklyn schools ordered closed starting Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo due to rising coronavirus case rates. Photo: Kathy Willens/AP

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Hundreds of New York City public and private schools were closed Tuesday in neighborhoods with flare-ups of coronavirus cases as city and state officials continued discussing the possibility of shuttering many businesses in those areas.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the closing of schools in nine Brooklyn and Queens ZIP codes on Monday. But he held off a decision on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to close non-essential businesses in those areas, suggesting that the boundaries needed to be drawn differently to be effective.

“Once we have that done, then I don’t have a problem with closing the essential businesses,” the governor said Monday, arguing that closing schools was a higher priority.

De Blasio said Tuesday that the city and state were continuing to discuss the proposed business closings. He pressed for a quick answer, saying the city was ready to close the enterprises Wednesday but needed the state’s approval.

“We are at a crucial moment in our fight against the coronavirus,” de Blasio said at a virtual news briefing. “We have to bring everything we can to bear. We have to be tough about it.”

He and Cuomo have often been at odds over the pandemic response and previous issues.

The affected areas are largely Orthodox Jewish strongholds, and some community members have complained of being singled out for enforcement.

Music teacher Cheryl Johnson left Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood on Monday. The school has been ordered closed by Gov. Cuomo amid rising COVID-19 case rates. Photo: Kathy Willens/AP

De Blasio said Sunday that about 100 public schools and 200 private schools would be affected by the shutdown in the nine ZIP codes. The move came just days after the city’s public schools opened for in-person learning.

The nine ZIP codes where schools were closed have accounted for more than 20 percent of all new infections in the city over the past four weeks, though they represent just 7 percent of the population.

The affected ZIP codes are 11691 (Edgemere/Far Rockaway); 11219 (Borough Park); 11223 (Gravesend/Homecrest); 11230 (Midwood); 11204 (Bensonhurst/Mapleton); 11210 (Flatlands/Midwood); 11229 (Gerritsen Beach/Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay); 11415 (Kew Gardens); and 11367 (Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok).