ALBANY – Saying New York City is “its own animal,” State Assemblyman Karl Brabenec (R, Deerpark) criticized Governor Cuomo’s decision to extend the statewide COVID-19 shutdown from April 29 to May 15.
“This is a premature ordinance that fails to distinguish regionally-based needs,” Brabenec said.
He said the virus is hitting the New York City area hard, “but other parts of the state cannot be expected to adhere to the same precautions. Upstate economics will not survive if the state in its entirety is forced to put a pause on business operations because of the situation in the city.”
The Republican lawmaker said the first step toward getting the economy track on truck is the GOP Assembly’s “Jump-Start New York” plan. “From there, we need to regionalize our strategy in New York State. We will not bounce back from COVID-19 if we do not treat our economic recovery as a two-tier approach between update and downstate,” Brabenec said. “Maybe the governor should’ve paused before releasing his plan.”
