POUGHKEEPSIE – For the first time since New York began fighting COVID-19, Governor Cuomo proclaimed Friday that “we are in control of the beast. We are in control of our own destiny.”
The governor gave his daily virus briefing at Marist College in Poughkeepsie where he announced he was extending by five months – through January 14, 2021 – the window by which people can file lawsuits for being sexually abused as children.
He acknowledged that there may be some reopening of the economy in construction and manufacturing in certain upstate areas but there will not be much change to what has become the status quo.
Unemployment is now reaching the numbers of the Great Depression at about 20 percent, Cuomo said.
While “the economics are devastating, we have to get through this,” he said.
In all of 2019, New York paid out $2.1 billion in unemployment benefits, said Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor. In the last seven weeks, $6.8 billion has been paid out to 1.6 million people, she said.
