New York City beaches to open for swimming July 1

New York City will open its beaches for swimming starting next week as the city continues to make gains against the coronavirus.

“The rumors are true: NYC beaches will open for swimming on July 1,” tweeted Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). “Let’s keep playing it safe: social distance & face coverings, even at the beach!” 

The rumors are true: NYC beaches will open for swimming on July 1.

Let’s keep playing it safe: social distance & face coverings, even at the beach!

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 24, 2020

The announcement is the latest step in New York City’s reopening process.

Once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., the nation’s largest city appears to have gotten a hold on the disease. New York has seen a decrease in new daily cases while nearly half of states in the U.S., primarily in the south, have reported recent surges. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who has been criticized by some for moving too slowly to reopen the state, has credited Albany’s gradual approach with maintaining a consistent drop in cases.

“We went through what the other states are going through, and we did have a science-based reopening. We did it on the facts, we did control it, we did moderate it and that’s what works,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “The states that reopened with abandon, they now have tremendous infection rates.”

“And those states that had this blind, ‘OK, let’s do whatever we want to do and reopen immediately,’ they have serious problems now.”