NEW YORK – “I applaud Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio for making the responsible decision to close our schools. We must move quickly to mitigate the impact of coronavirus/COVID-19. Bold measures like school closures are difficult but critical to keep our city safe. 

Although necessary, school closures will bring new challenges. All of those challenges – from prioritizing child care relief for essential medical and hospital staff to ensuring services for vulnerable students who rely on schools for necessities like meals and medicine – must be swiftly addressed as we take this step. We owe it to all of our students to get this right. The City Council stands ready and willing to help in any way we can.

This is a difficult time for our city. Let’s look out for one another during this crisis. The tough decisions we make now will help us weather this crisis in the long run.”

###