Reopening New York, New Jersey and Connecticut: Is May 19 Too Soon?

Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths are dropping in the U.S. Govs. Andrew Cuomo, Phil Murphy, and Ned Lamont jointly announced on May 3 that their states would lift most restrictions on May 19. Experts and residents have mixed reactions.

4 minute read

May 11, 2021, 11:00 AM PDT

By Irvin Dawid


New York City Traffic Cop

Robi Jaffrey / Shutterstock

“We’re clearly turning the corner,” Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told The New York Times on May 6. For Osterholm, nicknamed Dr. Doom, to speak so optimistically about the course of the pandemic is a rarity. The dreaded fourth surge has indeed turned out to be a ripple.

With one notable exception, health metrics are all moving in the right direction for the U.S.

  • Infections have plummeted 18% in the last week to a 7-day rolling average of 41,254 on May 10, or 12 cases per 100,000 people, the lowest since Sept. 20, according to The Washington Post's coronavirus database.
  • Only Michigan remains in the red or "very high risk" zone, i.e., cases > 25 per 100,000 people. Louisiana is the only state to show a double-digit increase in infections in the last week according to the Post's tracker on May 10.
  • Hospitalizations have dropped by 15% in the last two weeks to a 7-day average of 37,850 on May 10, the lowest since Oct. 5, according to The New York Times coronavirus database.
  • The 7-day rolling average of deaths has dropped by 6% in the last two weeks to 650 on May 10, the lowest since July 10, according to the Times database.
  • The exception to the improving metrics is the vaccination rate. The 7-day moving average of reported doses dropped below 2 million on May 5, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, after peaking at 3.28 million average doses on April 11.

So it should not come as a surprise that more governors are announcing the end of restrictions, attempting to permit their economies to resume pre-pandemic style. Winnie Hu and 

“Today is a milestone for New York State and a significant moment of transition,” said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who made the announcement in tandem with the governors of the two other states, reflecting how the region has tried to coordinate its response to the public health emergency.

Cuomo's counterparts agreed.

Governor Phil Murphy (D-N.J) said, "With our COVID-19 numbers, particularly hospitalizations, trending decisively in the right direction and our vaccination goals within reach, now is the time to take major steps to reopen our economy and loosen both indoor and outdoor gathering and capacity restrictions

Governor Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) said, "We were able announce [sic] the elimination of business restrictions due to a nation-leading vaccine distribution program which benefits all Connecticut residents, and our neighbors in New York and New Jersey."

Indeed, the three neighboring states announced their original coronavirus restrictions together on March 16, just five days after the pandemic was declared. A month later, the three governors jointly announced that they would work together to restart their states' economies after suffering the nation's worst casualties from the first (spring) surge of the virus.

Reopening easier declared than done

In sharp contrast to that regional cooperation, Cuomo continues to clash with the New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who just four days earlier announced that he had set July 1 as the goal "for a full reopening of New York City."

As if to underscore the problems of advancing that date, Michael Gold and 

On May 4, Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning which broadcasts from Manhattan, asked Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health, if the May 19 date for lifting all restrictions "was a good move for us?"

"Yea, I do," he responded. "New York has done a great job of getting people vaccinated; infection numbers are plummeting there. Over the next few weeks, infection numbers are going to continue coming down. The key here is that we have got to keep vaccinating...That's really going to get us to a place where we can do all these things quite safely."

King should have asked a local expert, Dr. Denis Nash, an epidemiologist at City University of New York, for his opinion. Nash told Hu and Ferré-Sadurní that "the city’s vaccination rates did not yet support a full reopening."

“It just seems poorly thought through and almost a little reckless,” Dr. Nash said, adding that, as a result, the city could see spikes in hospitalizations and deaths."

Monday, May 3, 2021 in The New York Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s through 1870s under Napoleon III.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking

Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

June 30, 2025 - Tom Sanchez

Green bike share bikes parked in a row on a commercial street with outdoor dining and greenery.

Making Shared Micromobility More Inclusive

Cities and shared mobility system operators can do more to include people with disabilities in planning and operations, per a new report.

45 minutes ago - Cities Today

View from inside car's driver seat while driving.

Car Designs Make it Harder to See Pedestrians

Blind spots created by thicker pillars built to withstand rollover crashes are creating dangerous conditions for people outside vehicles.

1 hour ago - Bloomberg CityLab

Red and white "Wildfire Evacuation Route" sign on signpost.

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions

An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

July 10 - The Markup

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA