End of Governor Cuomo Daily Press Briefing

Today Governor Cuomo announced that with the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuously dropping infection rate in the State that he would be holding his last routine daily press briefing this Friday, June 19th. This will bring an end to a now routine press briefing and availability that has occurred for more than 100 consecutive days for the Governor.

Reopening Continues

The Governor announced today that the Hudson Valley region comprised of Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester Counties would be eligible to move to phase 3 next week Tuesday, June 23rd with the Long Island region following to phase 3 the next day. The Governor also announced that New York City is currently on track to enter phase 2 this coming Monday, June 22nd. 

Police Reform

During today’s press briefing from Governor Cuomo, he proposed questions that could help local governments in the reshaping of their local police force that must be done by April 1, 2021. The initial questions that he put forth that local governments could use to reshape their police forces included:

  • What is their current use of force policies and how can they be re-envisioned?
  • How could they better address staffing needs and uses locally?
  • What would a demilitarized department look like?
  • What would it mean to defund the police? Identify and scrutinize their local police budgets.
  • How can they make the disciplinary process more transparent?

New Executive Order

The Governor signed a new Executive Order 204 that commemorates the emancipation of slavery in the U.S. on June 19th as a holiday for state employees and stated that next year he will advance legislation that would make it a full statewide holiday.

New York State COVID-19 Numbers

The State yesterday recorded the lowest percentage of positive COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began. Out of the 59,341 tests conducted yesterday, only 567, or less than one percent, were positive with the lowest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began.  That said, there still were 17 deaths yesterday from COVID-19.