Phase two of the economic reopening was set to begin on Friday for some regions of the state. 

But the details of when those areas will get approval or the specifics of which businesses can open their doors remains murky. 


What You Need To Know


  • Businesses are waiting to see what happens with phase 2.

  • It's not yet clear when the green light wil be given.

  • Most areas of the state are already into phase 1.

  • But New York City may not see phase 1 until June.

Governor Andrew Cuomo in a radio interview on Thursday with WAMC said the phase 2 stage will be guided by experts analyzing metrics like hospitalizations and contact tracers.

"The reopening of the first five regions ends tomorrow when the reopening of phase 1 ends," Cuomo said in the interview. "We'll give the experts all the data. It's posted on the web, but let them analyze it and if they say we move forward, we move forward." 

New York City is the only region of the state yet to start the first phase of reopening for the construction and manufacturing sectors as well as some retail for curbside pickup. 

In phase two, professional services, retail, administrative support and real estate can begin again. 

New York closed all non-essential businesses in March in order to limit the spread of the virus. 

Unemployment last month reached 14.5 percent in New York, but hospitalizations and the daily death toll have declined dramatically over the last several weeks.

Cuomo has said he wants to move cautiously with reopening the economy in order to avoid a second wave of the pandemic.