FRAN SPIELMAN REPORTS, PLUS MARK BROWN,
Lightfoot closes lakefront — along with Millennium Park, Riverwalk, 606 Trail — after seeing ‘crowds of 100 or more’ gather in ‘blatant violation’ of gov’s stay-at-home order
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday she made the unprecedented decision to shut down Chicago’s most popular gathering spots — including the entire lakefront — to prevent the coronavirus tragedy now unfolding in New York City.
One day after warning Chicagoans of the potential consequences of defying a statewide stay-at-home mandate, Lightfoot pulled the trigger on a public health order that cuts off access to the lakefront and all its parks and beaches, along with Millennium Park, the downtown Riverwalk and the 606 Trail.
Everyday life in Chicago — already changed immeasurably for people laid off from work or forced to work from home — will change even more. For now, Chicagoans with cabin fever have lost access to the outdoor places that gave them comfort.
Lightfoot was forced into a policing role she never wanted after seeing “crowds of 100 or more” over the past few days “congregating together, particularly along our lakefront and along the 606 and other places.”
It’s a “blatant violation” of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order imposed just a week ago, though it seems like years.
“Your conduct — yours — is posing a direct threat to our public health. And without question, your continued failure to abide by these life-saving orders will erase any progress that we have made over the past week in slowing the spread of this disease and could lead to more deaths,” the mayor said.
“If you don’t act responsibly and stay at home like you have been ordered to do, we will be headed for a situation like we’re seeing play out catastrophically every day in New York. This will push our city to the brink. … Congregating on our lakefront, to be blunt, is going to create a risk that is unacceptable and could lead to death. That is why we are taking these actions and going back and saying again, ‘Dear God, stay home. Save lives.’ ”
Lightfoot said the closure will remain in effect “until the public health commissioner determines that this threat of our lives is over.”
She has directed the Chicago Police Department to aggressively ramp up patrols in all of the nowshuttered areas. They’ll start with a warning, followed by a ticket. Defy both, and “we will arrest you,” the mayor said.
“Folks, we can’t mess around with this one second longer. We’ve seen around the world example after example of what happens when communities don’t take this threat seriously.”
Although the closings are concentrated along the lakefront and in the downtown area, Lightfoot stressed the order is not an invitation to gather “in other parks and playgrounds” away from the lakefront.
It “may seem extreme to some people,” she said, but she “won’t hesitate to take any further action needed” if warranted.
Normally, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois would oppose the blanket closing of Chicago’s most popular gathering spots. Not this time.
“Let’s see how this is enforced.
Let’s see what this looks like in a week. But if decisions are made on the basis of advice from public health officials to try to address this pandemic situation, those are things which are likely to be permissible,” said ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka.
“We’re living in an unprecedented time of a pandemic. There are going to be limitations on our movements as a result of that.”
‘‘CONGREGATING ON OUR LAKEFRONT, TO BE BLUNT, IS GOING TO CREATE A RISK THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE AND COULD LEAD TO DEATH. THAT IS WHY WE ARE TAKING THESE ACTIONS AND GOING BACK AND SAYING AGAIN, ‘DEAR GOD, STAY HOME. SAVE LIVES.’ ” MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT
Downtown Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) applauded the mayor’s “difficult, but necessary” decision, saying it was based on “reports from the field” over the last 48 hours.
“It wasn’t just the sheer volume of people congregating together, but reports from Chicago police officers regarding the complete lack of cooperation when they would tell people, ‘You need to go home.’ People just weren’t taking it seriously. They weren’t leaving the park. Or if they were, they would leave the park for two minutes. So the police moved along and they would come back,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said there is “no doubt that, in the past 48 hours, people got infected in the parks and on the lakefront trail.” He noted people running, jogging, biking, playing basketball and soccer perspire more, breathe heavier and infect each other when they come in contact or get too close.
“This really is a matter of life and death. That’s not an exaggeration . ... This is the moment we needed the most cooperation and we just weren’t getting it,” the alderman said
Although south lakefront crowds were much smaller than on the North Side, Ald. Sophia King (4th) said the order is justified.
“People are not acting responsibly . ... Because individual irresponsibility affects the whole, we have to act aggressively to mitigate the risk for everyone,” she wrote in a text message.
“This pandemic is serious! People need to start acting like it is!”
Juanita Irizarry, executive director of Friends of the Parks, said she is “comfortable with some closures” along the lakefront, but would prefer “measures that address trouble spots,” instead of a blanket closure.
“I don’t know if the South Side lakefront was as busy as the North Side lakefront” on Wednesday, Irizarry said.
Although closing the lakefront is unprecedented, Irizarry doesn’t think Lightfoot went too far.
“I would say that Friends of the Parks is thankful for a selective approach to closures that does still leave other parks and green spaces open for people.”