N.Y. governor, mayor at odds again

Mixed messages sent on closings of schools

NEW YORK — Governor and mayor locked horns again Saturday, this time over whether school buildings in the nation’s largest district would close for the rest of the year, with classes continuing online.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news briefing that public school sites in the 1.1 million-student school district would shutter for the rest of the academic year to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Soon afterward, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his own briefing that the decision was his to make.

“It is my legal authority in this situation, yes,” Cuomo said.

De Blasio, like Cuomo a Democrat, had said that it was not an easy decision to close school buildings in favor of online learning but that “it is the right decision and it’s also a decision made a little clearer by the fact that the distance learning is working more and more every day.”

The goal, he said, is to reopen school sites by September, adding that high school graduates might have to go without a commencement ceremony.

But Cuomo said school closings would have to be coordinated with districts surrounding the city.

“So I understand the mayor’s position, which is he wants to close them until June, and we may do that, but we’re going to do it in a coordinated sense with the other localities,” Cuomo said. “It makes no sense for one locality to take an action that’s not coordinated with the others.”

When a reporter suggested that the mixed messages would confuse parents, Cuomo said, “We just clarified it. It’s not going to be decided in the next few days because we don’t know.”

Adding to the confusion, an email from the city to parents was issued while Cuomo spoke, advising of the extended school closing.

“NYC school students will continue with Remote Learning for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year,” it said.

The dispute was the latest bout in a long-running grudge match between the two elected officials, who have failed to maintain a united front in the face of a pandemic.

When de Blasio said last month that city residents should prepare for a “shelter-in-place” order, Cuomo countered that the city didn’t have the power to make such a declaration. Days later, Cuomo announced a “New York state on pause” order directing nonessential businesses to close.

Bebeto Matthews The Associated Press file New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday that public schools will be shuttered for the rest of the academic year, with online education continuing, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the decision was his to make.