March 14, a new day of infamy

The year 2020 will always have a somber significance for New Yorkers who lived through the coronavirus pandemic, but one day will stand out for generations to come: March 14.

It was the first day a New Yorker died from COVID-19, and Mayor de Blasio declared Thursday that from now on it will be observed as the day the city commemorates its horrific and heroic battle with the disease.

“2020 is going to go down in history as one of our saddest, toughest years — arguably the toughest year in the history of New York City,” de Blasio said Thursday. “Thank God we all came through — those of us who made it — but we gotta remember those who didn’t make it. We’ve gotta remember those we lost, and we’ve gotta be there with their families.

“It’s important that we have a day of remembrance,” he continued. “It’s important that we have a day going forward in the future of the city to always remember what happened in 2020, to remember those we lost, to honor them, to honor their families, and of course, at the same time, to remember all the heroism of the people who did so much good.”

More than 25,000 New Yorkers have perished due to COVID-19 since March.

And with winter here, the number of cases and the percentage of people testing positive remain high.

On Thursday, de Blasio revealed that over a seven-day average, there were 3,259 new COVID cases in the city — far beyond New York’s acceptability threshold of 550. The positivity rate averaged over seven days now stands at 8.87%, above the 5% city-set threshold. And the number of people hospitalized for COVID in a day hit 199, just under the city’s threshold of 200.

“What can you do?” de Blasio said after sharing those numbers. “If you’re thinking about going to some kind of large holiday gathering, just don’t do it ... It doesn’t make sense.”