New York Republican vows to defy Cuomo’s new 10-person limit on Thanksgiving dinners

With Thanksgiving two weeks away and coronavirus cases rising in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo tightened restrictions in the state on Wednesday by limiting private, at-home gatherings - including holiday celebrations - to just 10 people.

The Democrat’s move outraged some critics, including one New York City councilman who defiantly declared that he would not follow the governor’s rules.

“I’ll be having more than 10 ppl at my house on Thanksgiving,” Joe Borelli, a Staten Island Republican who is the council’s minority whip, said in a tweet Wednesday. “Some family will come from(gasp!) New Jersey. Kids will see their grandparents, cousins will play in the yard, sis in law will bring strawberry rhubarb pie, & a turkey will be overcooked.”

As fall has brought colder weather to the Northeast, New York and New Jersey have reported an increase in new daily coronavirus cases in recent weeks, though the number of new daily infections is not as high as itwas in lateMarch and April when New York Citywas an epicenter of the pandemic.

New York state has had a 61% increase in newdaily reported cases over the last week, and new daily reported deaths have jumped by 47 percent.

Nearly 1 in 5 people screened in Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, tested positive for the virus last week.

Cuomo said on Wednesday that he believes people who commute to and fromNewJersey frequently have been “driving the high [coronavirus] rate in Staten Island,” CBS New York reported.