Blaz offers warning on playgrounds

New Yorkers hungry to be outdoors in city parks and playgrounds will have to observe social distancing – or suffer the consequences.

Mayor de Blasio said Monday that the city’s open spaces would remain open as long as people observe 6-feet social distancing rules to avoid spreading the coronavirus. If that doesn’t happen, de Blasio said he could be moved to close down playgrounds.

“If we cannot do it effectively, then it becomes a real option to close them,” he said. “We’re going to give it a week to see how it goes.”

NYPD officers, Parks Department employees and other city workers will be on the lookout for groups clustered together too closely in parks and have orders to disperse them.

If there’s evidence that people aren’t getting the message – especially in playgrounds — de Blasio promised increased enforcement and the eventual possibility of locking down the city’s communal play areas.

“I don’t want to do that — I don’t think a lot of New Yorkers want to see that happen — but the only way we keep playgrounds open is people really honor the rules,” he said during a late afternoon press briefing Monday.

The threat to close playgrounds came as City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called on City Hall to open streets to people who want exercise and to lock up playgrounds.

The possible closure of playgrounds came as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the five boroughs hit 12,000, as of Monday morning. As of Sunday, there were 99 deaths in the city caused by COVID-19.

De Blasio also announced he would be implementing budget cuts to absorb the huge financial hit the city will be taking in the coming months.