New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that state-controlled beaches will be open in time for Memorial Day weekend, just as five regions in the Empire state begin to loosen restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. The plan—which is in coordination with New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware—will allow the state beaches to reopen the Friday before the holiday, but with only 50 percent of normal capacity and a strict ban on “group contact activities.” “If other states were opening and New York wasn’t you would have millions of people from New York flooding those beaches...and that wouldn’t help anyone,” Cuomo said.

But beach time may not be in the cards for New York City residents, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. “On the beaches, we’re just not ready,” he said. “It’s painful because we would all love to be able to go to the beach with the hot weather, but it’s not safe yet.”