Local Officials Vow To Fight For Reopening Of Gyms, Malls

Pixabay image

MAYVILLE — While the Chautauqua County Executive is disappointed gyms and mall are not reopening early in New York’s fourth phase, he vowed to keep pushing to change that.

Wendel, State Senator George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell issued a joint statement Thursday in which they blasted Gov. Andrew Cuomo for what they call arbitrary decision making.

“I’ve been advocating for gyms since this started. I feel no reason why gyms should not be open,” County Executive Wendel told WNYNewsNow during an interview Wednesday. “The point that they made is they weren’t going to be open on day one of phase four.”





“We want to make sure our voices are heard,” he said.

WNY News Now Image.

“Obviously I enjoy working out, but when we’re looking at people and you want to get their health motivated, you want to get people moving that have been shut down for three months,” Wendel said, adding “The industry itself lends itself to sanitation and cleanliness and hygiene, so I beg to differ.”

Local businesses have been stifled for the last several months, he said.





















“I’ll be pushing,” he said adding that if people can go to big box stores “There’s no reason you can’t go to a gym.”

“It is incredibly disappointing that the Governor is once again making arbitrary, last-minute decisions on New York’s reopening process. After waiting patiently for months and investing great time and resources towards developing reopening plans, deep cleaning their facilities and reconfiguring their spaces to meet strict safety protocols, businesses previously scheduled to open in Phase 4 are once again on hold per guidance issued by the state last night,” the joint statement read.

“It is hard to fathom why a cavernous shopping mall cannot open in Phase 4 when similar-sized big box retailers have been allowed to operate from day one. Or why safely managed and capacity-limited gyms and movie theaters present more of a risk than restaurants or nail salons. This latest directive will likely be the last straw for many businesses who have been hanging by a thread but were determined to push through as Phase 4 drew closer.”

“These illogical directives are more than an inconvenience for consumers and the public, they are a blow to the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and their employees and a barrier to our economic recovery. We urge the Governor to rethink this decision and allow these businesses to reopen as planned.”









 

3 Comments

  1. Why are we not just saying we will run our county the way we feel is right. I vote we tell Cuomo to put it where the sun don’t shine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.