Mayor Bill De Blasio Beefs With Gov. Cuomo Over Closing NYC Schools

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced, this week, that NYC schools would be closed for the remainder of the academic year, an announcement that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo contradicts.

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“Having to tell you that we cannot bring our schools back for the remainder of this school year is painful, but I can also tell you it is the right thing to do,” De Blasio said in a press conference, Saturday.

Just hours later, Cuomo expressed a different idea: “There has been no decision on schools,” Cuomo said, calling De Blasio’s comments mere “opinion.” “He didn’t close them, and he can’t open them,” he continued in a press conference upstate.

Saturday evening, De Blasio appeared on MSNBC to clarify the situation: “I’ll always work with the state of New York, I’ll always work with the governor,” De Blasio said, before explaining that his responsibility is to the students, not another elected official. “I have to do what I think is right to stop the coronavirus from holding the city in its grip to make sure we get out of this horrible moment in our city’s history and move forward.”

Cuomo has yet to respond to De Blasio’s latest comments.

[Via]