Folks who have been locked down for weeks on the East Coast stepped out Saturday as they were greeted with a seemingly rare warm day, after a very gray April brought excessive rainfall.
‘We are expecting the warmest day since March 20th, when it reached 77 in Central Park,’ the National Weather Service in New York said on Twitter, Saturday. ‘Still chilly on the ocean though.’
New Yorkers, some who have been holed up in their homes for almost two months, practiced social distancing as they enjoyed the warm weather in Central Park.
In D.C., the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds flew over the National Mall to honor frontline healthcare workers. Spectators in Maryland also gathered to watch.
People rushed to the lush greens to see the spectacle, and some moderately sized crowds could be seen forming in certain areas as folks watched the flight demonstration.
NEW YORK: Runners descended on Central Park during the coronavirus pandemic Saturday
WASHINGTON DC: U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels pass over the National Mall Saturday
NEW JERSEY: People visit Liberty State Park. New Jersey state parks and golf courses opened Saturday
PENNSYLVANIA: Shoppers donned masks to head to a farmers’ market Saturday in Easton
Golfers in New Jersey were also happy to get back to what they loved, as several could be seen at a course in Spring Lake not wearing protective masks.
In Easton, Pennsylvania, shoppers flocked to a farmers’ market and lined up in masks as they practiced social distancing.
The region can expect rainier weather by the end of Sunday. Storms and rain originating from the central United States are expected to spread toward the upper mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday.
New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered 1,000 cops into the city’s parks this weekend to fine anyone gathering in groups in defiance of coronavirus social-distancing restrictions.
WASHINGTON DC: Crowds flocked to the National Mall to watch the US Navy Blue Angels and US Air Force Thunderbirds flyover
WASHINGTON DC: Crowds mingle around the Washington Monument after viewing the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the National Mall in Washington, Saturday
WASHINGTON DC: The U.S. Navy Blue Angels (R) and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the National Mall as a tribute to frontline healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic
NEW JERSEY: People visit Liberty State Park in Jersey City Saturday. Governor Phil Murphy has warned he will close parks again if people do not adhere to the restrictions and social distancing measures put in place
With temperatures rising to 70 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, the mayor expects New Yorkers will be venturing out to enjoy the weather, and that there will likely be people not wearing masks and gathering in crowds in public spaces.
‘The nice weather is very much a threat to us,’ de Blasio said on WNYC Friday.
‘There’s nothing wrong with going out and getting some exercise and getting back home,’ he added. ‘Go out for a little bit, but don’t go out for too much. Don’t gather, don’t try and do the things we would normally do on a beautiful spring day.’
The mayor considers good weather a ‘threat’ to the city, which has had 172,784 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and at least 12,571 deaths.
NEW YORK: Yoga was clearly on the mind of one woman in Brooklyn as others lounged out on the lawn in Domino Park
NEW YORK: Tom Bonnett, from Brooklyn, smokes a pipe under his mask as he walks by Prospect Park
NEW YORK: A family rests on a bench by Prospect Park during nice weekend weather
There have been 308,314 confirmed cases in New York state of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 18,610 deaths. Across the US there have been 1,131,876 confirmed cases and 65,708 deaths.
The NYPD will enforce what de Blasio described as a ‘no tolerance for gatherings’ policy.
‘We’re going straight to summons,’ he said, adding that anyone who resists the fine may face arrest.
Police will be out on bikes and mounted on horses to make sure people are properly spaced apart according to social-distancing guidelines. Organized sports, parties and other gatherings will not be tolerated, said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, the Daily News reports.
‘The days of warnings are over,’ Monahan said.
NEW JERSEY: People walk on the beach in Belmar without wearing masks
NEW JERSEY: Golfers arrive to play golf at the Bethpage State Park Golf Course
NEW JERSEY: Some golfers did have on masks as they made their way to the course
Even with progress made in slowing the spread of the outbreak, a full reopening of the city is ‘obviously’ months, the mayor says.
De Blasio gave the estimate while speaking with a Brooklyn bar owner who called into WNYC’s ‘The Brian Lehrer Show’ to ask what the city was doing for small businesses during the restrictions.
‘I’ll have more to say on that soon, on other ways we can help small businesses to get through to the point where we can really start at reopening, which obviously is a few months away at minimum,’ de Blasio told Ivy Mix, owner of Leyenda.
WASHINGTON DC: People wearing face masks gather in a park to watch the US Navy Blue Angels. A man wears his mask incorrectly
WASHINGTON DC: Several people in the nation’s capital were not wearing masks
MARYLAND: People sit on a hill while watching the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels preform a flyover in Baltimore
WASHINGTON DC: In a mix of masks and not, people wait for the final fly over of the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds in Washington
WASHINGTON DC: People visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington
New York is working to start to ‘normalize,’ de Blasio said, which might include limiting space at bars or requiring outdoor-only seating at restaurants.
‘There’s a lot of ideas out there we’re working on right now,’ he said.
De Blasio’s plan relies heavily on increasing the city’s coronavirus testing capacity. Only 13,000 tests are currently conducted on a daily basis, when the mayor says as many as hundreds of thousands more may be needed.
A ‘test and trace’ plan to gradually ease the restrictions would need as many people tested as possible, provide for isolating and treating anyone who is infected and quickly track those who may have come in contact with the sick.
NEW YORK: People wait in line to enter Prospect Park Market during nice weekend weather