The move is the most far-reaching and disruptive the city has taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that five people in the city had died from the coronavirus, all of whom had underlying health issues.
New York State is closing its courts.
Cuomo asks Trump for military to help fight the pandemic.
The number of confirmed cases in New York is now over 700.
New York’s presidential primary could be delayed.
All NYC public libraries are closed.
...Sarah Blesener for The New York Times
“I’m very, very concerned that we see a rapid spread of this disease, and it’s time to take more dramatic measures,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Sunday afternoon. “This is a decision I have taken with no joy and a lot of pain.”
Public schools in Long Island and Westchester County will also close this week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Sunday. The governor ordered New York City school officials to develop a plan within 24 hours on how to offer child care to students of parents who work in essential industries like health care and to provide food to students who will need meals.
In New York City, the schools will be closed on Monday for all students and staff, but teachers will be asked to report to work later in the week for training on how to provide remote learning, Mr. de Blasio said.
In recent days, a growing chorus of local politicians, public health experts, parents and educators have ramped up the pressure on the city to shut down schools. By Sunday afternoon, even Mr. Cuomo said the city schools should close within 24 hours, as soon as the city came up with a plan for child care and food.
Student attendance has plummeted as nervous parents have kept their children at home. Teachers concerned about the virus organized “sick outs” and flooded Twitter and 311 with pleas to shut down schools. And as the outbreak continued, each day seemed to bring another major set of school closures in cities and states with smaller outbreaks than New York’s.
New York City’s school system stands apart from every other in the country for its sheer size and particularly vulnerable student population, including enough homeless children — 114,000 — to fill an entire small city school district.
Even if only half of New York City’s students reported to school, the district would still be larger than any in the country except for Los Angeles Unified, which announced on Friday that its schools would close for at least two weeks.
Public health experts agree that effective closures would have to last for the length of the virus, which could take months. And students getting together in their homes or other places outside of school could diminish the effectiveness of closures, experts said. Mr. de Blasio was blunt about the prospect of keeping children apart in the weeks and months ahead.
“We’re not going to convince teenagers not to gather,” he said.
Facing mounting pressure, New York City officials announced on Sunday a sweeping shutdown of tens of thousands of bars and restaurants, except for delivery and pickup services, leaving waiters, bartenders and baristas uncertain about their next paycheck.
The mayor also ordered the closings of nightclubs, movie theaters, small theater houses and concert venues. The closings go into effect on Tuesday morning, for an indefinite period. he moves dovetailed with new guidelines issued on Sunday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; they recommended that local governments and individuals cancel large gatherings of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks. The recommendations apply to “planned or spontaneous” events, including conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events and weddings.
Earlier on Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that people were “going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing.”
He urged young people to practice social distancing out of fear they could spread the disease to older people.
But while many government and health officials urged people to observe such distancing, some Americans had ignored those pleas, including in New York City. A handful of elected officials called for a total shutdown of bars and restaurants following reports of large crowds over the weekend.
Corey Johnson, NYC Council Speaker, said that grocery stores, bodegas, pharmacies and banks should remain open. He said all levels of government should intervene to ease the losses of business owners, provide financial assistance to affected workers and help parents with child care.
On Sunday afternoon, Governor Andrew Cuomo changed course: He called on businesses to shutter voluntarily, as has happened in Boston, Cleveland and other parts of the nation.
“I’m asking them voluntarily to shut down their bar, their restaurant, their gymnasium,” Mr. Cuomo said. “Let’s see what they do. If nobody does it, then we can take more actions.”
The mayor said the city would prepare teachers for remote learning this week, as well as open sites for at-need students to pick up food and “learning centers” for the children of essential city workers like health care employees.
“It has never been attempted by the City of New York at this scale, to say the least,” Mr. de Blasio said. “It is a system that will improve with each week.”
In Albany, state legislators were still planning on returning to the State Capitol on Monday, even after two members of the Assembly who represent parts of Brooklyn — Helene Weinstein and Charles Barron — tested positive for the virus.
Some lawmakers raised concerns about that prospect, considering the often close quarters in the legislative chambers as well as conference rooms where members meet, but Mr. Cuomo was adamant that lawmakers should return to the capital, likening it to service in war times.
“Should the military not show up? Should the police officers not show up?” the governor said, adding that “If we can ask nurses to put on a hazmat suit and take blood, we can ask elected officials to come and sit at a desk and vote on a piece of legislation.”
Mr. Cuomo, who announced on Saturday that the statehouse would be closed to visitors, said he needed the Legislature to be present to authorize the laws and the measures the state may need to fight the outbreak. The state’s budget is also due April 1.
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