
Long Island beaches to reopen next week
LI beaches to open while city's stay closed

People walk along Jones Beach in Wantagh on Friday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Mayor Bill de Blasio said city beaches are not ready to reopen, sparking concern by one state lawmaker that city residents could flood onto Long Island, creating a "chaotic and untenable situation."
Cuomo's order allows individual municipalities to opt to keep their beaches closed or to provide additional safety enhancements.
He said the directive was coordinated with the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware.
“If other states were opening and New York wasn’t, you would have had millions of people from New York flooding those beaches," he said.
All four states will enforce the same rules for its beaches, and facilities cannot operate at more than 50% capacity, Cuomo said.
Swimming pools, playgrounds, concession stands and picnic areas will remain shuttered while contact activities such as volleyball will be prohibited and social distancing rules enforced, Cuomo said.
If a local government refuses to carry out the mandates, or cannot enforce the rules because of overcrowding, "we will close the beach the next day.”
Long Island lags on key reopening measures
While five of 10 regions in New York State will partially reopen their economies Friday, Long Island and New York City remain among areas still under a “Pause” order that was extended until May 28.
These residents will have to continue staying at home, and nonessential businesses will remain closed unless their regions meet benchmarks set by the state, Cuomo said.
As of Friday, Long Island was meeting only five of the seven benchmarks needed to reopen. This was an improvement from Thursday, when the Island actually took a step backward on Cuomo’s “dashboard” of key benchmarks toward reopening, broken down by region. Nassau and Suffolk had gone from meeting five metrics to only four.
The chart below shows the daily totals of new cases in Nassau and Suffolk in recent days.

These bars show the number of new coronavirus cases confirmed each day. Health officials look for trends in daily counts for signs that the pandemic is gaining strength or weakening.
Search a map of Long Island cases and view more charts showing the latest local trends in testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
The numbers as of 3 p.m.: 38,864 confirmed cases in Nassau, 37,719 in Suffolk, 190,357 in New York City and 345,813 statewide.
Doctor gave his life treating COVID-19 patients

Dr. James Mahoney of Freeport, a lung doctor treating patients with severe respiratory illnesses, died April 27 at NYU Langone Hospital from COVID-19. Credit: Saundra Chisolm
Patients, doctors and interns all have a story about the kindness of Dr. James "Charlie" Mahoney.
The meals unexpectedly delivered to his training staff. All-nighters with an intern to watch over a particularly sick patient. The personal donations to patients or friends in need.
Mahoney, a pulmonologist from Freeport, planned to retire in January, but then came the pandemic. He sprung into action, treating COVID-positive patients at SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn and Kings County Hospital, both public facilities in low-income communities hard hit by the crisis.
He refused to take a day off or to avoid close contact with his patients. But that dedication cost him. Mahoney died April 27 from COVID-19. He was 62.
"He ran in when others ran out," said his brother Melvin Mahoney, also a physician. "He died doing what he loved to do best."
Read his story and more obituaries for Long Islanders we've lost to COVID-19. Also, see how grieving has changed amid the pandemic.
LI students' website finds COVID-19 test sites

Davesh Valagolam, 16, collaborated while in quarantine over Zoom with his Jericho High School classmates to create an online database of testing centers. Credit: Daniel You
Four Jericho High School juniors have used their coding, application development and research skills to create a resource for Long Islanders during the pandemic.
Through online surveys they shared on social media platforms, the classmates learned that many people had no idea where to go for testing.
“It was worrying to us that people couldn’t find this information or didn’t think it was easily accessible, and we wanted to do something about that right away,” said one of the students, Danny Li, 17.
In a matter of two weeks — and a lot of late nights — the students targeted a problem, brainstormed a solution and launched their website. It features a database of all COVID-19 testing locations in New York, food distribution centers and blood plasma donation sites, and an interactive map.
More to know

Ivan Sayles, co-owner of Rachel's Waterside Grill in Freeport, has been offering creative deals, including one that included a roll of toilet paper with every meal. Credit: Ivan Sayles
Local businesses that depend on tourism, including hotels, restaurants and attractions, are feeling the pain, and even when reopenings are allowed, enticing customers will depend on who can make them feel the safest.
Long-delayed guidance from U.S. health officials that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from shutdowns has been released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The House is pressing ahead with votes on another massive rescue bill that would pump almost $1 trillion to state and local governments, renew $1,200 payments for individuals and extend a $600 weekly supplemental federal unemployment benefit.
Disney's stage musical "Frozen" will not return to Broadway whenever New York City's theaters reopen.
Sixty-two public companies, including three from Long Island, have returned more than $412 million of the Paycheck Protection Program loan funds they secured by Thursday’s deadline to escape potential penalty.
Major League Baseball would not shut down its season — or require a team to miss a game — if one player tested positive for the coronavirus, commissioner Rob Manfred said in discussing plans for the 2020 season, which is delayed until at least early July.
News for you

A waffle topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream, strawberry ice cream, chocolate syrup, rainbow sprinkles, peanuts and homemade whipped cream from Krisch's in Massapequa. Credit: Yvonne Albinowski
Take a foodie road trip. Socially distanced daytrips get a lot more fun when there's food involved. Newsday's food critics have curated three Long Island food crawl itineraries designed to help you be as gluttonous as you want to be. Bring a mask — and your appetite.
An Adventureland graduation. Are your kids missing their moving up or commencement ceremony? Adventureland is hosting a group drive-in graduation celebration on June 13 in the parking lot. For a price, they'll announce your graduate's name and hand out a "diploma."
Ready for a trim? If you've finally worked up the nerve to cut your hair or just can't take your kids' shaggy dos anymore, follow these experts' tips for doing salon treatments at home.
A message from Olaf. The magical snowman of "Frozen" has some words of encouragement for children isolating at home. Check out the animated song-video "I Am With You."
Cartoons don't need to distance. While the family sitcom "One Day at a Time" is on hiatus due to the pandemic-related production stoppage, viewers will get a half-hour animated version of it next month with guest star Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Plus: Missed one of our recent webinars with experts discussing health concerns related to the virus or answering questions about reopening local businesses and schools? Watch the replays.
Get real-time updates about the virus' impact on the Island by visiting our live blog and watch our latest daily wrap-up video.
Commentary
Concerns about reopening NY state. To those who propose we reopen the state, I ask two questions, writes Newsday reader Mark Weintraub, of Old Bethpage.
First, in the likely scenario that a reopening brings us back to square one — that is, the numbers spike up and we have to go back to a complete lockdown — both economically and healthwise, aren’t we better off opening in an intelligent way so that, should we see numbers jump, we can better pinpoint the cause and address accordingly?
Second, look around you, at those you care about. Your parents, siblings and friends. Is any one of them someone you could say, “Well, I know their death was preventable, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice to try and get the economy going?”
We all get the economic pain of this lockdown. Let’s be smart about addressing it.