Governor gives green light for malls to reopen

NEW YORK – Enclosed shopping centers, that have remained shuttered because of COVID-19, may open on Friday providing they have proper air filtration in place, Governor Cuomo announced on Wednesday.

Three of the impacted facilities in the Hudson Valley are owned by Pyramid Companies of Syracuse – the Poughkeepsie Galleria, Galleria at Crystal Run in the Town of Wallkill and Palisades Center in West Nyack.

Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said the openings are long overdue.

“There are hundreds of employees and a ton of stores that may not open up; every day that goes by it is worse and worse, so I am excited to go there and I think with the amount of space that is spread out there, it is not a hard place to social distance. It’s long awaited and I am anxious to see them open on Friday,” Neuhaus said.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day said to continue the closures “would have had devastating economic consequences.” He said the malls are reopening “with significant additional precautions in place to protect the health and safety of employees and customers.”

He reminded shoppers to continue to practice social distancing, wearing face coverings and thoroughly washing our hands. “These habits helped us get COVID-19 under control locally and in order for our shops, restaurants and businesses to reopen we need to maintain the progress we’ve made.”

FROM MIDHUDSON NEWS