Fun activities planned as city enters Phase 4 reopening

Long Island is set to begin Phase Four reopening of the economy on July 8.

In addition to higher education, industries that will be able to open Wednesday include:

Film and music production.

Low-risk indoor arts and entertainment.

Low-risk outdoor arts and entertainment.

Professional sports without fans.

Low-risk indoor entertainment includes museums, historical sites and aquariums. Examples of low-risk outdoor entertainment are zoos, botanical gardens and nature parks.

Amy Driscoll, the director at North Shore Historical Museum, said that the museum is proceeding with caution in an effort to keep visitors and volunteers safe. She expects a reopening by late to July.

And while Garvies Point Museum and Preserve is open to walk the preserve every day, the museum, according to its website, remains closed. As for the museum, it is expected to reopen on July 18.

Garvies Point Museum and Preserve’s Children’s Summer Day Camp will resume as scheduled for the 2020 summer season. The day camp, with precautions in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19, will fill summer day’s with hands-on activities, films, crafts and experiments for children ages five through 10.

The Glen Cove Parks and Recreation department will also be providing fun but safe activities for both kids and adults this summer.

“We’re doing tennis lessons, we’re doing swimming lessons, we’re doing an Open Play Night down at the stadium for Glen Cove residents where my summer camp staff will supervise socially distant activities for two hours,” Darcy Belyea, the director of the Glen Cove Parks and Recreation Department, said.

The free Open Play Nights will start on July 21 to Aug. 13 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, providing parents with a place to drop off their children for an evening of fun for two hours.

“They have to wear their masks when they can’t maintain six-foot distance and we’ll have hand sanitizing stations and we’re doing mandatory health screening when the kids arrive,” Belyea said.

The Gold Coast Little League is also kicking off their 2020 summer season at City Stadium on July 11. Belyea said that other sport teams will be resuming in the city as well.

The governor praised New Yorkers for their vigilance and resilience throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. He said, though, that he worried people might become apathetic and arrogant, believing they had beaten the virus.

He noted that the infection rate remains just below 1 percent statewide — down from nearly 17 percent on Long Island and more than 20 percent in New York City at the height of the pandemic in April.

More than 54,000 New Yorkers were tested for the coronavirus on Sunday, and 518 of them were positive for the disease.

“The numbers have actually declined since we started reopening” seven weeks ago, Cuomo said.

He also said there were fewer than 10 deaths statewide overnight from July 5 to 6. But he said, the virus is still out there, so people must continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing in public spaces, according to state law. He implored local police departments to enforce the law.

New York City began Phase Three reopening on Monday, without indoor dining.

As of press time Monday, however, Governor Cuomo said there was no word yet whether the state’s 700 public school districts could return to in-person classes.

The governor said all school districts have been directed to develop reopening plans, but he is taking a wait-and-see approach whether students will head back to their school buildings in September.