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Mayor Bill de Blasio said he has no regrets about telling New Yorkers to visit their local watering holes less than a day before restaurants and bars shut down to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“I look back to March 15, New York City had limited occupancy at restaurants but that was a time when we were seeing a big increase in a state like Washington, and you said to New Yorkers, ‘If you love your neighborhood bar, go there now.’ I mean, on reflection, were comments like that a mistake?” asked NPR’s “Morning Edition” host David Greene in a live interview with the mayor Thursday.
“No, because I said that literally about a day before they were all about to be shut down,” de Blasio answered.
At the time, the city had 330 confirmed coronavirus cases and five deaths. Just four days later, there were 2,468 cases and 22 deaths.
Researchers now believe the deadly disease was likely spreading in the city as early as February, weeks before the Big Apple’s first confirmed case.
De Blasio also waited until March 15 to close city schools after teachers threatened a boycott and Gov. Andrew Cuomo negotiated a shutdown with unions.
The next day, de Blasio drove 11 miles from his official Gracie Mansion residence in Manhattan to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park YMCA for a workout — hours before the governor closed gyms statewide.
A YMCA source later told The Post that fellow fitness enthusiasts were coughing and sneezing.
“It’s crazy that he made his staff and detail come with him to the gym and expose them like that,” the source said.
Despite de Blasio’s initial hesitancy to tell New Yorkers to stay home, he’s now warning that the city will be locked down for weeks to come.
“The crucial part now is getting people to hold because we’re going to have to do this for many, many weeks, continue the social distancing, continue the shelter-in-place,” he said on NPR.



