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De Blasio Rips Cuomo For Not Consulting NYC Officials On Indoor Fitness Classes
By
Sophia Chang
Published Mar 18, 2021
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By
Sophia Chang
Published Mar 18, 2021
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While many gym and studio owners have celebrated Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that indoor fitness classes can resume at limited capacity in New York City next week, Mayor Bill de Blasio made his disapproval abundantly clear Thursday.
“It's just troubling to me that our health care team has said very clearly this is not what they would have done, and the state just doesn't care,” de Blasio said in response to a question at his morning press conference. But the mayor conceded that he cannot supersede the state policy.
The city’s health officials have cautioned that indoor fitness classes have been linked to COVID-19 spread in other places, though some of the cited cases in South Korea and Chicago involved unmasked participants working out in classes.
Cuomo announced Wednesday that starting March 22nd, indoor fitness classes will be permitted at 33% capacity. Participants will be required to wear masks and sign in with contact information, and the studios will undergo inspections by local health departments.
Health Commissioner Dr. David Chokshi said these classes pose a greater COVID-19 risk because they involve “an activity that combines being indoors, being in groups, and not being able to easily and consistently wear masks that don't get wet.”
Chokshi urged older New Yorkers or those with health conditions to avoid indoor group fitness classes for now. “We remain in a period where we shouldn't be throwing caution to the wind. You know, we still do have a risk of COVID-19 spread,” Chokshi said, calling these classes “high-risk activities.”
Cuomo’s decision was made without consulting the city, in what de Blasio called another example of how the governor has “usurped local control, local power [and] took away the normal democratic process at the beginning of this crisis. It has not been restored,” de Blasio said.
“This is a decision that should have either been made carefully in consultation with the health leadership in New York City, or should have been one where the State deferred to New York City,” he said. "This is not something the State should have done without us. But legally they do have the right, whether I agree with it or not.”
The mayor’s senior health advisor Dr. Jay Varma urged people who participate in indoor group fitness classes to be “extremely careful” and follow proper masking guidelines and distancing, getting tested regularly, and to “make sure everybody in the class and the facility itself is keeping with the precautions, particularly regarding distancing and making sure everybody adheres to masks."
One Pilates teacher pointed out that fitness instructors still aren’t able to get vaccinated in New York yet under the state’s eligibility rules, and that many employees working in boutique studio gyms are freelancers without health insurance.
“It is still putting me in danger to have to go back and teach when I don't have any immune protection that way,” said Brendan Drake, who had taught at a studio in Brooklyn before the pandemic. “And it's a little hypocritical because when they opened up the restaurants to more capacity they also opened up the vaccination to restaurant workers. And I'm still waiting to be put on that list.”
Last month, a celebrity SoulCycle teacher caught flack for posting a vaccine selfie online, and defended her eligibility as someone who teaches elderly riders.
As a rehabilitative Pilates teacher, Drake said his clients are mainly people who are older or have injuries and who could be worried about being inside a gym with instructors who haven’t been vaccinated yet.
“In theory it is great if I were vaccinated to go back to work and be able to make more of a living wage and not be hurting so hard, but so often it feels like it's really benefiting the people with access to pay for these classes, like it's for the wealthy elite,” Drake said, adding, “who is this good news for?”
Tagged
COVID-19
fitness
coronavirus
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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