Press Release:
SERINO, LOCAL OFFICIALS, AND BUSINESS LEADERS URGE STATE TO ALLOW MALLS TO SAFELY OPEN
Who: NYS Senator Sue Serino, Local Officials, Area Business Leaders
What: Senator Sue Serino and local elected officials will be joined by community small businesses directly to urge the state to treat businesses in malls equally to others that have already opened.
When: Thursday, July 2nd, 11:00am
Where: Poughkeepsie Galleria (Macy’s/110 Grill Parking Lot), 2001 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
In an effort to keep businesses local, preserve thousands of area jobs and support local governments with needed revenue, on Thursday July 2nd, Senator Sue Serino will bring a coalition of area officials and local small business owners together at the Poughkeepsie Galleria to urge the state to allow malls to open immediately. An area institution, the Poughkeepsie Galleria is home to 120 businesses that have been required by the state to remain closed since the shutdown, solely due to their location within the mall. While businesses meeting identical criteria across New York were allowed to reopen June 9th, with appropriate health and safety measures in place, the businesses located within the Galleria have been expressly prohibited from reopening, with no metric-driven explanation ever being provided by the state to justify the exclusion.
The state has repeatedly changed the expected reopening date for these businesses like malls, gyms and movie theaters, and just last week, countless businesses owners and employees were blindsided when the state announced that they would not be allowed to reopen in Phase 4. Malls have opened in every state other than New York, and no timeline for reopening has been released by the state.
The event aims to highlight the real-life consequences the state’s inaction is having on local community members. Members of the media are invited and encouraged to attend, and all appropriate health and safety guidelines will be observed and enforced.