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#Amusement park owners beg Gov. Cuomo for green light to reopen

#Amusement park owners beg Gov. Cuomo for green light to reopen

September 1, 2020 | 3:46pm

ALBANY — Amusement park owners are desperately awaiting the green light from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reopen, ranking among the few remaining industries still shuttered due to coronavirus restrictions.

Theme park and ride owners in New York City and on Long Island sent Cuomo a letter Tuesday begging for clarity on reopening guidelines.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer for guidelines. We have willingly sacrificed our own livelihoods for the betterment of New York, and we ask the state to help us navigate and plan for the future of our small family-owned businesses and employees — and give us the best chance of surviving this so we can continue to contribute positively to the New York economy and our communities,” wrote six business owners, including Central Amusement International Inc. president Alessandro Zamperla, who owns Luna Park in Coney Island and just completed a massive million-dollar expansion last year.

“While some of us remain hopeful we might be able to operate for a few weeks before the end of the 2020 season, most of us are anxiously looking to 2021 — but need to plan for it now,” the group continued. “If we can survive the off season and winter, we need to know if our businesses will be viable next year.”

The thousands of people we employ need to know if they have jobs. Some of us have significant investment projects underway.”

“An absence of a reopening plan is also sending a precarious message to our workers, vendors and lenders regarding the viability of the amusement rides and parks industry in New York State, and many may decide the risk of working with us outweighs the reward,” they argued, adding they’ve heavily invested in crowd control resources, enforcing social distancing, plus providing temperature checks, hand sanitizer and other washing stations for customers.

New York City was the last region to enter what was supposed to be the final phase of the state’s economic reopening plan on June 20 — following Cuomo’s emergency shutdown of all non-essential businesses back in March.

But several industries were forced to stay closed, as state health officials deemed them unsafe and a continued COVID-19 health risk.

Only a select few have been given the okay to recently reopen — gyms and city museums were allowed to let patrons in at limited capacity on Aug. 24 — but others, like theme parks, water parks, movie theaters and indoor dining within the five boroughs have received zero indication as to when or how they will be allowed to open up.

“Now that New York is 20-plus days under the 1 percent new infection threshold, we are heartened by the state’s progression through the phases of recovery and the opening of many businesses in our state, like museums, aquariums, bowling alleys, and gyms,” the group wrote.

The Empire State recorded its 25th straight day of a statewide positive infection rate below one percent Tuesday.

“Our financial situation is critical without any cash flow since our last season in 2019. Many of us will likely be without any income for 18 months.”

Meanwhile, neighboring New Jersey has already reopened theme parks.

“There’s no joy on Coney Island. It’s been really brutal for them,” state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), a consistent critic of the state’s approach towards reopening, told The Post.

“They’ve been trying to get something from the state to say they can open and with each passing week the situation just gets more and more dire for them. So you can go to Nathan’s, but you can’t ride the Cyclone. You can go through Luna Park, but you can’t touch any of the rides.”

“They’re a seasonal business,” she argued of the park.

“It’s not just the money they take in, but also the jobs that were not made available for Young Coney Islanders.

A representative from Cuomo’s office was not immediately available for comment.

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