The suburbs north of New York City eased outbreak restrictions, and the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange opened for the first time in two months, as the state focused more intently Tuesday on restarting its economy. More on those and other coronavirus-related developments in New York: ___ FOCUS ON REOPENING After weeks of declining deaths and hospitalizations, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it was time to focus on relaunching New York City’s moribund economy. The Democratic governor laid out a plan that included accelerating major infrastructure projects and tackling transmission of the virus in the hardest-hit neighborhoods after ringing open the Stock Exchange. “We’re going to turn the page on COVID-19, and we’re going to start focusing on reopening,” he said during a briefing at the exchange. The mid-Hudson Valley, including the city’s northern suburbs, on Tuesday became the latest region of New York state to begin slowly phasing in economic activity. Long Island was expected to follow Wednesday, which would leave New York City as the only region awaiting the start of reopening. Cuomo said the state will direct outbreak-fighting resources to 10 city ZIP codes that account for many of the new hospitalizations. Those cases are coming from mostly lower-income and predominantly minority neighborhoods, he said. Citing the need for infrastructure spending to boost the economy, Cuomo announced accelerated timelines for improvement projects at the city’s Penn Station and LaGuardia Airport. He said the state would need help from the federal government for other projects and that he planned to travel Wednesday to Washington and meet with President Donald Trump. Statewide hospitalization rates continue to decline, with about 200 new cases a day. The number of deaths reported Monday dropped to 73, the lowest number since late March. “In this absurd new reality, that is good news,” Cuomo said. New York state has recorded more than 23,000 deaths from the outbreak, a figure that does not include another 4,749 “probable” deaths in New York City that haven’t been confirmed by a lab test. The largely suburban counties north of the city entered the first phase of the state’s four-part reopening process after meeting criteria for reopening including declining deaths and hospitalizations. The region now easing restrictions includes Westchester County, where New York’s first major outbreak happened in early March. That led the governor to restrict activity in a “containment zone,” a precursor to his statewide order. Kemesha Salmon had her door open Tuesday at TP Toys on North Avenue in New Rochelle, the site of the outbreak, for the first time since March 12. Because she sells educational toys, she was deemed essential and could still sell, but thinks only her most loyal customers were aware. Now, passersby will know she’s back. “A lot of people did not know that we were doing contactless shopping all this time,” she said. “I’m looking up.” There have been more than 1,300 deaths so far in Westchester County and nearly 500 in the nearby Rockland County. Both have had more fatalities per capita than Manhattan, where restrictions are expected to stay in place at least into June. ___ STOCK EXCHANGE OPENS Traders cheered as Cuomo rang the opening bell of the Stock Exchange, which had been closed since March when the state shut down. Under rules put in place […]

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