Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he won't formally ban trick-or-treating this Halloween, but he won't necessarily encourage parents to take kids door-to-door either.
In an interview with News 12 on Long Island Tuesday, Cuomo said he would give parents "my advice and guidance."
"I would not ban trick-or-treaters going door to door. I don't think that's appropriate," the governor said. "You have neighbors - if you want to go knock on your neighbor's door, God bless you and I'm not going to tell you not to."
"If you want to go for a walk with your child through the neighborhood, I'm not gonna tell you you can't take your child to the neighborhood, I'm not going to do that - I'll give you my advice and guidance and then you will make a decision what you do that night," he added.
Some had speculated the New York governor would ban trick-or-treating by executive order following decisions from local government officials in other states to can the door-to-door candy hunts amid the pandemic this year.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, the mayor is defending his decision to ban trick-or-treating, while officials in Los Angeles County, California, banned it and reversed that ban in less than a day, opting instead to say they don't recommend it.
New York hasn't experienced any widespread post-reopening COVID updates; it's in the midst of a nearly 40-day streak with an infection rate below 1 percent.
Local
Daily Percentage of Positive Tests by New York Region
Gov. Andrew Cuomo breaks the state into 10 regions for testing purposes and tracks positivity rates to identify potential hotspots. Here's the latest tracking data by region and for the five boroughs. For the latest county-level results statewide, click here
Source: ny.gov
