Coronavirus

He better retain Ed... he’s almost a lawyer!

most all of restaurants here have finally built their outside seating, too bad da season will be over in October... cellfish...

.

I bet these seats will come back ever year now... cellie...

.

New Zealand seems to have gotten it right.....................

*The last case of community transmission was detected on 1 May, days after the country started easing its lockdown. Sunday was the fourth day in a row that no new cases of Covid-19 were reported.

The total number of active cases in the country remained at 23, all in managed isolation.

An early lockdown, tough border restrictions, effective health messaging and an aggressive test-and-trace programme have all been credited with virtually eliminating the virus in the country. *

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53715084[/URL]

How is this related to Coronavirus?

ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS...

How is this related to Coronavirus?

ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS...

Looking at a career in politics Cellie? You didn't answer the question. This economic hardship has nothing to do with the pandemic. It started in 2014 and was driven by competition from Uber and Lyft, and the medallion market tanked to $200K in 2018, a long time before the bats gave us this present.

What might help your case would be tracking the monthly price over 2019 and 2020...

Looking at a career in politics Cellie? You didn't answer the question. This economic hardship has nothing to do with the pandemic. It started in 2014 and was driven by competition from Uber and Lyft, and the medallion market tanked to $200K in 2018, a long time before the bats gave us this present.

What might help your case would be tracking the monthly price over 2019 and 2020...

true , da news says today, taxi? drivers are committing suicide rate higher than before... cellie...

true , da news says today, taxi? drivers are committing suicide rate higher than before... cellie...

Here you go Cellie, a documented report regarding COVID-related hardship in NYC...

[SIZE=7]Retail Chains Abandon Manhattan: ‘It’s Unsustainable’[/SIZE]
Some national chains, both retail and restaurants, are closing outlets in New York City, which are struggling more than their branches elsewhere.

By [Matthew Haag]('https://www.nytimes.com/by/matthew-haag') and [Patrick McGeehan]('https://www.nytimes.com/by/patrick-mcgeehan')

For years, Bryant Park Grill & Cafe in Midtown Manhattan has been one of the country’s top-grossing restaurants, the star property in Ark Restaurants’ portfolio of 20 restaurants across the United States.
But what propelled it to the top has vanished.

The [tourists are gone]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/nyregion/nyc-tourism-coronavirus.html'), the [office towers]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/nyregion/coronavirus-work-from-home.html') surrounding it are largely empty and the restaurant’s 1,000-seat dining room is closed. Instead, dinner is cooked and served on its patio, and the scaled-down restaurant brings in about $12,000 a day — an 85 percent plunge in revenue, its chief executive said.

Five months into the pandemic, the drastic turn of events at businesses like Bryant Park Grill & Cafe that are part of national chains shows how the economic damage in New York has in many cases been far worse than elsewhere in the country.

In the heart of Manhattan, national chains including [J.C. Penney]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/business/jc-penney-bankruptcy-coronavirus.html'), Kate Spade, Subway and Le Pain Quotidien have shuttered branches for good. Many other large brands, like Victoria’s Secret and the Gap, have kept their high-profile locations closed in Manhattan, while reopening in other states.

Michael Weinstein, the chief executive of Ark Restaurants, who owns Bryant Park Grill & Cafe and 19 other restaurants, said he will never open another restaurant in New York.

Of Ark Restaurants’ five Manhattan restaurants, only two have reopened, while its properties in Florida — where the virus is far worse — have expanded outdoor seating with tents and tables into their parking lots, serving almost as many guests as they had indoors.

“There’s no reason to do business in New York,” Mr. Weinstein said. “I can do the same volume in Florida in the same square feet as I would have in New York, with my expenses being much less. The idea was that branding and locations were important, but the expense of being in this city has overtaken the marketing group that says you have to be there.”

Even as the city has contained the virus and slowly reopens, there are ominous signs that some national brands are starting to abandon New York. The city is home to many flagship stores, chains and high-profile restaurants that tolerated astronomical rents and other costs because of New York’s global cachet and the reliable onslaught of tourists and commuters.

But New York today looks nothing like it did just a few months ago.

In [Manhattan’s major retail corridors]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/nyregion/nyc-small-businesses-closing-coronavirus.html'), from SoHo to Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, once packed sidewalks are now nearly empty. A fraction of the usual army of office workers goes into work every day, and many wealthy residents have left the city for second homes.

Many stores are still closed, some permanently, while those that are open have very little foot traffic.

For four months, the Victoria’s Secret flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan has been closed and not paying its $937,000 monthly rent. “It will be years before retail has even a chance of returning to New York City in its pre-Covid form,” the retailer’s parent company recently told its landlord in a legal document.

“In the prime real estate areas, all the stores rely on having half international tourists and half local tourists or those from the local neighborhoods,” said Thiago Hueb, a founder of a jewelry company who had decided to close his flagship store on Madison Avenue before the pandemic struck because of high rents.

Now brokers are calling him trying to lure him back to the block, but Mr. Hueb, whose jewelry is sold in 80 department stores nationwide, is not interested.

“The avenue is no longer what it used to be,” he said.

J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus, the anchor tenants at two of the largest malls in Manhattan, recently filed for bankruptcy and announced that they would shutter those locations.

The Neiman Marcus at Hudson Yards, the first in New York City, had only opened last year, with its name adorning the outside of the luxury mall — the centerpiece of the country’s largest private development.

Some popular chains, like Shake Shack and Chipotle, report that their stores in New York were performing worse than others elsewhere, investment analysts said. A few dozen Subway locations have closed in New York City in recent months. Le Pain Quotidien has permanently closed several of its 27 stores in the city and plans to leave others closed until more people return to the streets, said Andrew Stern, co-chief executive of the chain’s parent, Aurify Brands.

A Gap Store near Rockefeller Center has stayed closed and has not paid its $264,000 monthly rent. Two T.G.I. Friday’s in prime locations, one near Rockefeller Center and another in Times Square, have remained closed while its restaurants elsewhere in the country have reopened.

“Anyone in the food and dining business is really suffering right now,” said Vin McCann, a restaurant consultant with Heyer Performance in Lower Manhattan. “I think that’s true in all the boroughs.”

New York’s stringent lockdown and methodical reopening may have brought the virus to heel, Mr. McCann said, but it is also wreaking havoc on businesses with so few people going to work, virtually no visitors and many residents “a little loath to go out” and worried for their health.

“SL Green and landlords across the city have worked with retailers large and small to protect jobs and New York’s tax base during this crisis,” said Stephen Meister, a lawyer representing SL Green, which leases the Herald Square store to Victoria’s Secret.

But, he added, “Victoria’s Secret is a multibillion-dollar, publicly traded conglomerate exploiting the situation in an attempt to avoid paying its contractual rent obligations.’’

The [store’s parent company, L Brands]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/business/coronavirus-victorias-secret-sale-falls-apart.html'), did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for Related, the [developer of Hudson Yards]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/realestate/how-will-hudson-yards-survive-the-pandemic.html'), said the company remained bullish on the future of retail in New York City despite [the closing of Neiman Marcus]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/business/neiman-marcus-bankruptcy.html') and the economic downturn.

“Retail at Hudson Yards was off to a strong start before this crisis hit, and we firmly believe that fashion and retail will always remain core to the vibrancy of New York,” the spokeswoman, Kathleen Corless, said.

New York’s shutdown dealt an especially painful blow to chains like Shake Shack that were born in the city and thrived as urban oases, said Nicole Miller Regan, who follows food chains for Piper Sandler in Minneapolis.

“That’s always been their core strength from a home-field advantage,” Ms. Regan said.

Shake Shack reported on July 30 that it had experienced a 40 percent decline in revenue in the second quarter and that its stores in big cities like New York “were most impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak.”

They eventually reopened to serve takeout and deliveries, but they did not rebound as well as the company’s suburban locations that have drive-up windows where customers can avoid all but the briefest interaction, Ms. Regan said.

“The drive-through is the channel that consumers feel most comfortable with,” she said.

Like Shake Shack, Chipotle told investors that its stores in the Northeast, including New York, were underperforming the rest of the chain, said Nick Setyan, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

The main reason. Mr. Setyan said, is that “people just aren’t going to work” in much of Manhattan.

For Veggie Grill, a California-based chain of 35 restaurants, New York is “the most difficult market for us to operate in right now,” said Jay Gentile, the company’s chief operating officer.

After three years of planning, Veggie Grill, which serves plant-based sandwiches and salads, opened its first New York restaurant in the Flatiron district in December.

Now it’s struggling to keep the place open with a pared-down staff, and sales that have fallen about 80 percent from before the pandemic, Mr. Gentile said.

“In New York City, there is next to no lunch business,” he said. “No one’s coming in from Connecticut. No one’s coming in from New Jersey.”

And, there are no tourists wandering the streets, he added.

The story is different at some of the company’s restaurants on the West Coast, which are now doing as much business lately as they did a year ago, he said.

The shutdown and phased reopening of the city presented challenges that derailed Veggie Grill’s expansion plans.

Three months after opening, Mr. Gentile had to lay off all 70 of its New York employees, including a general manager who was supposed to oversee the addition of three locations in the city. In May, the company hired back about 24 of the workers with expectations that business would pick up as the city reopened.

Now, the staff is down to 16 employees, only two of whom work full-time.

“We have two hours at lunch and 2½ hours at dinner to make our money,” he said. “We’re still paying very high rent. It’s unsustainable.”

Despite all the hardships, Mr. Gentile said he’s determined to keep the doors open. “If we close New York down,’’ he said, “then we would have to close it for good.’’

glad I was able to make a contribution for healthy debate... cellfish... ?

Again. All of what you posted has nothing to do with corona virus. How is the price of medallions losing value from 7 years ago till 2 years ago have anything to do with coronavirus that began 6 months ago.

Sorry didn't see Ruccus' post before I posted

Here you go Cellie, a documented report regarding COVID-related hardship in NYC...

[SIZE=7]Retail Chains Abandon Manhattan: ‘It’s Unsustainable’[/SIZE]
Some national chains, both retail and restaurants, are closing outlets in New York City, which are struggling more than their branches elsewhere.

By [Matthew Haag]('https://www.nytimes.com/by/matthew-haag') and [Patrick McGeehan]('https://www.nytimes.com/by/patrick-mcgeehan')

For years, Bryant Park Grill & Cafe in Midtown Manhattan has been one of the country’s top-grossing restaurants, the star property in Ark Restaurants’ portfolio of 20 restaurants across the United States.
But what propelled it to the top has vanished.

The [tourists are gone]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/nyregion/nyc-tourism-coronavirus.html'), the [office towers]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/nyregion/coronavirus-work-from-home.html') surrounding it are largely empty and the restaurant’s 1,000-seat dining room is closed. Instead, dinner is cooked and served on its patio, and the scaled-down restaurant brings in about $12,000 a day — an 85 percent plunge in revenue, its chief executive said.

Five months into the pandemic, the drastic turn of events at businesses like Bryant Park Grill & Cafe that are part of national chains shows how the economic damage in New York has in many cases been far worse than elsewhere in the country.

In the heart of Manhattan, national chains including [J.C. Penney]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/business/jc-penney-bankruptcy-coronavirus.html'), Kate Spade, Subway and Le Pain Quotidien have shuttered branches for good. Many other large brands, like Victoria’s Secret and the Gap, have kept their high-profile locations closed in Manhattan, while reopening in other states.

Michael Weinstein, the chief executive of Ark Restaurants, who owns Bryant Park Grill & Cafe and 19 other restaurants, said he will never open another restaurant in New York.

Of Ark Restaurants’ five Manhattan restaurants, only two have reopened, while its properties in Florida — where the virus is far worse — have expanded outdoor seating with tents and tables into their parking lots, serving almost as many guests as they had indoors.

“There’s no reason to do business in New York,” Mr. Weinstein said. “I can do the same volume in Florida in the same square feet as I would have in New York, with my expenses being much less. The idea was that branding and locations were important, but the expense of being in this city has overtaken the marketing group that says you have to be there.”

Even as the city has contained the virus and slowly reopens, there are ominous signs that some national brands are starting to abandon New York. The city is home to many flagship stores, chains and high-profile restaurants that tolerated astronomical rents and other costs because of New York’s global cachet and the reliable onslaught of tourists and commuters.

But New York today looks nothing like it did just a few months ago.

In [Manhattan’s major retail corridors]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/nyregion/nyc-small-businesses-closing-coronavirus.html'), from SoHo to Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, once packed sidewalks are now nearly empty. A fraction of the usual army of office workers goes into work every day, and many wealthy residents have left the city for second homes.

Many stores are still closed, some permanently, while those that are open have very little foot traffic.

For four months, the Victoria’s Secret flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan has been closed and not paying its $937,000 monthly rent. “It will be years before retail has even a chance of returning to New York City in its pre-Covid form,” the retailer’s parent company recently told its landlord in a legal document.

“In the prime real estate areas, all the stores rely on having half international tourists and half local tourists or those from the local neighborhoods,” said Thiago Hueb, a founder of a jewelry company who had decided to close his flagship store on Madison Avenue before the pandemic struck because of high rents.

Now brokers are calling him trying to lure him back to the block, but Mr. Hueb, whose jewelry is sold in 80 department stores nationwide, is not interested.

“The avenue is no longer what it used to be,” he said.

J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus, the anchor tenants at two of the largest malls in Manhattan, recently filed for bankruptcy and announced that they would shutter those locations.

The Neiman Marcus at Hudson Yards, the first in New York City, had only opened last year, with its name adorning the outside of the luxury mall — the centerpiece of the country’s largest private development.

Some popular chains, like Shake Shack and Chipotle, report that their stores in New York were performing worse than others elsewhere, investment analysts said. A few dozen Subway locations have closed in New York City in recent months. Le Pain Quotidien has permanently closed several of its 27 stores in the city and plans to leave others closed until more people return to the streets, said Andrew Stern, co-chief executive of the chain’s parent, Aurify Brands.

A Gap Store near Rockefeller Center has stayed closed and has not paid its $264,000 monthly rent. Two T.G.I. Friday’s in prime locations, one near Rockefeller Center and another in Times Square, have remained closed while its restaurants elsewhere in the country have reopened.

“Anyone in the food and dining business is really suffering right now,” said Vin McCann, a restaurant consultant with Heyer Performance in Lower Manhattan. “I think that’s true in all the boroughs.”

New York’s stringent lockdown and methodical reopening may have brought the virus to heel, Mr. McCann said, but it is also wreaking havoc on businesses with so few people going to work, virtually no visitors and many residents “a little loath to go out” and worried for their health.

“SL Green and landlords across the city have worked with retailers large and small to protect jobs and New York’s tax base during this crisis,” said Stephen Meister, a lawyer representing SL Green, which leases the Herald Square store to Victoria’s Secret.

But, he added, “Victoria’s Secret is a multibillion-dollar, publicly traded conglomerate exploiting the situation in an attempt to avoid paying its contractual rent obligations.’’

The [store’s parent company, L Brands]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/business/coronavirus-victorias-secret-sale-falls-apart.html'), did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for Related, the [developer of Hudson Yards]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/realestate/how-will-hudson-yards-survive-the-pandemic.html'), said the company remained bullish on the future of retail in New York City despite [the closing of Neiman Marcus]('https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/business/neiman-marcus-bankruptcy.html') and the economic downturn.

“Retail at Hudson Yards was off to a strong start before this crisis hit, and we firmly believe that fashion and retail will always remain core to the vibrancy of New York,” the spokeswoman, Kathleen Corless, said.

New York’s shutdown dealt an especially painful blow to chains like Shake Shack that were born in the city and thrived as urban oases, said Nicole Miller Regan, who follows food chains for Piper Sandler in Minneapolis.

“That’s always been their core strength from a home-field advantage,” Ms. Regan said.

Shake Shack reported on July 30 that it had experienced a 40 percent decline in revenue in the second quarter and that its stores in big cities like New York “were most impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak.”

They eventually reopened to serve takeout and deliveries, but they did not rebound as well as the company’s suburban locations that have drive-up windows where customers can avoid all but the briefest interaction, Ms. Regan said.

“The drive-through is the channel that consumers feel most comfortable with,” she said.

Like Shake Shack, Chipotle told investors that its stores in the Northeast, including New York, were underperforming the rest of the chain, said Nick Setyan, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

The main reason. Mr. Setyan said, is that “people just aren’t going to work” in much of Manhattan.

For Veggie Grill, a California-based chain of 35 restaurants, New York is “the most difficult market for us to operate in right now,” said Jay Gentile, the company’s chief operating officer.

After three years of planning, Veggie Grill, which serves plant-based sandwiches and salads, opened its first New York restaurant in the Flatiron district in December.

Now it’s struggling to keep the place open with a pared-down staff, and sales that have fallen about 80 percent from before the pandemic, Mr. Gentile said.

“In New York City, there is next to no lunch business,” he said. “No one’s coming in from Connecticut. No one’s coming in from New Jersey.”

And, there are no tourists wandering the streets, he added.

The story is different at some of the company’s restaurants on the West Coast, which are now doing as much business lately as they did a year ago, he said.

The shutdown and phased reopening of the city presented challenges that derailed Veggie Grill’s expansion plans.

Three months after opening, Mr. Gentile had to lay off all 70 of its New York employees, including a general manager who was supposed to oversee the addition of three locations in the city. In May, the company hired back about 24 of the workers with expectations that business would pick up as the city reopened.

Now, the staff is down to 16 employees, only two of whom work full-time.

“We have two hours at lunch and 2½ hours at dinner to make our money,” he said. “We’re still paying very high rent. It’s unsustainable.”

Despite all the hardships, Mr. Gentile said he’s determined to keep the doors open. “If we close New York down,’’ he said, “then we would have to close it for good.’’

It's not just restaurants and boutiques that are going to be closing. Im sure the shutdown and the shift to working from home is making a lot of big corporations, banks etc re-examine whether that prestige address is worth the premium price. I suspect that the workers are doing the same math as well. It was going to happen eventually anyway because of the changing nature of technology. This just tipped it faster. NYC is going to be in trouble and it will ripple up to the state level.

Again. All of what you posted has nothing to do with corona virus. How is the price of medallions losing value from 7 years ago till 2 years ago have anything to do with coronavirus that began 6 months ago.

I’ll only tell ya if ya post something inda Good Morning thread... C22...

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/stevie-nicks-says-pandemic-literal-012224421.html[/URL]

I said it once and I’ll say it again. Common sense goes a long way to battle this thing.

Wash your hands
Use hand sanitizer
Wear a mask that actually works
Social distance
Etc etc etc

I’m in hospitals almost daily. As soon as I come home my clothes go into the washer and I go into the shower. My sneakers stay outside until the next morning. I switch out my masks daily.

We don't want any...

[SIZE=7]‘Unprecedented’ boat traffic off Maine’s coast creates COVID-19 challenge[/SIZE]
[pressherald.com/2020/08/12/boat-traffic-unprecedented-off-maines-coast-creates-covid-19-challenge/]('https://www.pressherald.com/2020/08/12/boat-traffic-unprecedented-off-maines-coast-creates-covid-19-challenge/')

By Eric Russell Staff Writer August 12, 2020
[]('')
Boats are “rafted up” off Jewel Island in Casco Bay on Saturday, for a gathering that possibly violated the governor’s executive orders designed to limit COVID-19 transmission. Contributed photo

While some potential out-of-state visitors have likely been deterred by Maine’s two-week quarantine or negative testing requirements, one area hasn’t seen any slowdown: the open water.

Harbormasters, marine patrol officials and boat dealers all agree that 2020 has been the busiest season in recent memory in coves, bays, inlets and waters around coastal islands from Kittery to Bar Harbor and beyond.

“The amount of boating or water-related activity, as well as the boat market, is unprecedented,” said Sgt. Matt Sinclair with the Maine Marine Patrol.

Visitors and Maine residents alike no doubt view boating as a safe outdoor activity during a pandemic that has disrupted their lives in countless ways. Mark Latti, spokesman for Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, said the increased interest in boating [mirrors an increase in other recreational activities, such as hunting, fishing and ATV-ing]('https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/26/maine-atv-dealers-cant-keep-the-showrooms-stocked/'). Maine golf courses, too, [are seeing record business in some cases]('https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/26/golf-courses-find-silver-lining-in-the-pandemic/').

But the swell of boat traffic has brought with it some challenges, including reports of large numbers of boats “rafting up,” and other gatherings at private islands or islands with public access – possibly in violation of the governor’s executive orders designed to limit COVID-19 transmission.

“There have definitely been some parties broken up,” Sinclair said. “And we spend a lot of time educating about these get-togethers. Guidelines don’t stop at the water’s edge.”
[]('')
A harbor master boat pulls up near some boaters on Casco Bay on Tuesday afternoon. Harbormasters, marine patrol officials and boat dealers agree that 2020 has been the busiest boating season in recent memory. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Phillip LaFrance, who lives in the oceanside Hancock County community of Brooklin, was sailing past a private island in the bay last Friday and couldn’t believe his eyes. Eight boats had moored near shore and 40 or more people were on the beach gathered around a big campfire, not physically distanced.
“It was clear someone had planned this,” he said.

On Saturday in Casco Bay, a Massachusetts doctor, who asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution, was on the water near Jewell Island with his wife and adult daughter when they passed a cluster of eight boats – some filled past capacity – tied together in a line offshore. The doctor, who works in critical care, said he was horrified.

Kevin Battle, Portland’s Harbormaster, said rafting up is a normal part of boating that has been tested by the pandemic.

“I haven’t seen too many big groups, but we’re hearing that boats seem to be shifting out toward the outer islands, especially on the weekend,” he said. “If we pull up to a group and tell them to spread out, you might get an expletive. Then it becomes a question of, how hard do you push?”

Jeff Lowell, harbormaster in Boothbay Harbor, said he’s seen a big increase in boats coming in from out of state, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, even as far away as North Carolina.
“We have people that are coming up and working from their boats, just to get away from wherever they were coming from,” he said.

The biggest increase in boat traffic, Lowell said, has been from larger yachts, including the 270-foot behemoth Excellence, owned by New England car dealership magnate Herb Chambers.
[]('')
A sailboat heads in between Little Diamond Island and Peaks Island on Tuesday, with the marina on Peaks seen in the foreground. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Lowell said he hasn’t seen any problems with gatherings or lack of social distancing in Boothbay Harbor.
“My position here is not to monitor and run around and ask everyone,” he said. “But most people I meet and have conversations with, they are paying attention and trying to do the right thing.”

Brian Allen at New Meadows Marina in Brunswick said he’s seen an increase in traffic and has heard boat dealers are doing exceptional business. Like Lowell, he hasn’t heard of many problems.
“If they’re out there doing stuff they’re not supposed to, they don’t come in and brag about,” he said, chuckling.

At South Port Marine in South Portland, sales manager Eric Fortier said he saw a handful of boat sales fall through in March because of the pandemic, but “since then, it’s come back tenfold. It’s the best we’ve ever seen.” South Port sells a wide range of boats and has run out of inventory for some lines.

“We’ve had growth over the last five years or so, but I think we’re just seeing a lot of pent-up demand now, people who always wanted a boat and figured this seemed like a good time,” Fortier said.
[]('')
A lobster boat and a sailboat pass a large yacht docked at Fore Points Marina, seen from Fort Allen Park on Tuesday. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Sinclair, with the Maine Marine Patrol, said he’s heard many boat dealers tell similar stories.
But LaFrance, who witnessed the beach cookout on a private island, said he’s concerned that the influx in boating activity could bring more headaches. He’s lived in coastal Hancock County for 30 years and worries that some boaters are deliberately flouting COVID-19 guidelines and regulations simply because they’re out on the open water where no one will see them.

He and his wife tried to engage with the group they witnessed on Opechee Island, off Naskeag Point in Brooklin, last Friday.

“They were mad at us for ruining their good time,” he said.

Sinclair, with Maine Marine Patrol, agreed that having more boats on the water has made his job more difficult.

“We have a big area that we cover and we can’t be everywhere at once,” he said, adding that some days, the region he oversees – Yarmouth to Kittery – might have only a couple officers patrolling. “Public safety is our biggest concern.”

The U.S. Coast Guard monitors Maine waters as well, but has no jurisdiction to enforce any COVID-19 restrictions, according to Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Wyrick, a regional spokeswoman.

Sinclair said he and his colleagues have worked closely with the Mills administration to educate boaters about current guidelines.

“We know social distancing on a boat can be a challenge, but we also know that some boats might be filled with family members who have all been quarantining together,” he said. “I think most people have figured out what works, but human nature being what it is, we’re still going to have some issues.”

New Zealand seems to have gotten it right.....................

Oh well....

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-zealand-s-largest-city-goes-back-lockdown-coronavirus-cases-n1236484[/URL]

Oh well....

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-zealand-s-largest-city-goes-back-lockdown-coronavirus-cases-n1236484[/URL]

The interesting thing is that all the new cases are in a single family, but they closed down THE ENTIRE CITY. They're really serious about squelching this sucker!!