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Gym owner sues NY Governor Andrew Cuomo for not reopening, says he is 'destroying everything' with lockdowns

Charles DeFrancesco, a gym owner, expressed anguish for not being allowed to run a program for children and adults with special needs
PUBLISHED AUG 11, 2020
 Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)
Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)

In the times of the coronavirus pandemic, governors of various states in the US are facing challenges from people who they perhaps would have never known in their lifetime. A few months ago, a 77-year-old barber in Owosso, Michigan, defied the state administration’s lockdown orders and kept his business running saying his shop would remain open “till Jesus comes”. The barber, Carl Manke, criticized Governor Gretchen Whitmer saying an extension of her lockdown order “knocked” him to his knees. His license was suspended eventually.

Now, Gretchen’s New York counterpart Andrew Cuomo has faced something similar. A gym owner in the state has gone to the extent of suing the Democrat and the state to reopen saying the strict lockdown guidelines are “destroying everything”. 

People have been doing exercises at home during the coronavirus pandemic (Getty Images)

Last week, the 62-year-old Cuomo, called gyms “problematic” during a coronavirus press conference and said they will remain shut till it was felt that they were safe to reopen. “These have been the nationally identified sources of increased infection. We have some data here. We have data. We know gyms are highly problematic,” he said. 

“Not from our experience because we haven’t opened them, but we know from other states who had to open and then close them.”

Cuomo's words called 'ridiculous'

Charles DeFrancesco, owner of The Arena, slammed Cuomo’s words as “ridiculous” while he spoke in an interview on The Brian Kilmeade Show, Fox News Radio. “I don't know what gyms he's talking about because in 44 states gyms have been opened, and we have the numbers and the data to prove that you're no more likely at a gym to get COVID than anywhere else, and that's what we can't understand,” he said.

DeFrancesco said Cuomo and the state are “destroying everything, and you know, gyms and fitness are the only defense that’s proven to combat against Covid."

“The healthier you are, the more unlikely you are to get sick or die from COVID, Activity is great for mental health and look at the suicide rates. It speaks for itself,” he said.

DeFrancesco, who is a part of the New York Fitness Coalition which sued the state in June, also runs a program named Fit 4 All Abilities which helps kids and adults having special needs, including his autistic son Antonio. The gym owner also said that he had applied for a state exemption for the program but was denied. “I was refused. They said it wasn’t essential, but just remember liquor stores are open… but our special needs children can’t go exercise for mental health. It can’t be more ridiculous,” he said. 

The gyms were supposed to resume during Phase 4 of NY’s plan but Cuomo extended their closure as coronavirus cases went up in other states like Florida and Texas, two states that experts said reopened far too soon and experienced the consequences. 

New York has witnessed the most number of deaths from the virus in the entire country with a toll of more than 32,700. Nationwide, more than 163,000 people have died. 
In March, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced criticism for having visited a gym after Cuomo announced closing down of businesses across the state after 8 pm in a bid to prevent the virus’s transmission. 

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