New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware will allow beaches and lakeshores to open next Friday for Memorial Day weekend, but at 50 percent capacity, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Friday.

The governor said that local governments could still make individual decisions regarding their beaches, including not to open them, but they would be required to meet a number of restrictions designed to require social distancing.

This comes just a day after New Jersey's governor, Philip D. Murphy, said his state would allow the Jersey Shore to reopen by Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the area's busy season.

Governor Cuomo has repeatedly said that any decisions about beaches and lakeshores would need to be made across the region to prevent residents from crossing state lines, crowding seashores and potentially spreading the virus.

Local governments will have until Wednesday to decide whether to open their beaches. Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday that New York City's beaches would not open for Memorial Day weekend, adding that it was “not in the cards” yet.

Contact sports like football and volleyball will be prohibited, Cuomo said. Concessions, amusement parks, arcades, playgrounds and other diversions where people might gather in crowds will remain closed. Pools will not be allowed to open.

Beachgoers and workers would still be required to wear face coverings when social distancing was not possible, Mr. Cuomo said.

The governor also said that if local officials did not enforce these restrictions or if beaches were overwhelmed by people, the states would step in and close them.

(Source: New York Times)