Now that Governor Andrew Cuomo has officially shut schools statewide for the rest of the academic year, New York families are grappling with what their summers might look like amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuomo said he’ll make a decision about summer schooling and camps at the end of May, declaring it too early to make the call now.

“Nobody can predict what the situation is going to be three weeks or four weeks from now, so we are trying to stage decisions at intervals that give us information, but also enough time for people to make preparations they need to make. So, any decisions on summer school will be made by the end of the month,” Cuomo said Friday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also has yet to reveal any details about a summer school plan, though he noted that online learning will still be offered to help prepare students for a hopeful September return to classrooms.

“With the understanding that over the summer we're going to still keep that distance learning, that online learning going very intensely, to give kids a running start into the year,” de Blasio said on CNN Friday.

Ahead of an anticipated $7.4 billion in tax revenue losses over the current and next fiscal year, de Blasio has also proposed slashing funding for summer programming for teenagers and children in New York City. The proposed cuts include the $124 million Summer Youth Employment Program, the nation’s largest youth employment program that hires 75,000 teenagers and young adults every summer.

“The historic notion of Summer Youth Employment requires people gathering. We don't know when we're going to be able to do gatherings. Second, it costs a substantial amount of money. We're in a massive budget crisis,” de Blasio said Friday. Several City Council members have lobbied the mayor’s office to save youth summer programming.

Other proposed funding cuts include eliminating all summer programs offered by the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development.
One program that relies on such funding is the St. Nicks Alliance, a nonprofit with various locations in Brooklyn. Their services are vital for working parents as a low-cost alternative to pricey summer camps, said Sandra Serva, program director of the summer camp held at Williamsburg's Brooklyn Arbor School.

Serva said she’s “received a lot of messages from parents saying that they don't know where to put their kids now...They want to know what it is that they can do, because this is what they can afford...they can't afford to pay for $500 a week,” Serva said.

Her program at Brooklyn Arbor typically serves 130 elementary-aged children from low-income families.

“My biggest concern is the support that these kids are going to get,” Serva said. “In summer we were a place to go to. We expose them to new experiences, whether it was in the school or on trips. So just that overall experience, they're not going to get that.”

Inquiries to several summer camps around the New York region show uncertainty as well as outright cancellation.

The YMCA of New York said “The Y is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and we are planning for multiple scenarios.” While camp registration is currently open, “If the city does not allow summer camps to operate, we will refund all fees, including deposits.”

The Fresh Air Fund, which has hosted 1.8 million New York City kids through summer camps and upstate host families, wrote on its website April 10th that “Our immediate focus during this crisis has been: First, to continue connecting with children in our year-round programs through virtual meetings and other platforms; and second, to plan for how we will fulfill our mission of serving New York City’s children and communities this summer. As the crisis evolves over the coming weeks, the health and safety of our children will be our priority as we consider how to move ahead.”

The Union for Reform Judaism organization runs summer programs that serve 10,000 kids every year, including two summer camps in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts popular with New Yorkers. For the first time in its 73-year history, the URJ is cancelling its summer camps.

“After months of carefully following and evaluating the evolving COVID-19 situation, the URJ has reached the heartbreaking, difficult, and values-based decision to cancel all in-person activities this summer. This includes our 15 summer camps, as well as all Israel/travel programs and in-person youth activities,” the URJ said on its website April 30th.

The Boy Scouts of America Greater New York Councils noted on its website that while “we have every intention of running summer camp this season and are continuing our summer planning and preparations,” the organization was awaiting “camp specific guidance from the [state] Department of Health which will greatly influence our policies and procedures.”