On Friday, March 27, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo effectively
shut down, effective April 3, 2020, most construction projects
in New York when he reversed his March 18th designation of the
construction industry as an “essential business.”
Governor Cuomo’s March 18th executive order had
exempted the entire construction industry from New York’s
mandatory reduction of businesses’ “in-person”
workforce – essentially requiring telecommuting or work from
home for businesses deemed “non-essential” –
implemented to deal with the COVID-19 disaster emergency.
Revised guidelines issued on March 27, 2020, by the New York
State Department of Economic Development d/b/a Empire State
Development Corporation (“ESD”) now define only the
following categories of construction projects as
“essential”: roads, bridges, transit facilities,
utilities, hospitals and health care facilities, affordable
housing, and homeless shelters. Work on these
“essential” projects may continue at
