Bill de Blasio Hit Up a Brooklyn YMCA While Entire Cities Are Shutting Down

On Monday morning, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced joint action with New Jersey and Connecticut in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Starting at 8 PM, restaurants and bars in all three states can only offer takeout and delivery options. Gatherings of more than 50 people are not allowed. And movie theaters, casinos, and gyms must close. All of these are in line with suggestions from the Centers for Disease Control, and other states like Ohio and Pennsylvania are taking similar measures.

Apparently New York City mayor Bill de Blasio didn't get the memo, or perhaps he wanted to squeeze in one more workout before the orders kicked in. Early Monday he was seen going to a YMCA in Park Slope, Brooklyn, for a morning workout. At least one passerby called him an "idiot" according to CNN's Andrew Kaczynski.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor said, "The YMCA has been a huge part of his and his family's life, like it has been for a lot of New Yorkers. It's clear that's about to change and before that, the mayor wanted to visit a place that keeps him grounded one last time. That doesn't change the fact that he is working around the clock to ensure the safety of New Yorkers."

Of course, many New Yorkers have similar practices that keep them grounded—like seeing friends at restaurants, or attending a sweaty, packed yoga session—but those aren't advisable in a pandemic. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci went on multiple morning talk shows this past Sunday trying to raise concern among the public about what it's going to take to slow the spread of this new strain of coronavirus. On Meet the Press, he said, "I think we should be overly aggressive and get criticized for overreacting. I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing."

Some of de Blasio's political allies took to Twitter to criticize him. "No current or former staff member should be asked to defend this," tweeted Rebecca Katz, a progressive strategist who was previously a special aide to de Blasio. "The Mayor’s actions today are inexcusable and reckless." Jonathan Rosen, a consultant, backed Katz up. "She right. It’s pathetic. Self-involved. Inexcusable."

That wasn't the first time the mayor went rogue and swerved from public health advisement. Speaking to the radio station WBLS on Sunday, de Blasio claimed that people who weren't showing symptoms of coronavirus couldn't infect other people—a claim that isn't backed up by the CDC. In fact, early evidence suggests that asymptomatic carriers of the disease might be driving the spread of infections.

Last week, de Blasio visited a 311 call center in lower Manhattan with reporters in what the New York Post referred to as a "field trip." There, de Blasio answered a call from a woman who had recently traveled to Italy, the European nation that's been hit hardest by the virus, asking if she needed to self-isolate. "No symptoms of any kind?” de Blasio asked. "If you experience any symptoms at any moment, at that time adjust your approach. The important thing is to really be sensitive that if anything changes at all stay home immediately." That directly contradicted CDC guidelines, which state, "Stay home for 14 days from the time you left Italy and practice social distancing."

A spokesperson for de Blasio said, "The mayor misspoke. If you return from Italy you should self-quarantine regardless of symptoms. We have made contact with the caller and clarified and the mayor will be issuing a clarification, as well."

Koepka is collecting majors at a record clip while upending the tour's social norms, wearing Off-White on the course—and making clear he wouldn't mind changing the game forever.

Originally Appeared on GQ