'Non-essential' construction grinds to a halt because of coronavirus

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Governor Cuomo on Friday halted any "non-essential" construction work, and at any work site where construction continues, social-distancing must be maintained.

Essential construction, Cuomo said, is defined as "a project necessary to protect health and safety of the occupants, or to continue a project if it would be unsafe to allow to remain undone until it is safe to shut the site."

Other essential construction includes work on roads, bridges, transit facilities, utilities, hospitals or healthcare facilities, affordable housing and homeless shelters.

Any sites where social distancing cannot maintained must close, and the state, working with local officials, will enforce the requirement, including with fines of up to $10,000 per violation, according to the governor.

The order does not include a single worker who is the sole employee on a job site, Cuomo said.