Live Covid-19 News Updates – The New York Times

City and state officials have said that group fitness classes are more conducive to spreading the virus than a traditional gym setting, where people often have more space. Mr. Cuomo noted the potential dangers of such classes while announcing the return of indoor dining in the city on Wednesday.

“You’re exhaling deeply, you’re inhaling deeply, you’re perspiring, you’re touching other material,” Mr. Cuomo said. “That is a much riskier situation to be in than sitting at a table with four people.”

Fitness studio owners say that describing their classes as unsafe is inaccurate and unfair, and that if anything they are more carefully controlled than ordinary gyms, where activities are less coordinated.

Charles Cassara, a gym owner and leader of the New York Fitness Coalition, one of the groups behind the suit, called the mayor’s decision to keep studios closed a “sin” and a “disgrace” on Wednesday.

“If he does not open up in a timely fashion, we are all going to close,” Mr. Cassara said.

Reporting was contributed by Aurora Almendral, Troy Closson, Emily Cochrane, Katie Glueck, Michael Gold, Maggie Haberman, Jason Horowitz, Mike Ives, Thomas Kaplan, Patrick Kingsley, Sarah Kliff, Dan Levin, Jesse McKinley, Constant Méheut, Claire Moses, Richard C. Paddock, Alan Rappeport, Motoko Rich, Simon Romero, Christopher F. Schuetze, Dera Menra Sijabat, Natasha Singer, Karan Deep Singh, Daniel E. Slotnik, Kaly Soto, Megan Specia, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Muktita Suhartono, Katie Thomas, Jin Wu, Katherine J. Wu, Elaine Yu and Carl Zimmer.