'Lockdown is literally bringing us to our knees': Coalition of 300 NYC small business owners sign petition to reopen as Cuomo and De Blasio keep city shut down into a 10th week and refuse to say when it might end(10 Pics)

A coalition of 300 small New York City businesses are demanding that the city be reopened as it nears its 10th week of lockdown without any end in sight despite having low infection and death numbers. 

The coalition, called Reopen NY, announced their campaign at a press conference where they said they were being 'played' by the government for not being allowed to do business, while retail giants like Home Depot and Target are because they have been deemed 'essential'. 

They are the first to publicly put pressure on Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo to reopen after patiently watching the infection and deaths numbers decline for weeks while bleeding money from their businesses. 

Others had been hesitant to call for a reopening but with no end date in sight to the current closures and while other states with more concerning figures get back to work without causing a spike in cases or deaths, many in New York City are now saying enough is enough.  

More than 16,000 have died and there have been more than 191,000 cases in New York City since mid March. 

It was the epicenter of the epicenter with 800 people dying every day at its worst but now, fewer than 100 people are being admitted to hospital on a daily basis. 

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The Reopen NY coalition announced their campaign on Wednesday afternoon at a press conference. More than 300 businesses signed the coalition demanding to be allowed to reopen on May 28 

The city has low enough infection and death rates but is being kept shut because, according to officials, it needs another 3 percent of its hospital beds to come free (around 630), 4 percent of its ICU beds (officials won't give a precise number for this) and the city needs to hire more contact tracers. 

As of Wednesday, more than 1,000 had been 'onboarded', city officials told DailyMail.com, but they refused to specificy how many more were needed. They gave a tentative goal date of June 1, claiming it was the 'initial' target, but there has been no other specific information on when people can get back to work.

Both de Blasio and Cuomo have avoided giving a specific New York City reopening date. They just say it will take until the numbers are low enough but most already are. 

'This shutdown is dragging on and on, literally bringing the small businesses of New York to our knees. 

'Are we being played? Are we fighting a pandemic or are we just being used as pawns by our politicians? 

'Why is there a double standard? If Home Depot can sell flooring, why can't a small business sell flooring? 

'If Target can sell clothing, why can't we?'  Simcha Minkowitz, of the coalition, said at the press conference on Wednesday. 

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The New York Post front page on Thursday May 21 demands that the city reopen 

In their petition, the coalition says: 'At the start of this pandemic, and when our city needed it most, we shut our doors to flatten the curve.

'But today, while the curve has been flattened, our requests to reopen our sources of income have fallen on deaf ears.

'Our businesses are the backbone of this state and quite literally, what we depend on to put food on our table and is equally vital to our employees, vendors, and communities.

'If big box stores can service hundreds at a time, we citizens should be equally trusted to service smaller numbers of patrons in our businesses.

'Common sense dictates that it is obviously much easier to monitor smaller more controlled environments and enterprises.' 

Their sentiments were echoed by New York Post columnist Dave Marcus.

In a front-page column on Thursday, he wrote: 'In mid-March, we were told we have to endure a lockdown to ensure that hospitals didn’t get overrun. We did. The hospitals were not overwhelmed.  

'We were told we were moments away from running out of ventilators. 

'We weren’t, and now the United States has built so many, we are giving them away to other countries.

'Meanwhile, the Big Apple is ­dying. 

'Its streets are empty. The bars and jazz clubs, restaurants and coffeehouses sit barren. Beloved haunts, storied rooms, perfect-slice joints are shuttered, many for good. 

'The sweat equity of countless small-business owners is evaporating. ­Instead of getting people back to work providing for their families, our mayor talks about a fantasyland New Deal for the post-coronavirus era.' 

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The city's own data shows how the number of new cases every day has dramatically decreased in recent weeks. It claims only 26 were reported on the 19th. The data is incomplete and the city notes there is a delay but the inescapable truth is that the figures are rapidly shrinking

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The daily hospitalization rate in New York City has reduced enormously over the last few weeks and is down to fewer than 100 a day

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Retail giants like Home Depot have been allowed to remain open throughout the pandemic, which small businesses say is unfair

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Target has also been allowed to stay open across the city to sell clothing and home items which the government says is 'essential' 

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Smaller businesses like bars and restaurants have gradually begun reopening on a take-out only basis as their stimulus money runs out. Restaurants and bars were allowed to stay open throughout but only on a pick-up or delivery service

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People gather outside Tiki Bar  on the Upper West Side on Wednesday night. More restaurants and bars continue to gingerly open on a take-out basis as the numbers continue to decline 

Marcus demanded that the entire city be reopened because New Yorkers have 'learned' how to socially distance. 

'Open the city. All of it. Right now. Broadway shows, beaches, Yankees games, the schools, the top of the freakin’ Empire State building. Everything. New Yorkers have already learned to socially distance.

'Businesses can adjust. The elderly and infirm can continue to be isolated,' he wrote. 

Marcus, who also writes for The Federalist, went on to call de Blasio and Cuomo 'idiots' who have 'no plan'. 

'What the hell is going on? Is anybody in charge of this situation? 

'Or are we just left with the governor and his talking-head brother ­arguing on CNN about which of the two Ma loves best? (Who cares?)' he said, in reference to Cuomo's ongoing appearances on his brother Chris's TV show where they trade barbs and talk about their family dynamic.

'There is not a single question about when New York can get back to normal to which they have a straight ­answer. Not one. 

'They cash their taxpayer paychecks while immiserating the rest of us.

'If our elected leaders won’t save the world’s greatest city from a slow death by economic strangulation, then the people of New York must do it themselves. 

'Barbers, tailors, nail ­salons, sporting-goods stores, movie theaters and others should open their doors — while maintaining social distancing, of course — and dare the state to shut them down,' he said. 

Cuomo has allowed seven other regions across the state to reopen and is allowing religious ceremonies of 10 people or less to begin again but New York City - the biggest driver in the state's economy - is staying shut. 

De Blasio has been accused of holding the city 'hostage' while waiting for a federal bailout.