Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to see law enforcement agencies enforcing mandates against large gatherings this Thanksgiving, which many local agencies say they won’t be doing.
But regardless, many are changing their holiday plans anyway. Kristen Misner says her Thanksgivings are usually quite the affair.
"We’ve got a lot of family flying in, some family driving in from Buffalo, we have all the aunts and uncles and cousins over," Misner said.
And though this year the table might look the same, the holiday is still going to look pretty different.
"Definitely stuffing, definitely some pies. Sometimes we get the Cranberry Orange Relish from Hegedorn’s, so hopefully that will be there too," Misner said.
"We’ll definitely be taking advantage of technology, Facetiming the rest of our family, giving everyone a call. But there won’t be any flights this year," Misner said.
Misner says her home will have far fewer than the 10 person limit on group gatherings mandated by the state. But that mandate is something the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says they won’t be knocking on doors to enforce this Thanksgiving.
"That’s a hard thing to say [that] we’re going to go out and enforce this when the rules have changed so much," MCSO Sgt. Matthew Bottone said. "So we need to make sure people are educated, that they are aware of what the rules are, what the risks are."
Sgt. Bottone says any complaints will be turned over to the Public Health Department, but he says it’ll come down to personal responsibility.
"If we skip this Thanksgiving, hopefully we’re guaranteeing we’ll all be able to get together next Thanksgiving. So we’re asking people to stop and think about that," Sgt. Bottone said.
Sure, Misner says it’ll be sad not having everyone over this year.
"You want to see your whole family, you want to be all together, but I work for Strong and we know the numbers are definitely rising," Misner said.
But it’s because they’re family that she can wait until next year.
"We care about each other and other people, and we don’t want anybody getting sick- especially with the numbers going up with COVID this year," Misner said.