Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media and tours a newly opened drive through Covid-19 mobile testing center | Getty Images Cuomo offers a 90-day halt on mortgage payments

ALBANY — New York will suspend mortgage payments owed by individuals affected by the coronavirus for 90 days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday morning.

“This is a real life benefit,” Cuomo said. “People are under tremendous economic pressure. Making a mortgage payment can be one of the number one stressors. Eliminating that stressor for 90 days, I think, will go a long way.”


The governor’s office did not immediately release details on how this will work or exactly who will be eligible, though a staffer said that it will apply to a number of people impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

“Waiving these payments will not have a negative effect on your credit report,” Cuomo said. “We’re not exempting people from their mortgage payments, we’re just adjusting the mortgage to include those payments at the back end.”

The governor also said that “fees for overdrafts, ATM, credit cards” will also be waived, though has not yet gone into much detail on what that will entail.

Cuomo also announced that businesses providing nonessential services will now be allowed to have only 25 percent of their workforce physically come into the office. On Wednesday, he had set that number at 50 percent.

The governor’s office released an executive order late Wednesday night detailing which workforces are considered “essential” and are exempted from the cap.

The order lists a couple dozen categories, such as research and laboratory services, shipping, banks, transportation infrastructure, “vendors that provide essential services or products” and “providers of basic necessities to economically disadvantaged populations.”

Any category of business not explicitly mentioned in the order can reach out to the Empire State Development Corp., which will decide whether “it is in the best interest of the state to have the workforce continue at full capacity in order to properly respond to this disaster.”