Biden: ‘Takes a Lot of Money’ to Reopen Schools Safely, Cost NYC ‘Tens of Millions of Dollars’

During an interview aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of “NBC Nightly News,” Joe Biden stated that “it takes a lot of money” to reopen schools safely, and stated that in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) “is in a position where it cost tens of millions of dollars to be able to safely open their schools.”

Biden said, “Well, it takes a lot of money to get them back. The estimates are 150 to 200 billion dollars for the year it would take to get — safely open our schools.”

After Biden listed some of the reasons why it would cost a large amount of money to open schools, host Lester Holt asked, “You’ve got schools closed right now in places where restaurants are open. Are our priorities correct?”

Biden responded, “I think we should be able to do both. But look, I’m very concerned about the schools, and I — for example, I was on a call yesterday with Mayor de Blasio, the largest school district in the country. He is in a position where it cost tens of millions of dollars to be able to safely open their schools. So, there’s a lot we can do, but it is the single best expenditure of our dollars we could engage in now is to provide for these kinds of protection, not only the protective gear, but the PPP, meaning the ability to allow businesses and other operations to be able to open and have the wherewithal, the financial aid to open safely.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett