Asked about former Governor Chris Christie’s remarks about reopening the economy, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh issued cautionary comments.

“This is not a cookie cutter situation,” said the mayor of New Jersey’s third largest city.

“We’re so densely populated,” he added of Paterson. “I’m not looking at a date but data. Follow the facts not my feelings. Listen to the science. In this case I’m struggling with the small businesses being closed and struggling but I don’t want widespread infection and the potential collapse of our hospitals. This is a situation where we can look turning on the faucet very carefully, and if we see things erupt, we’re going to quickly turn the faucet off.”

Sayegh made his comments to reporters as he announced the city’s support for a second testing site, which opened today.

A Republican and backer of President Donald J. Trump, Christie said the country should reopen, despite multiple expert warnings about COVID-19 spread.

“We sent our young men during World War Two over to Europe, out to the Pacific, knowing, knowing that many of them would not come home alive,” Christie said in the interview with CNN’s Bash.