A Rockland driving school says it is struggling to get answers about when it will be able to reopen.
Lisa Odierno and her sister Diane Mendez of
All County Driving, with locations in New City and Suffern, say they have no idea what to tell people looking to complete driver’s education.
They say they have no idea when they will be able to begin servicing clients who are looking to take the mandatory five-hour driver’s education course.
Odierno and Mendez say they’ve hit a dead end with state and local officials and the DMV.
"We’re getting no answers from anybody,” says Mendez. “Everybody is passing the buck to everybody else."
According to the state’s website, instructors were given the green light to teach private lessons in phase three. Road tests were also permitted as part of phase three.
But this meant that Odierno still couldn’t teach the five-hour course that she has been leading for two decades.
"We were told phase four, the classroom would be open,” says Odierno. “Phase four comes, wasn’t open, we can’t get answers."
One safety precaution the sisters say they’re planning to take is to cut their classroom capacity to less than 50%, with just 16 students permitted in the classroom. They also say that they plan to provide touchless hand sanitizer stations and temperature checks.
"Safety as well as livelihood,” says Odierno. “I mean, let’s face it. We’re all in this together. We all have bills to pay. But just answers is really all we need. When are we opening? There's no more phases."
News 12 has reached out to the governor’s office, the DMV and Empire State Development but has yet to hear back.