Buffalo, New York Photo: Richard Cavalleri/ Shutterstock

Law firms in Western New York could be allowed to return to in-office work as early as Tuesday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The Democratic governor made the announcement on Monday and said the region is expected to move into the second phase of New York's reopening plan on Tuesday. That phase of the plan includes reopening office-based jobs, real estate services, in-store retail shopping and "limited" hair salon and barbershop services.

Those business operations have been allowed to reopen in five other regions of the state: Finger Lakes, Central New York, the Southern Tier, the North Country and the Mohawk Valley.

At a midday press conference on Monday, Cuomo suggested a final announcement would be made later Monday over whether Western New York could move forward in the reopen plan.

The Capital Region, which includes the cities of Albany and Troy, is on track to enter phase two on Wednesday, he said.

It remains unclear what specific thresholds regions must reach before moving into phase two of the reopening scheme. That has run in contrast to the approach for phase one, in which specific guidelines for entering the phase were highlighted by the Cuomo administration.

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