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Wall Street Up as Recovery Hopes Overshadow Virus Worries

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A woman wearing face mask walks past a bank electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange Tuesday, May 26, 2020. Asian shares are rising as some regions in Japan resume near-normal business activity, with hopes for economic recovery overshadowing worries over the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

By: Alex Veiga

Stocks surged on Wall Street in morning trading Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its highest level in nearly three months, as hopes for economic recovery overshadow worries about the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P 500 was up 2% to 3,015 points. It’s the first time the benchmark index has been above the 3,000-point mark since March 5, before the widespread business shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the outbreak sent the U.S. economy into a sharp skid.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 667 points, or 2.7%, to 25,141. It’s the first time the Dow is above 25,000 points since March 10. The Nasdaq rose 1.3% and the Russell 2000 index of small companies gained 3.8%. Financials, technology and industrial stocks powered much of the broad gains.

The post-Memorial Day rally followed a strong rise in global markets as more nations push to open their economies. The S&P 500 was coming off a solid week and is on track for a second-straight month of gains. The index remains down 11.2% from its all-time high in February.

Bond yields were broadly higher, in another sign of optimism. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for interest rates on many consumer loans, rose to 0.70% from 0.66% late Friday.

Oil prices rose. Benchmark U.S. crude oil was up 1.4% to $33.69 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was up 0.7% to $36.37 a barrel.

Fears of a crushing recession due to the coronavirus sent the S&P 500 into a skid of more than 30% from its February high. Hopes for a relatively quick rebound and unprecedented moves by the Federal Reserve and Congress to stem the economic pain drove a historic rebound for stocks in April and have bolstered optimism that the market won’t return to the depths seen in March.

Fresh optimism about the development of potential vaccines for COVID-19 have also helped spur stocks higher. Investors are now keenly focused on the process of reopening the U.S. economy, which is likely to continue accelerating as the summer progresses. Concerns remain that the reopening of businesses could lead to another surge in infections, potentially hobbling efforts to get the nation’s battered economy growing again.

Reassuring comments by the head of China’s central bank helped spur buying in global markets Tuesday. France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.7% as the government was due to unveil support for the auto industry. Germany’s DAX gained 1.3% and the FTSE 100 in Britain, which was closed on Monday, rose 1.1%. Asian markets closed higher.

In another confidence-boosting development on Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange reopened its trading floor Tuesday for the first time since mid-March, when it closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rang the opening bell at the NYSE, which allowed a limited number of traders back to the floor. It required that traders adhere to social distancing guidelines and wear masks.

“The message of the NYSE reopening is symbolic not only for our community and our country, but it is for the globe,” said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners and one of the NYSE floor traders. “It’s showing that we are ready to reopen our economy and reopen our country and move things in the right direction.”

  (AP)

WHO Warns that 1st Wave of Pandemic not Over, Dampens Hopes

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Relatives help a SOS Funeral worker, wearing protection equipment amid the new coronavirus outbreak, remove the body of Eldon Cascais from his home in Manaus, Brazil, Saturday, May 9, 2020. According to Cascais’ relatives, he had lung cancer and died at home after suffering from shortness of breath, cough and fatigue for a week. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

By: Menelaos Hadjicostis & Elaine Kurtenbach

As Brazil and India struggle with surging coronavirus cases, a top health expert is warning that the world is still in the very middle of the outbreak, dampening hopes for a speedy global economic rebound and renewed international travel.

“Right now, we’re not in the second wave. We’re right in the middle of the first wave globally,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s executive director.

“We’re still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up,” Ryan said, pointing to South America, South Asia and other parts of the world.

India, with a population of over 1.3 billion, saw a record single-day jump in new cases for the seventh straight day. It reported 6,535 new infections Tuesday, raising its total to over 145,000, including close to 4,200 deaths.

The virus has taken hold in some of the country’s poorest, most densely populated areas, underscoring the challenges authorities face in trying to contain a virus for which no vaccine or cure has yet to be developed.

Most of India’s cases are concentrated in the western states of Maharashtra, home to the financial hub of Mumbai, and Gujarat. Infections have also climbed in the east as migrant workers stranded by lockdowns returned to their native villages from India’s largest cities.

Despite this, India allowed domestic flights to resume Monday following a two-month hiatus, but at a fraction of normal traffic levels.

In Brazil, where President Jair Bosonaro has raged against state and local leaders enforcing stay-at-home measures, WHO warned that before reopening the economy, authorities must have enough testing in place to control the spread of the virus.

Brazil has 375,000 coronavirus infections — second only to the 1.6 million cases in the U.S. — and has counted over 23,000 deaths, but many fear Brazil’s true toll is much higher.

Ryan said Brazil’s “intense” transmission rates means it should keep some stay-at-home measures in place, regardless of the damage to the economy.

“You must continue to do everything you can,” he said.

But Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria has ruled out a full lockdown in Brazil’s largest state economy and plans to start loosening restrictions on June 1.

A U.S. travel ban was set to take effect Tuesday for foreigners coming from Brazil.

In Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the postponed military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the World War II will take place on June 24. Victory Day has become the most important holiday in Russia, marked every year on May 9 with a show of armed might in Red Square.

Putin said the country has passed the peak of the outbreak.

Russia reported a record one-day spike Tuesday of 174 deaths, bringing the country’s confirmed death toll to over 3,800. Russia’s coronavirus caseload surpassed 360,000 — the third-highest in the world — with almost 9,000 new infections registered.

The country’s comparatively low mortality rate has raised questions among experts. Russian officials vehemently deny manipulating any figures and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the country’s lockdowns.

The question of who can travel where and when remains a dilemma in many places.

Spain’s foreign minister said that European Union members should collectively agree to open borders and determine which non-EU countries are safe for travel.

“We have to start working with our European partners to retake the freedom of movement in European territories,” Arancha González Laya told Cadena SER radio.

  (AP)

Boro Park & Williamsburg Locals Protest Police Shutting Small Businesses

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In the Williamsburg and Boro Park sections of Brooklyn, crowds of Orthodox Jews and Chassidim gathered to protest the closure of stores on the respective neighborhoods main shopping drags; Wallabout Street and on 13th Avenue. Photo Credit: YWN

Edited by: JV Staff

In the Williamsburg and Boro Park sections of Brooklyn, crowds of Orthodox Jews and Chassidim gathered to protest the closure of stores on the respective neighborhoods main shopping drags; Wallabout Street and on 13th Avenue. In Boro Park the scene turned ugly with people screaming at the Deputies, and passersby encouraging the protesters to hold their ground and not disperse. as was reported by Yeshiva World News.

Naturally, social media exploded with viral videos and many are claiming that the city is targeting the Jewish neighborhoods.

The Jewish news entity also reported that the NYPD were not exclusively targeting Jewish businesses that defied lock down orders.

The coronavirus crisis has forced more than 100,000 small businesses in New York to close permanently, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said on Friday.

“Small businesses are taking a real beating,” he said. “They are 90 percent of New York’s businesses and they’re facing the toughest challengers.”; All but essential businesses have now been closed since New York’s shutdown started on March 22. Millions of former employees are now registered as unemployed, Patch reported

While New York will be launching   its own small business relief program, with more than $100 million that it will make available as loans, some proprietors are not  waiting for the government to rescue them or totally collapse like thousands have done already.

According to a report on the Yeshiva World News web site, beginning on Sunday morning, around 200 stores opened in Boro Park, Williamsburg, Flatbush, Monsey and the Five Towns. They will use extreme social distancing, some just curbside service, while others will allow one person at a time into their establishments. They are banded together under the name #ReopenNY

Organizers told YWN that Governor Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio are aware of the movement. The group has lawyers & is well prepared for legal action, including visits by the police.

YWN told readers that they think it is “outrageous for the city to allow Target, Costco and every other major store to be opened, while they are destroying every small business by forcing them to remain closed.” They also confirmed the fact  that the sheriff’s department did not specifically target stores in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn as they visited other neighborhoods in the city to issue summonses on stores that were open for business and were not considered essential services.

YWN added that, “there are photos of long lines – with zero social distancing – outside businesses in Bushwick and other areas, but apparently, there were no 311 complaints made.”

Cuomo Announces Death Benefits for Families of NY Health Workers who Died During Virus

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AP

By Benyamin Davidsons

On Monday May 25th, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the families of New York’s public workers who died fighting coronavirus will receive death benefits from the state and local governments. “I feel a grave responsibility to our frontline workers, our essential workers who understood the dangers of this COVID virus, but went to work anyway, because we needed them to,” said Cuomo at a press briefing at Manhattan’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. “Today, we’re saying we honor that service, and we’re going to make sure that every government in the state of New York provides death benefits to those public heroes who died from COVID-19 during this emergency.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, had joined the effort to grant the essential workers with the benefits last week. His office was quick to take credit for the initiative on social media.  “Thank you @NYGovCuomo for endorsing our plan to provide line of duty benefits to city workers lost to COVID-19,” tweeted City Hall press secretary Freddi Goldstein, just minutes after Cuomo’s announcement. “Everyday, but particularly on Memorial Day, it’s so important to stop and remember those we’ve lost, and do all we can to support the families they left behind.”

As reported by the NY Post, since early April, Gov. Cuomo has been working on the lifeline to support the families of police, firefighters, health care and transit workers employed by the government who gave their lives during this pandemic. “The people who showed up,” as Cuomo called them, but were lost will have state and local pension funds paid out to their families, similar to the benefits received by the kin of 9/11 heroes.

The details of the initiative, such as the estimated cost and disbursement timeline, have not yet been announced.  Cuomo also said he is calling on the federal government to take it up a notch by approving hazard pay for responders.  “It’s a way of saying thank you, we understand what you did, we appreciate what you did,” said Gov. Cuomo. “And it’s a way of showing Americans that when there is a next time — and there is a next time — that we truly appreciate those people who show up and do their duty.”

The day’s briefing also included a solemn Memorial Day service by the governor, complete with a moment of silence for the country’s fallen military heroes. The governor noted that we also mourn the 96 New Yorkers who perished due to the coronavirus in the last 24-hour period. “Ninety-six is still painfully high,” said Cuomo, of the new fatalities which bring NYS’s overall confirmed deaths to 23,488. “But only in the relative absurdity of our situation is that relatively good news. We remember those 96 families today.”

Hundreds of Public Companies Keep Coronavirus Loans from PPP

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A high-end hotel company Sotherly Hotels received almost $10.4 million from the federal program. Photo Credit: Sotherly Hotels

By Ellen Cans

The federal government launched the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses struggling due to the ensuing shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus. Large public companies, however, were given $1.3 billion in loans from that federal program. As reported by the NY Post, of the 424 public firms which admitted to receiving the funds, only 68 of those companies have promised to return the funds, as of early Monday morning. As per regulatory filings compiled by FactSquared, a data-analysis company, a whopping 84 percent or 356 of the companies are planning on keeping the federal funds meant to keep mom-and-pop businesses afloat.

The Trump administration has pledged to clamp down on abuse of the $659 billion PPP program. Officials had given the large companies until the deadline of May 18 to payback the loans without facing further scrutiny. Now, the US Small Business Administration has vowed to take a closer look at all PPP loans that were over $2 million, to confirm that the guidelines were met. The federal government will try to get outstanding loan balances returned from companies that already had the funds they needed for payroll and overhead costs. Officials said, that companies that got less than $2 million will not be scrutinized because they are “generally less likely to have had access to adequate sources of liquidity in the current economic environment”.

Some of the big firms who received and seem to be keeping the loans include: chic restaurant operator ONE Group Hospitality, which received $18.3 million; Hallador Energy, a coal firm which received $10 million; and high-end hotel company Sotherly Hotels, which got almost $10.4 million, according to the FactSquared data.

The first round of the federal Paycheck Protection Program has been called an overall disaster, with the initial $349 billion budget running out after the first two weeks. Large chains including Shake Shack, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House drew ample criticism for getting payouts from the program while small businesses were left empty handed. Those two companies who had received $10 million and $20 million respectively, have already voluntarily returned the funds last month. The SBA rolled out a second round of PPP loans, with an additional $310 billion in funding.  On May 19, the SBA said that the second round still has $135.7 billion in funds available for takers. The average size of the loans as of last week was $118,000, even though most of the loans distributed were for $50,000 and less.

New Doc Reveals that Jeffrey Epstein Sent Mistress to Trailer Parks to Find Young Girls 

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Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly went trolling for teenage girls to quench Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual appetite (Screenshot)

By: Rusty Brooks

An interview with Christina Oxenberg, a sister of actress Catherine Oxenberg, in a new documentary for Discovery TV, claims Epstein sent his mistress Maxwell to trailer parks to lure young girls into Epstein’s web of sexual perversion, Daily Mail reported

“Ghislaine says to me, ‘Jeffrey has a sex drive that I cannot keep up with. He has to have three orgasms a day” Oxenberg says in the new Investigation Discovery documentary series “Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein?,” which premiered Monday night.

She says, ‘I cannot keep up with him physically, and I help by bringing in other girls.’ She said it as a boast. She was proud of it,” Oxenberg, a distant cousin of Prince Andrew.

“She says, ‘What I do is I drive into the trailer parks in West Palm Beach, and I look for what I know is Jeffrey’s type, and I bring ’em home.’”

The NY Post paraphrased from the interview: Christina Oxenberg insisted that Maxwell and Epstein were not dating, at least in the 1990s, despite the socialite’s best efforts to pretend they were.

“She would tell me things like, ‘I keep myself thin because Jeffrey likes his girls thin,” Oxenberg said.

“I’d think, ‘But you are not his type,’” she said, adding that Epstein liked stunningly beautiful girls, “nothing like Ghislaine, who is smart but doesn’t have it in the looks department.”

But “these two, they are halves of a whole, and they fit,” Oxenberg said of Maxwell and Epstein.

“They need each other. She has the contacts, and he has the money, and without the contacts, his money is useless, and without his money, her contacts are useless.”

Maxwell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing regarding Epstein. Her lawyers did not respond to requests for comment from the Mail, The NY Post reported.

Maxwell has been under investigation since December

TJV previously reported: On Friday December 27, the NY Post revealed that Ghislaine Maxwell is under investigation by the FBI for her association with Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was 66 in August, when he committed suicide in a Manhattan jail, a month after being arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell, a British socialite, has somehow managed to stay out of the limelight since 2016 despite having been long been accused of procuring and grooming women for Epstein and his well-heeled clientele. Now that Epstein will not be going on trial, several other “people who facilitated” the dead pedophile’s alleged long-term sexual abuse of women and child trafficking of girls as young as 14, will be probed. Maxwell is said to be the FBI’s main focus now, as per Reuters. One source said the probe is in its early stages, following leads attained from women who asserted they were victimized by Epstein.

Bklyn Principal Asks Teachers to Pass Students Who “Try” but Fail in Online Courses

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Costas Constantinidis, acting Principal Cobble Hill HS (social media)

By: Jared Evan

Remote learning for NYC public school students has been a disaster thus far. Reports from various sources say that upwards of 70% of students are failing. Now, a principal from a Brooklyn school was caught on tape recommending passing students who do not learn but try, the NY Post reported.

Two clips of leaked audio from a May 14 remote meeting of administrators shows that remote instruction amid the coronavirus crisis has exacerbated poor performance at some schools. Under pressure from the Department of Education’s upper echelons, the schools are lowering the bar to pass students and keep their graduation rates up, the Post reported.

“If a child is engaged, if the child is doing work, but somehow the child does not get it, gives you the wrong answer, but the child is doing something, checking in with you, doing work … I would have passed the child,” said Costas Constantinidis, acting principal of Cobble Hill High School of American Studies in Carroll Gardens.

His remarks echo those of schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, who urged principals to adopt his mantra, “flexibility and patience,” in a staff webinar in early April, as The Post reported. Carranza has been a lightening rod of a chancellor. Known for radical far left social justice theories as opposed to actual proven techniques used to educate.

Carranza has come under scrutiny from the Asian community in regard to his race balanced admissions guidelines for advanced school classes.

In March of 2020, the NY Times reported on Asian parents protesting Carranza

“Fire Carranza!” The parents accused the school’s chancellor of forcing integration and of discriminating against their children.

The article continued:

“groups of parents venting frustration with Mr. Carranza and his vision for the nation’s largest school system — has been repeated in recent months, from City Hall Park to a dim sum restaurant in Brooklyn”

One sign the NY Times describes as being held up by one of the parents stated, “Carranza breeds racism in the name of diversity.””

This is in essence another version of social promotion. Social promotion is the practice of promoting a student (usually a general education student, rather than a special education student) to the next grade after the current school year, regardless of if they learned the necessary material or if they are often absent. This is done in order to keep the students with their peers by age, that being the intended social grouping.

In that webinar, Carranza also hinted at the watered-down student grading policy he unveiled on April 28. Under the directive, high school students can receive numeric final grades or opt for a pass/fail, but the fail is recorded as an “incomplete.” Students have until January 2021 to make up the work, Report Door stated.

Also attending the May 14 meeting was Anna Maria Mule, the longtime Cobble Hill principal who took a one-year position as a “new principal coach.” Her move came after whistleblowers complained to the Special Commissioner of Investigations for city schools that she masterminded rampant grade fraud. Investigators interviewed teachers at the school before the COVID-19 shutdown, an SCI spokeswoman confirmed Friday, as reported by Report door.

Costas Constantinidis was not commenting on the leaked meeting to media at press.

NYS Announces $100M in Pandemic Relief Funding for Non-Profits & Small Landlords

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Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the New York Forward Loan Fund, in which the state will dole out $100 million in relief for nonprofits, small landlords and mom-and-pop small businesses

By Ilana Siyance

On Friday May 22, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the New York Forward Loan Fund, in which the state will dole out $100 million in relief for nonprofits, small landlords and mom-and-pop small businesses.  The initiative is particularly geared towards small businesses owned by minorities and women, and others who were left out of the funds made available by the federal government.  “The federal definition of small business has what many could consider large businesses, but we’re going to focus on true small businesses,” Cuomo said.

As reported by Crain’s NY, the governor specified that the state’s flexible and affordable loan program will be made available to companies with no more than 20 employees, which make an annual revenue that is less than $3 million.  Those businesses which have already received money from the Small Business Administration will not be eligible for these state funds.  The federal government, through the SBA, has pumped money into the economy via two huge programs aimed at helping small businesses struggling due to the extensive shutdown caused by the pandemic.  While federal funds are still available now, Cuomo said that many minority-owned small businesses have been denied these funds.  “Minority-owned businesses face a far greater risk and have received less in federal relief,” said Cuomo.  Businesses interested in applying for the state loan should visit esd.ny.gov/nyforwardloans.

“Small businesses are the engine of the New York economy, but they are now facing some of the toughest challenges in this pandemic,” said Governor Cuomo. “Helping our small businesses is a top priority, and we are starting the New York Forward Loan Fund and making more than $100 million available to provide loans to small businesses, focusing particularly on minority and women owned businesses that have faced even greater risks and received less in federal relief throughout this pandemic.”

New York State will start giving out the COVID-19 pandemic relief loans as of May 26.  The loans will be distributed through banks, including community development financial institutions, which lend to smaller companies that have reportedly had trouble attaining funds from the large mainstream banks. Cuomo did not yet mention where the state will get the millions for the fund, particularly while the state is going through its own budget crisis.  Cuomo has frequently said that the State’s financial woes will escalate if it doesn’t receive added relief from Washington.

“Violence Interrupters” Enforce Social Distancing As NYPD Faces Backlash Over COVID-19 Rules

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Police in NJ enforce social distancing rules (AP)

By: Robert Kotkin

City Hall is using civilians in an effort to calm down the public, especially in minority areas, who are resisting NYPD attempts to enforce social distancing.

The civilians are used to encourage people to follow social-distancing rules rather than relying solely on police officers.

The NY Times reported: Mayor Bill de Blasio made that effort a priority after viral videos of heavy-handed arrests in black and Hispanic neighborhoods prompted public outrage and enforcement data showed stark racial disparities in arrests, leading to calls for change from elected leaders.

The messengers are mostly young, black and Hispanic men, from the same demographic groups that have been given summonses and arrested the most for offenses related to the pandemic, the Times reported.

Many of them have past involvement in gangs or crime, experiences they use to defuse street conflicts before they escalate to violence and to steer peers toward services like job training.

“They’re looked at as leaders,” he said. “And they have inroads and touch with a very vulnerable population, which are usually young people that government and city agencies struggle to have contact with in a productive fashion”, Eric Cumberbatch, the deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, told the Times

The City also plans on the city plans to appoint 2,300 clergy and city workers, and others as “social-distancing ambassadors.” The Police Department also plans to deploy auxiliary officers to parks.

The NY Times reports: Dr. Gary Slutkin, an infectious disease specialist who created Cure Violence Global, an organization whose prevention model is used in cities like Chicago and New York, said that unlike officers, who rely on their authority to gain compliance, the messengers are trained to persuade people to change behaviors willingly. “Behaviors aren’t really effectively changed by force,” he said.

Recently a situation almost escalated when Harlem resident Giovanni Otho was killed in a dispute over a dice game.

Investigators are still searching for the gunman, who wore a surgical mask and fled on foot after fatally shooting Mr. Otho and a 26-year-old man who survived, the police said.

When the locals, decided to have a tribute to the young janitor, by having a horse-drawn hearse to carry Mr. Otho’s body through the streets of Harlem, they had to change plans due to corona rules. Instead the family planned a small tribute on the block of West 143d Street where Mr. Otho had grown up. But hundreds of people showed up, apparently unaware the procession had been canceled. The police had to break up the event.

The nonprofit “violence interrupters” group Street Corner Resources, headed by Iesha Sekou stepped in to keep the peace. The event was peacefully broken up, thanks to the gang prevention group, which the community trusted more so than the police.

Pandemic: Lockdowns Changing Real Estate Landscape As NY Faces Existential Crisis

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Midtown South is the heart of New York’s tech scene, which accounts for more than 300,000 jobs and has attracted more than $3 billion in venture capital annually in recent years, Crain’s reported. Photo Credit: YouTube

By: Rusty Brooks

“The tech sector has been a cash cow for real estate for a decade,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a research group that in April published a study on the topic. “With a lot more companies pulling back, furloughing people and putting off expansion plans, it will affect the real estate market”, Crain’s reported

Most technology companies in NYC are start ups and the pandemic is deeply affecting their bottom line.

Midtown South is the heart of New York’s tech scene, which accounts for more than 300,000 jobs and has attracted more than $3 billion in venture capital annually in recent years, Crain’s reported.

“We have a few companies that have vowed to never go back to a physical office,” said Brad Svrluga, a co-founder of Primary Venture Partners, which has invested in about 50 startups. “They feel like they’re being at least as productive remotely, and they just can’t justify the costs.”

Crain’s does point out, rental prices for offices have been flat the last year.

The pandemic could change the landscape forever in NYC. Working from home can become a permanent fixture, the expensive office spaces will be in far less demand.  Essentially NY is facing an existential crisis due to the hard-line shutdowns and there is a possibility it may never recover.

Meanwhile NY Times reported: Across New York City, commercial tenants are falling behind in rent at unprecedented rates as the coronavirus outbreak has caused a nearly complete lockdown of the city for two months.

The Times elaborated: The cascading impact of the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders on New York City have reached a breaking point, property owners and developers say. Two months into the crisis, the steep drop in rental income now threatens their ability to pay bills, taxes and vendors — a looming catastrophe for the city, they warn.

Meanwhile the residential real estate market is changing too. Numerous reports show people snatching up homes in nearby parts of Connecticut.

Real estate agents told the Stamford Advocate that their well-to-do New York City clients have been snapping up single-family homes in areas like Westport, Greenwich, Litchfield County and east of New Haven.

“I think there’s going to be a trend of people renting and then buying second homes,” Candace Adams, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties, told the Advocate. “I don’t know that they necessarily want to stay outside of the city — they just want to have an option to go someplace else.”

Two months of shutting down an entire city, has rapidly changed everything. Will NYC ever be the same?

NYers Angered at Food Delivery Men Who Cluster on Corners; Found Sneezing

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Grub hub deliverymen offer contact-free food delivery, but residents say they have plenty of contact with one another. Photo Credit: AP

By Benyamin Davidsons

Grub hub deliverymen offer contact-free food delivery, but residents say they have plenty of contact with one another.  Clustering in groups and waiting to be called, packs of the men have been seen crowding in the small West Village square, many of them holding the signature red and black Grub hub bags.

As reported by the NY Post, some local residents are fed up with the crowd of deliverymen who sit with no social distancing, many without masks, chattering loudly and often arguing.  “I’m telling you, it’s a nightmare,” said a woman whose apartment overlooks Mulry Square by the corner of Greenwich avenue and Seventh Avenue.  The Square, also named 9/11 Tiles for America, is supposed to serve as kind of a mini museum with a bus parked there, commemorating the attacks on 9/11. The troubled neighbor said roughly 20 deliverymen crowd in the park with their bikes from approximately 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. She said she sees them without masks, too close to each other, and sometimes can hear them screaming and sometimes sneezing. “They’re certainly not distancing, which is outrageous,” she said, adding she would never order food through the Grub hub app.

The deliverymen have also been clustering in the New York City AIDS Memorial Park across the street at 76 Greenwich Ave.  A local resident who lives on Bank Street and Greenwich Avenue, voiced the same complaint about the gathering spot on her neighborhood. “It’s bothersome to have my street become the employee lounge for the Grub hub,” the woman said. “Grub hub needs to organize that.”  Some residents said they now have to avoid that crowded area. “I certainly wouldn’t sit anywhere near them,” said Barbara Chernick, 72, a retiree. “They’re not wearing masks. There’s a big group.”

The restaurant delivery app already has enough on its plate, as complaints have mounted about the fees it charges restaurants.  The city council will be voting this month on whether it can permanently limit the charges it slaps onto for its service. For the duration of the state of emergency caused by the pandemic, the delivery apps will not be permitted to charge restaurants more than 15 percent in delivery fees and 5 percent for any other takeout order fees.  Grub hub has responded to this legal action by threatening to file its own lawsuit against the city council for its “overstep.” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson dismissed the threat saying, “We do believe we have the legal authority.  We’ve spent a lot of time looking at these issues. So I believe we’re on solid legal grounds and I’m not concerned about this challenge.”

Landlords & Activists Call on DeBlasio to Enact Property-Tax Freeze

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Photo Credit: AP

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Landlords, activists and trade groups are banding together to ask NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to freeze property taxes amid the extensive shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus.  Civil rights activist Hazel Dukes, who previously served as the national president of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People has joined in the effort, saying that minority landlords are particularly susceptible.  “Temporary fixes like mortgage deferrals are not enough,” Dukes, 88, said in a statement. “Mayor de Blasio has to provide the meaningful lifeline of a property-tax freeze to prevent the American dream of homeownership from becoming a nightmare.”

The pandemic has led to the shutdown of all nonessential business, which has led to a spike in unemployment.  The shuttered businesses have not been paying employees and like a chain reaction these factors have led to nonpayment of rents, hurting the real estate industry. As reported by Crain’s NY, landlords and property owners have it particularly rough during this pandemic and its ensuing shutdown, as rent-collection rates  have dropped abysmally.  Landlords now maintain that since they have not been paid, they therefore do not have the means to pay their mortgages, tax bills or upkeep on their properties.

Data from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has revealed that roughly forty-five percent of small businesses missed all or a portion of their rent payments over the last two months.  In the month of May, Vornado Realty Trust publicized that it received rent from only 20 percent of its retail tenants.

Property taxes are up since 2014 when Mayor de Blasio took office, as per data from the NYC Department of Finance, and experts predict they could be further on the rise with the city looking for ways to increase its revenue.  “Our community of homeowners is not positioned to absorb new costs in the form of increased taxes,” said Mary Ann Rothman, executive director of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums.  The group of property owners is asking to be allowed to pay their taxes with monthly payment plans to avoid bankruptcy, and for interest penalties to be lowered from the current 18 percent down to 3 percent.

Hotel owners have also joined landlords in the effort to beseech the Mayor. The hospitality industry understandably is experiencing low occupancy levels due to the shutdown and halt in tourism. Hotels have been used during this pandemic as shelter for health care workers, Covid-19 patients and the homeless. “It’s  essential and only fair that the city does everything it can to keep hotels in business,” Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, said in a statement. “We need immediate property-tax relief.”

The Mayor’s office has yet to comment.  Earlier this month, however, the city’s Department of Management and Budget told Crain’s that a relief in property-tax would be unlikely, and it projected $180 million in delinquent payments this summer.

Queens Councilman Wants Probe into Cuomo’s Executive Orders on Nursing Homes

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Queens councilman Eric Ulrich, a Republican, is demanding the city investigate Cuomo’s controversial executive order mandating that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities admit seniors still positive for coronavirus after being discharged from hospitals. Photo Credit: Twitter

By Jared Evan

Queens councilman Eric Ulrich, a Republican, is demanding the city investigate Cuomo’s controversial executive order mandating that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities admit seniors still positive for coronavirus after being discharged from hospitals, the NY Post reported.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5.1 million people live in nursing homes or residential care facilities, representing 1.6% of the U.S. population. And yet residents in such facilities account for 42 percent of all deaths from COVID-19, for states that report such statistics.

More than 5,300 nursing home patients in New York have died from Covid-19, and as an Albany Times Union account notes, critics blame this policy. Cuomo has now tacitly admitted the error by reversing the policy, requiring patients to test negative before they are sent to nursing homes, Professor Glenn Reynolds wrote in USA Today.

Reynolds, University of Tennessee law professor chronicled the entire situation in an article called” Why oh why is NY Governor Andrew Cuomo being praised for his coronavirus response”?

A patient was loaded into the back of an ambulance by emergency medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center. Photo: John Minchillo/AP

He pointed out : Writing in the New York Post, Michael Goodwin notes: “First, nursing homes never believed they had any right to deny infected patients, saying the order from the state Department of Health would have included that option if that were the intent. The order’s language did not offer any hint of flexibility… Worse, the order came without warning, took effect immediately and gave the homes no time to set up segregated beds and staff. All nursing homes, good and bad, large, and small, were treated as if they were fit for an influx of coronavirus patients.

The second problem with Cuomo’s claim is the case of the Cobble Hill Health Center, which lost at least 55 patients to the virus. The CEO, Donny Tuchman, showed reporters April emails where he asked state health officials for assistance, and was turned down. He also asked them if COVID-19 patients he had could be sent instead to the Javits Center or the Navy ship Comfort, both of which were far below capacity. He was rejected again. It’s true there was one-way Albany officials did help beleaguered nursing homes. The packages of equipment they sent included body bags.”

After several articles like Reynold’s, and  finally a little media focus on this incredible issue, an elected official is interested. In learning more.

Queens lawmaker Eric Ulrich  wrote: “As a body, we should immediately commence an investigation into the Governor’s handling of the nursing homes throughout this crisis,” the legislator wrote Friday in a letter to Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Councilman Ritchie Torres, who chairs the Committee on Oversight and Investigation.

“If he tries to impede that investigation in any way, the City Council should utilize our subpoena power to compel testimony,” Ulrich continued.

“Thus far, the Governor has avoided answering tough questions about his decision. His recent appearance on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time was equally disgraceful”, he continued.

Cuomo has been universally praised for his response to COVID-19.  His calming press conferences have been covered daily for the last 3 months in TJV.  The nursing home issue has barely been touched upon on TV news and cable entertainment-news outlets. One would think a mistake this tremendous, which resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths would be the top story in the nation.

In Cuomo’s defense, he was not the only leader who chose this path.  California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey adopted the same policies to place COVID-19 infected patients in nursing homes for the elderly, resulting in high mortality rates there.

The amount of deaths in NY and NJ nursing homes exceeds the total amount of COVID-19 deaths in the entire states of Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Ohio. Texas for example, still has under 1500 deaths in total for the entire state. Over 5000 New York’s seniors; they were  parents, grandparents, friends, some of them served this country, perished due to a sloppy policy based on fear and panic. New York was indeed in a panic when Cuomo decided to impose this executive order. There was fear of not enough hospital space expressed daily for weeks in his press conferences.

Almost 3 months later, the makeshift hospitals which the city spent millions on building in each borough were barely used. The field hospital in Red Hook Brooklyn, which cost $21 million to set up, never took a single patient.

The governor ignored emails and requests for the policy to stop, until it was too late. The CEO of Cobble Hill Health Center displayed the emails of him asking for assistance to the media, and he was ignored. The makeshift hospitals remained empty.  Even worse, there were warnings from the start of the executive order, that the idea was incredulous.

The Foundation for Economic education pointed out in an article called “How States Turned Nursing Homes Into ‘Slaughter Houses’ By Forcing Them to Admit Discharged COVID-19 Patients” the following:  Health experts and trade associations had warned early on that forcing nursing homes to take on newly discharged COVID-19 patients was a recipe for disaster, noting that such facilities didn’t have the ability to properly quarantine the infected.

“This approach will introduce the highly contagious virus into more nursing homes. There will be more hospitalizations for nursing home residents who need ventilator care and ultimately, a higher number of deaths. Issuing such an order is a mistake and there is a better solution,” American Health Care Association President and CEO Mark Parkinson announced in March after New York’s order went into effect.

David Grabowski, a professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School, sounded incredulous when asked about the policy.

“Nursing homes are working so hard to keep the virus out, and now we’re going to be introducing new COVID-positive patients?” Grabowski told NBC.

Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long-Term Care Community Coalition in New York, echoed that sentiment.

“To have a mandate that nursing homes accept COVID-19 patients has put many people in grave danger,” Mollot told the Bucks County Courier Time.

Only time will tell if our leadership is held accountable for this tremendous error. People, who make mistakes at their jobs are often financially penalized or fired. Should a Governor who cost over 5000 lives by a poor decision by praised endlessly by the partisan, agenda driven mainstream broadcast media and the public denied the reality of what actually happened?  Will we at least see a universal acknowledgment of this fatal error?

DOJ Files Suit Against NJ Town for Religious Discrimination Against Orthodox Jews 

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Agudath Israel members meeting with Attorrney General William Barr during a 2019 mission to Washington, DC

Edited by: JV Staff

On Wednesday, May 20, 2020 the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Jackson Township, New Jersey alleging the township illegally discriminated against Orthodox Jews through zoning laws that restricted religious schools and outlawed dormitories, intending to keep Orthodox Jews from moving to Jackson.

The lawsuit charges that Jackson Township both passed and applied the ordinances in a manner that discriminated against the Orthodox Jewish community. Both ordinances expressly prohibit dormitories throughout Jackson, making it impossible for religious boarding schools such as Orthodox Jewish yeshivas to operate there, thus violating portions of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Incidentally, the Agudah- led by its Washington director Rabbi Abba Cohen- was at the forefront of the effort to pass RLUIPA in 2000.

The lawsuit pointed out that although Jackson passed these ordinances to prevent dormitories anywhere in Jackson, the planning board has since approved, without requiring a variance, the plans for two nonreligious projects with dormitory-type housing. Furthering the case against the embattled township are a host of anti-Semitic comments made by officials within the governing body of Jackson. The Department of Justice charged the ordinances were enacted “against a backdrop of extreme animus by some Jackson residents and township decision makers toward the Orthodox Jewish community and a movement by residents to keep Orthodox Jewish individuals from settling in Jackson.”

“Religious discrimination has no place in our society and runs counter to the founding principles of our nation,” said Craig Carpenito, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. “No religious community should ever face unlawful barriers or be singled out for inferior treatment. This complaint reflects our continued commitment to combat discrimination and unequal treatment.”

Echoing his statements was Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Using zoning laws to target Orthodox Jewish individuals for intentional discrimination and exclude them from a community is illegal and utterly incompatible with this Nation’s values,” he said. Dreiband then warned other townships to take note: “Let me be clear. The Department of Justice will use the full force of its authority to stop such anti-Semitic conduct and prevent its recurrence.”

Roman P. Storzer, attorney for Agudah in a parallel action challenging Jackson Township’s laws and counsel in a number of similar lawsuits in central N.J., applauded the Department of Justice’s involvement: “It is critical that these important rights, entrenched in the First Amendment and federal law, continue to be protected wherever they are threatened.”

Rabbi Avi Schnall, Director of Agudah’s New Jersey Office was particularly grateful to the United States Department of Justice and Attorney General William Barr. “During Agudah’s annual mission to Washington last year, we met with top officials in the Justice Department including Attorney General Barr,” recalled Rabbi Schnall, “during the meeting, we raised concerns that as the tzibbur continues to grow and we move out of the predominantly frum enclaves, towns would hide behind zoning codes to keep us from settling in. The Attorney General, who has been an unrelenting fighter for religious liberties, assured us that his Justice Department would do everything it could to ensure American citizens are not ‘zoned out’ of neighborhoods because of their faith through its Religious Liberties Task Force. This lawsuit serves as a yet another shining example Attorney General Barr’s commitment.”

Billions Still Available in Federal Small-Business Loans for Mom & Pop Shops

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“There is $140 billion in money left that can be accessed by these institutions to do lending,” said Beth Goldberg, the Small Business Administration’s New York district director. Photo Credit: SBA

By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh

The second round of the Paycheck Protection Program still has billions of dollars available for mom-and pop-businesses to claim.  On Thursday in a Crain’s webcast, lenders and local business experts said there has been a decline in applications, despite the billions remaining in federal funding awaiting takers.  “There is $140 billion in money left that can be accessed by these institutions to do lending,” said Beth Goldberg, the Small Business Administration’s New York district director.

“We’re seeing a dramatic slowdown in terms of volume this week.  When the loan program opened up, we had hundreds of applications pouring through the website. Now it’s a handful a day,” said Wendy Cai Lee, President of Piermont Bank. “Today we had one,” she added.

As reported by Crain’s, during the webinar lenders admitted that though the first round of  PPP loans in the first two weeks of April were a “disaster”, people should not give up as the current second round is a whole different story.  “It really was a tale of two different disbursements,” said Randy Peers, President of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “Round 1 was a total disaster, and Round 2 was very, very successful.”   Peers said that in the first round only 4 percent of the 600 small businesses in Brooklyn that they surveyed received funds, but in the second round, a whopping 92 percent of applicants received PPP funds.

“We’re basically, in many respects, flying blind because we’ve never seen in modern history a sudden and near complete shutdown of the economy. We just don’t have good benchmarks to guide what might be happening,” Goldberg had conceded during a council meeting in April. “We’re in an economic and financial environment that’s changing rapidly.”  Goldberg was appointed by the SBA in 2015 as District Director for New York, after 30 years of experience in both private and government sectors.

Across the country, there were 4.4 million PPP loans made for a total value of $513 billion, as of May 16.  Still, there is $140 billion more still available and awaiting applicants.  The SBA has also shelled out over $6 billion under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, according to Goldberg.  The EIDL, however, has run out of funds, and would require Congress to pump in more money.  “These loan products are great to sustain business and get through this time, but what we’re hearing now is a need for additional capital to restart and take advantage of the economic opportunities that are arising,” said Jonnel Doris, acting commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services.

NYC Under the Shadow of Coronavirus in the Summer of 2020

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Photo Credit: AP

By Ellen Cans

Memorial weekend in New York City usually unleashes the first bit of a carefree summer breeze. It’s a time marked by outdoor barbeques and outings to the beaches and the like.  This year, however, under the shadow of the novel COVID-19, things seem more somber.  The Big Apple has unwittingly turned into the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US.  The city is still mostly in lockdown, and the novel coronavirus has already taken 23,488 lives in NYS, as of Sunday night.

The elderly, those with preexisting conditions and colored and Latino communities have taken the hardest hits.  The consequences of the shutdown too have been significant.  As reported by the NY Times, NYC unemployment claims have jumped 2,637 percent since March.  This has sparked a hunger crisis, with graduate students and artists standing in lines at local soup kitchens.  Food banks and volunteers have stepped up to the task increasing the distributions. Nonprofits across the board agree that the amount of food they being distributed has skyrocketed since March, based on an increased need.

This memorial day, we may have less light-heartedness.  We might have to wear masks and keep social distancing. Our plans may have changed and our outlook may be shaky.  The day’s original significance, however, has never resonated stronger.  This is a day when we appreciate our heroes, and we have more heroes right among us than ever before.  The healthcare workers, first responders, and other essential workers have put their lives on the line for the greater good, and as a whole New Yorkers feel a deep down gratitude. This is a day when we traditionally show our caring and love for one another by getting together with loved ones. This memorial day, during the ongoing pandemic, we have shown our love more than ever before via the sacrifices we make by social distancing in order to keep each other healthy and safe.

New Yorkers have another chance to show off their resilience. We are not broken and we will not allow our day or our city to crumble.  We will open up, slowly and as directed.  We will recreate and rethink our business models. We will become vibrant and successful once more.  We will help one another and rise again collectively. The uncertainty of today will only make us stronger tomorrow. And of course, we will honor and remember those that we have lost, and hold a space for them in our hearts forever.