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Judge puts off approving US Request to Dismiss Flynn Case

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AP

By ERIC TUCKER (AP)

A federal judge made clear Tuesday that he would not immediately rule on the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss its criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying he would instead let outside individuals and groups weigh in with their opinions.

The move suggests U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is not inclined to automatically rubber-stamp the department’s plan to dismiss the Flynn prosecution.

Flynn pleaded guilty, as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, to lying to the FBI about conversations with the then-Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential transition period.

But the Justice Department said last week that the FBI had insufficient basis to question Flynn in the first place and that statements he made during the interview were not material to the broader counterintelligence investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

The department said that dismissing the case was in the interest of justice, and that it was following the recommendation of a United States attorney who had been appointed by Attorney General William Barr to investigate the handling of the Flynn investigation.

The decision must first go through Sullivan, who said in a written order Tuesday night that “given the current posture of this case,” he anticipated “that individuals and organizations will seek leave of the Court” to file briefs expressing their opinions.

That is a likely reference to the considerable debate the Justice Department’s action has prompted over the last week, with some former law enforcement officials who were involved in the investigation expressing their dismay over the planned dismissal through public statements or newspaper opinion pieces.

The judge said he expects to set a scheduling order governing the submission of such briefs, known as amicus curiae — or friend-of-the-court — briefs.

In a court filing Tuesday night, lawyers for Flynn objected to an amicus brief that a group identifying itself as “Watergate Prosecutors” had said it intended to submit, saying the brief and others like it have “no place in this Court.”

“A criminal case is a dispute between the United States and a criminal defendant. There is no place for third parties to meddle in the dispute, and certainly not to usurp the role of the government’s counsel,” Flynn’s attorneys wrote.

It is also possible that Sullivan could ask for additional information from the department about its decision, including more details about why it was abruptly abandoning a case it had pursued in court since 2017, when Flynn pleaded guilty.

In an interview Tuesday evening with Fox News, Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec said the department’s position was clear in the motion to dismiss the case.

“We do not believe this case should have been brought, we are correcting that and we certainly hope that in the interest of true justice, that the judge ultimately agrees and drops the case against General Flynn,” she said.

Fauci Warns of ‘Suffering and Death’ if US Reopens Too Soon

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Senators listen as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks remotely during a virtual Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Seated from left are Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., center, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (Win McNamee/Pool via AP)

By: Lauran Neergaard & Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned bluntly Tuesday of “really serious” consequences of suffering, death and deeper economic damage if state and local officials lift stay-at-home orders too quickly, even as President Donald Trump pushes them to act to right a free-falling economy.

Fauci’s testimony before a Senate committee came as more than two dozen states have begun to lift their lockdowns as a first step toward economic recovery.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., listens to testimony before the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is to testify before the committee. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Underscoring the seriousness of the pandemic that has reached Congress and the White House, Fauci and other experts testified by video from their homes. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chaired the hearing by video from the study in his cabin in Tennessee, though several members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee did attend at the Capitol.

Fauci and other health officials stressed that pandemic danger persists, even as testing increases and work toward a vaccine and treatments continues.

More COVID-19 infections are inevitable as people again start gathering, but how prepared communities are to stamp out those sparks will determine how bad the rebound is, Fauci told the senators.

“There is no doubt, even under the best of circumstances, when you pull back on mitigation you will see some cases appear,” Fauci said.

And if there is a rush to reopen without following guidelines, “my concern is we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks,” he said. “The consequences could be really serious.”

In fact, he said opening too soon “could turn the clock back,” and that not only would cause “some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road to try to get economic recovery.”

Fauci was among the health experts testifying Tuesday to the Senate panel, as Trump has been praising states that are reopening after the prolonged lockdown aimed at controlling the virus’s spread.

Committee chairman Alexander said as the hearing opened that “what our country has done so far in testing is impressive, but not nearly enough.”

Worldwide, the virus has infected nearly 4.2 million people and killed over 287,000 — more than 80,000 in U.S. alone. Asked if the U.S. mortality count was correct, Fauci said, “the number is likely higher. I don’t know exactly what percent higher but almost certainly it’s higher.”

Fauci, a member of the coronavirus task force charged with shaping the response to COVID-19, testified via video conference after self-quarantining as a White House staffer tested positive for the virus.

With the U.S. economy in free-fall and more than 30 million people unemployed, Trump has been anxious to reopen states for business.

A recent Associated Press review determined that 17 states did not meet a key White House benchmark for loosening restrictions — a 14-day downward trajectory in new cases or positive test rates. Yet many of those have begun to reopen or are about to do so, including Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.

Of the 33 states that have had a 14-day downward trajectory of either cases or positive test rates, 25 are partially opened or moving to reopen within days, the AP analysis found. Other states that have not seen a 14-day decline, remain closed despite meeting some benchmarks.

Besides Fauci, of the National Institutes of Health, the other experts include FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — both in self-quarantine—and Adm. Brett Giroir, the coronavirus “testing czar” at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The event Tuesday got underway in the committee’s storied hearing room, but that’s about all that remained of the pre-pandemic way of conducting oversight. The senators running the event, Alexander and Democrat Patty Murray of Washington, were heads on video screens, with an array of personal items in the background as they isolated back home.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., greet each other with an elbow bump before the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is to testify before the committee. (Win McNamee/Pool via AP)

A few senators, such as Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy, personally attended the session in the hearing room. They wore masks, as did an array of aides buzzing behind them.

The health committee hearing offers a very different setting from the White House coronavirus task force briefings the administration witnesses have all participated in. Most significantly, Trump did not control the agenda.

Eyeing the November elections, the president has been urging on protesters who oppose their state governors’ stay-at-home orders, while expressing his own confidence that the coronavirus will fade away as summer advances and Americans return to work and other pursuits.

The U.S. has seen at least 1.3 million infections and nearly 81,000 confirmed deaths from the virus, the highest toll in the world by far, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Separately, one expert from the World Health Organization has already warned that some countries are “driving blind” into reopening their economies without having strong systems to track new outbreaks. And three countries that do have robust tracing systems — South Korea, Germany and China — have already seen new outbreaks after lockdown rules were relaxed.

WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said Germany and South Korea have good contact tracing that hopefully can detect and stop virus clusters before they get out of control. But he said other nations — which he did not name — have not effectively employed investigators to contact people who test positive, track down their contacts and get them into quarantine before they can spread the virus.

“Shutting your eyes and trying to drive through this blind is about as silly an equation as I’ve seen,” Ryan said. “Certain countries are setting themselves up for some seriously blind driving over the next few months.”

Apple, Google, some U.S. states and European countries are developing contact-tracing apps that show whether someone has crossed paths with an infected person. But experts say the technology only supplements and does not replace labor-intensive human work.

U.S. contact tracing remains a patchwork of approaches and readiness levels. States are hiring contact tracers but experts say tens of thousands will be needed across the country.

In other coronavirus developments, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, providing nearly $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals.

The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said there is no “urgency.” The Senate will wait until after Memorial Day to act.

“We must think big, for the people now,” Pelosi said from the speaker’s office at the Capitol.

“Not acting is the most expensive course,” she said.

Lines drawn, the pandemic response from Congress will test the House and Senate — and President Trump — as Washington navigates the crisis with the nation’s health and economic security at stake.

The so-called Heroes Act from Democrats is built around nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs, focused chiefly on $375 billion for smaller suburban and rural municipalities largely left out of earlier bills.

The bill will offer a fresh round of $1,200 direct cash aid to individuals, increased to up to $6,000 per household, and launches a $175 billion housing assistance fund to help pay rents and mortgages. There is $75 billion more for virus testing.

It would continue, through January, the $600-per-week boost to unemployment benefits. It adds a 15% increase for food stamps and new help for paying employer-backed health coverage. For businesses, it provides an employee retention tax credit.

There’s $200 billion in “hazard pay” for essential workers on the front lines of the crisis.

Pelosi drew on U.S. history — and poetry — to suggest “no man is an island” as she called on Americans to respond to the crisis with a strategy of science, virus testing and empathy.

“We are presenting a plan do what is necessary to deal with the corona crisis and make sure we can get the country back to work and school safely,” she said.

“There are those who said, ‘Let’s just pause,’” she added. “Hunger doesn’t take a pause. Rent doesn’t take a pause. Bills don’t take a pause.”

But the 1,800-page package is heading straight into a Senate roadblock. Senate Republicans are not planning to vote on any new relief until June, after a Memorial Day recess.

Trump has already signed into law nearly $3 trillion in aid approved by Congress.

Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Robert Redfield

McConnell on Tuesday called the emerging Democratic bill a “big laundry list of pet priorities.” He said it’s not something that “deals with reality.”

The new package extends some provisions from previous aid packages, and adds new ones.

There are other new resources, including $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. There is help for the 2020 Census. For the November election, the bill provides $3.6 billion to help local officials prepare for the challenges of voting during the pandemic.

The popular Payroll Protection Program, which has been boosted in past bills, would see another $10 billion to ensure under-served businesses and nonprofit organizations have access to grants through a disaster loan program.

For hospitals and other health care providers, there’s another $100 billion infusion to help cover costs and additional help for hospitals serving low-income communities.

There’s another $600 million in funding to tackle the issue of rapid spread of the virus in state and federal prisons, along with $600 million in help to local police departments for salaries and equipment

McConnell said he is working with the White House on next steps. His priority is to ensure any new package includes liability protections for health care providers and businesses that are reopening. Trump is expected to meet Tuesday with a group of Senate Republicans.

“I don’t think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately,” McConnell told reporters earlier this week at the Capitol.

As states weigh the health risks of re-opening, McConnell said Tuesday the nation needs to “regroup and find a more sustainable middle ground between total lockdown and total normalcy.”

Top GOP senators flatly rejected the House bill. “What Nancy Pelosi is proposing will never pass the Senate,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking Republican.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, “I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency to do it now.” He noted that already-approved money still hasn’t “gone out the door.”

The Senate recently reopened its side of the Capitol while the House remains largely shuttered due to the health concerns.

Senators have been in session since last week, voting on Trump’s nominees for judicial and executive branch positions and other issues. The Senate majority, the 53-member Senate Republican conference, is meeting for its regular luncheons most days, spread out three to a table for social distance. Democrats are convening by phone. Many senators, but not all, are wearing masks.

At least a dozen Capitol police officers and other staff have tested positive for the virus, and at least one senator, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, is in isolation at home after exposure from a staff member who tested positive. Other lawmakers have cycled in and out of quarantine.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned that if Trump and congressional Republicans “slow walk” more aid they will be repeating President Herbert Hoover’s “tepid” response to the Great Depression.

(Associated Press)

Concern Grows About Crime in NYC During Lockdown as Shootings Spike in Bklyn

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(AP )

By: Jared Evan

While we constantly hear that crime is at all time lows in NYC from local officials, however, there has been an increase in violence according to locals across NYC and an increase in shootings in Brooklyn

In the Bronx, the Citizens App, a phone application which alerts users of crime in the area, goes off all day, with reports of stabbings, people being jumped on the street, cell phone robberies, assaults, gang brawls and shootings.  The crime is incessant, yet our government officials tell us, things are wonderful.

Reports from colleagues who live in the expensive and hip Hell’s kitchen are downright frightening. W 42nd Street Magazine, a local publication covering Hell’s kitchen and the theater district reported the following:

“It seemed fine because it was mostly empty. Then, as I was walking north, I saw a gentleman coming south. I started to cross the street, and he followed me. I started walking faster, he started walking faster. He was jogging towards me. It got to the point where he was within arm’s reach and I was kind of freaking out.”

“It was crazy. I was basically chased down, and if it were not for the fact that I spotted a police car and started to run towards it, undoubtedly, he would have taken my camera. There was no doubt in my mind,” she says. “I’ve never had an experience like that.”

“And the police officer? “They didn’t do a thing. They watched the whole thing happen. I looked him dead in the eyes as I was running towards him, stood next to his car, and he looked at me out the window. He didn’t roll the window down to be like, ‘Are you OK?’”

“It’s terrifying, the fact that we’re at a place now where we can’t even be out in broad daylight without feeling there’s some inherent risk.”

The expensive neighborhood which is home to the people who fuel Broadway has been overrun with homeless schizophrenics, and after de Blasio had a safe “shooting” up site, for junkies to safely use heroin, addicts nodding off on the floor, defecating on the floor and worse. This would not be so bad if it was the 1970’s and apartments in the area were $200 a month, but they are not they are $5000 a month for a small apartment. Hard working people deserve better.

To top it off the mayor released several violent felons from jail to prevent the spread of coronavirus in jails. One must wonder how violent felons are confused with nonviolent offenders when choosing who to release.

One person is dead, another wounded in two separate Brooklyn shootings last week in Brooklyn. AM NY reported. One in Sheepshead Bay, the other in Crown Heights.

On Mother’s Day two more were shot dead in Brooklyn., including an upcoming rap artist.

Brooklyn has seen a nearly 6 percent increase in gunplay and a 10.5 percent increase in shooting victims since March 16 compared with the same period last year, according to the latest statistics. In terms of numbers, that is two more shootings and four additional victims, the NY Post reported.

Most New Yorker’s believe the crime numbers are under reported, and they are probably correct. Install Citizen’s app into your phone and you will be amazed at what is going on in many neighborhoods in NYC. Meanwhile, New Yorkers are being arrested for small City Hall protests and for not wearing a mask. IF you dare to open up your business, an entire platoon of police will arrive at your store front. This is the dystopian world,  hard leftist leadership has brought New York.

Report: Non-Profit Nursing Home Execs Bringing in Astronomical Salaries

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An image of Riverdale with The Hebrew Home (caring.com)

By: R. Kotkin

The NY Post ran an investigative report into the salaries of executives running Nonprofit nursing homes.

Nursing homes have been under a microscope lately.  States like Pennsylvania and North Carolina are seeing majorities of virus deaths at nursing homes. NY from the start of the pandemic has had issue after issue with nursing homes, after the Governor started sending seniors who were dismissed from hospitals to quarantine at nursing homes. Cuomo recently admitted this was an error and laid out new safety requirements for nursing homes. It is well known these nursing homes were not equipped to handle an increase of residents, especially ones recovering from coronavirus

Approximately two-thirds of nursing homes in the United States are operated by private, for-profit firms, while another 25 percent are owned by not-for-profits and 10 percent are operated by the government, according to the AGS foundation.  The public perception is that nonprofit nursing homes are better operated than for profit nursing homes. However as “how stuff works” points out; because for-profit homes depend upon customer satisfaction in order to get new residents, they may be very well-run. And just because a not-for-profit or governmental group has its name on the letterhead does not mean you will get great care. These groups may lend their name to the nursing home, while actual day-to-day management is done by an outside company.

The NY Post reported: The heads of five homes had pay packages that neared $1 million or topped it, according to a review of 2018 tax filings for the facilities, the latest available.

The publication zeroed on Daniel Reingold, the CEO of the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. He is the highest paid CEO of a nonprofit nursing home in the city

Reingold took in: $1.5 million including a salary of $833,930, a bonus of $197,910 and “other compensation” of $412,947, making him the highest-paid administrator of the city’s nonprofit facilities. 25 virus deaths have been tied to Hebrew Home.

The Post also pointed out: Scott LaRue, who heads ArchCare, the Archdiocese of New York’s nursing home network, had a compensation package worth $1.47 million including a salary of $829,452, a $222,834 bonus and retirement payout of $109,591. His salary was 13% higher than the previous year.

They also reported: Alexander Balko, who heads the Metropolitan Jewish Health System, got a $1 million salary and a bonus of $200,000, plus $66,877 in other compensation and $124,000 in deferred compensation and other unspecified benefits. Another Jewish nursing home made the list: The salary and benefits for Michael Rosenblut, president of the Parker Jewish Institute in Queens, came to $1.2 million in 2018. The state said 53 residents of the 527-bed home had died of COVID-19 as of Wednesday. A spokeswoman did not return a call for comment.

Because of the recent exposés into NY Nursing home and Cuomo’s own misteps, the governor recently announced he will issue an Executive Order mandating that all nursing homes and adult care facilities test all personnel for COVID-19 two times per week and report any positive test results to the State Department of Health by the next day. The Executive Order also mandates that hospitals cannot discharge a patient to a nursing home unless that patient tests negative for COVID-19.

De Blasio to Increase Social Distancing Ambassadors Across City

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A recent scuffle between NYPD and citizens, who were not abiding by social distancing rules (AP)

By: Jesse Luke

After several rough incidents between the police and citizens, Mayor de Blasio announced during his daily press conference recently, he will increase its civilian “social distancing ambassadors” from 1,000 to 2,300 by next weekend.

“More and more the emphasis will be on a communicative encouraging approach through these social distancing ambassadors,” de Blasio said

One recent incident in the Lower East Side of Manhattan grabbed headlines with a viral video.

Last weekend a  violent arrests of three people for social distancing violations in the East Village, resulted in the opening of an NYPD investigation after video of the arrests showed cops throwing people against walls, tackling them to the ground, threatening people with tasers and punching one man in the face, Patch reported.

“So, we’re going to increase intensely the number of public servants who are out there educating, providing face coverings, reminding people of the rules, helping people to get it right,” de Blasio stated.

This increased “army” of civilian social-distancing ambassadors is designed to keep NYPD out of these kinds of confrontations.

“What we don’t need is anything that goes beyond the proper enforcement of these rules turning into something else,” the mayor said at a press briefing Sunday.

“And we saw a very troubling video a few days back from the Lower East Side, an instance of the wrong approach to policing that was very alienating to so many people in this city.”

“I think they pull at people in a very real and painful way and remind us of things that were too common for too long that are not acceptable,” he said of the troubling arrest.

“So, we’re going to increase intensely the number of public servants who are out there educating, providing face coverings, reminding people of the rules, helping people to get it right,” he said.

Recently 2 more videos circulated of violent confrontations between African Americans and NYPD over social distancing orders.

Patrick Lynch, leader of the Police Benevolent Association, on last week issued a statement calling for police to get out of social distancing enforcement. He claimed cops were being “thrown under the bus” after an “inevitable backlash”, Patch reported.

“As the weather heats up and the pandemic continues to unravel our social fabric, police officers should be allowed to focus on our core public safety mission,” he said in the statement. “If we don’t, the city will fall apart before our eyes.”

Anthony Beckford, a Brooklyn city council candidate and Black Lives Matter activist, argued that the social distancing arrests and summons are racially motivated, Patch pointed out

“This does not happen to white people who violate social distancing,” Beckford wrote on Twitter. “They are using the #pandemic as a weapon for further brutality. @NYCMayor @NYPDShea bring your rabid animals to heel!”

Cuomo Announces Twice-Weekly Coronavirus Testing for Nursing Home Staff

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In this April 17, 2020, file photo, a patient is wheeled into Cobble Hill Health Center by emergency medical workers in the Brooklyn borough of New York. On Thursday, April 23, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that nursing homes in New York must immediately report how they have complied with regulations for resident care during the coronavirus, and non-compliant facilities could face hefty fines or lose their licenses. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

By: Ilana Siyance

On Sunday May 10th, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that moving forward New York State nursing homes must test all staff members for Coronavirus twice-weekly.  To further protect the elderly and immunocompromised at nursing homes, COVID-19 patients leaving hospitals will no longer be sent to nursing homes.  The governor also said residents at nursing facilities will be tested as much as possible.  The initiatives are being introduced after a spike in deaths at the nursing homes and resulting criticism over the nursing facility outbreak debacle.

As reported by the Associated Press, in the United States there have been approximately 26,000 coronavirus deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, a disproportionate one-fifth, or roughly 5,300, of those deaths were in New York.  Though many states have had difficulty controlling the highly-contagious novel virus in nursing homes, New York’s deaths in nursing homes were the highest in number as well as percentage, proving them among the worst breeding grounds for the infectious disease.

Health care watchdogs, lawmakers and relatives of nursing home patients have blamed the state for not doing enough to mitigate the threat of COVID-19 for patients in nursing homes.  Critics also say NYS delayed the release of the number of deaths in individual nursing facilities by weeks, and for still not releasing the number of actual cases of coronavirus.  They say the initiatives, namely to require extensive testing in the homes, come too late in the game.  NYS faces added scrutiny particularly for a March 25 health department directive which directed nursing homes to take in patients recovering from coronavirus and come from the hospitals.

The directive was also enacted in New Jersey, and was supposed to help alleviate crowding hospitals and free up beds in hospitals.  Now, “we’re just not going to send a person who is positive to a nursing home after a hospital visit,” Mr. Cuomo said on Sunday. The governor said these recovering patients would be accommodated elsewhere, and he suggested they could be sent to the sites which were originally set up as temporary hospitals.  He also said nursing homes can transfer any person they cannot properly care for there.  Cuomo was also censured for a recent statement in which he said that providing masks and gowns to nursing homes is “not our job”, because those facilities are privately owned.

Though Cuomo had been widely praised for his ability to amass supplies for the state’s hospitals, he has been less successful in controlling the situation in nursing homes.   “We’ve tried everything to keep it out of a nursing home, but it’s virtually impossible,” Cuomo said. “Now is not the best time to put your mother in a nursing home. That is a fact.”

Westchester’s Coronavirus “Patient Zero” Breaks Silence

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Lawrence Garbuz and wife Adina Lewis (courtesy photo)

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

The lawyer who unwittingly because Westchester’s “patient zero” has for the first time spoken in an  interview.  In a sit-down session with NBC News’ “Today” which aired on Monday, Lawrence Garbuz said that when doctors first examined him, there was “no mention” of the deadly novel coronavirus that has since shaken the world, shut down the country, and infected over 335,000 in NY state alone.

Garbuz, 50, became the first known carrier in New Rochelle, where the virus spread rapidly.  The lawyer, who was released from the hospital in late March, was the second person in the state diagnosed with the coronavirus.  “I just thought it was a cough. A winter cough and quite frankly, I’m not certain that any of the sort of medical staff had been thinking about that initially when they examined me,” he said.  When asked by host Savannah Guthrie if the doctor during his first visit brought up the possibility of the novel virus, Garbuz responded, “Not at all. There was no mention of it at all.”

“I’m a lawyer. I sit at a desk all day. I think at the time we were sort of focusing on individuals who had maybe traveled internationally, something that I had not done,” he added.   A father of four, who rode the Metro-North train to get to commute to his Manhattan law firm, likely contracted the illness locally.

His wife, Adina, who sat by his side for the interview, said they originally thought it was pneumonia, but that he kept getting “worse and worse.”  She said, a “healthy, vibrant person, all of a sudden overnight gets so sick so quickly. I know that at this point, we’re not so surprised by that. But at that time, it was shocking.” When she first learned that he had COVID-19, she said she was “on the phone through the night with various departments of health finding out what to do, and sharing everywhere we went,” adding, “I didn’t want anybody else to get sick.”

After some time, she thought it would be best to transfer her husband to a larger hospital in Manhattan.  “I just didn’t think he was gonna make an ambulance ride,” said Adina, who insisted her husband be intubated for the ambulance ride.

As reported by the NY Post, eventually, Garbuz had to be put into a medically induced coma. “My wife saved my life,” he said. “After we entered the emergency room, I have absolutely no recollection of anything that transpired until I woke up from the coma.”  Unbeknownst to him, the novel virus spread quickly in his community, making Westchester the first coronavirus hotspot in the U.S.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo even instituted a mile-radius “containment zone” around the family’s synagogue.   Over 31,000 people in Westchester County have been infected, and more than 1,341 people there have died from coronavirus, as per state data. At the virus’ peak, the county was recording 30 to 40 deaths each day.

“I really have not focused on any of the media frenzy in terms of one of the first patients to get it,” Garbuz said. “But I have been focused more on, as I say, getting better.”

Garbuz’s daughter, Ella, expressed her relief and gratitude for having her dad back home from the hospital.  “This is just like a miracle for all of us,” she said.

LI Family Told to Put Disabled Relatives in Basement, Lawsuit Alleges

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A new lawsuit alleges that Long Island bureaucrats told a woman to put her wheelchair-bound relatives in the basement, as they proceeded to reject her home expansion plans which would have accommodated their special needs.

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

A new lawsuit alleges that Long Island bureaucrats told a woman to put her wheelchair-bound relatives in the basement, as they proceeded to reject her home expansion plans which would have accommodated their special needs.

As reported by the NY Post, Debra Buffa, 50, became the caregiver for her severely ill parents and her younger brother JP, who has been in a persistent vegetative state for over 25 years.  She moved the three relatives into her home to better care for them, but wanted to expand the home’s ground level in order to accommodate them.  “We’re at a loss,” said Debra Buffa.   She is suing the Village in Brooklyn Federal Court for discrimination, seeking unspecified damages, related to their denial of her permit.

Buffa and her husband, Eric, moved with their three children into a 6,000-square-foot home in Lake Grove in 2017.  Even at the start, they had plans to expand the home to accommodate JP, now 39, who had suffered a stroke when he was 13.

The home was in foreclosure when they purchased it, and had 6-bedrooms and an open floor plan.  The first-floor master suite would be set up for JP, who needs a temperature-controlled environment.  However, only eight months after moving in, Buffa’s 75-year-old parents suffered a decline in health.  Her mother, Paula, fractured her shoulder and her father, James, was diagnosed with colon cancer.  “I needed to be in two places at once,” said Buffa, speaking of her brother and mom in Coram and her father in the hospital.

She moved them all into her house.  Her mother, who cannot go up the stairs to the bedrooms, sleeps in the dining room; her wheelchair-bound father sleeps in an office; and JP is stuck in his room, unable to venture out.  So in October 2018, the family began building an 800-square-foot, one-story addition.  The expansion, however, was swiftly halted with a stop-work order. The Village of Lake Grove ultimately rejected the project, saying it was too large.

As per the Post, Zoning Board chairman Robert Gaudioso censured the family for starting the building without a permit.  The family was assessed and paid a $550 fine.  Gaudioso suggested that the family just put Paula, James and JP in the basement or garage, or renovate the home’s interior instead of expanding.

Buffa maintains that those options are unsafe and/or too expensive for her.   “They’re treating us like criminals,” she said. “I wasn’t building a mancave. … let me take care of my family.”  For now the three family members remain packed on the first floor. “It’s heartbreaking,” Buffa said.

Buffa’s lawyer in the suit, Doreen Shindel, said, “The Buffas were punished because they dared to initiate construction prior to receiving the approval of the … board members, and to hell with making exceptions for the disabled.”

Hasidic Group in Williamsburg Attacked by Queens Couple in Social Distancing-Spat

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On Sunday night, the police arrested an anti-Semitic couple from Queens who allegedly attacked a group of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn. Photo Credit: WABC

By Ilana Siyance

On Sunday night, the police arrested an anti-Semitic couple from Queens who allegedly attacked a group of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn.  As reported by the NY Post, Paulo Pinho, 35, and his wife, Clelia Pinho, 46, were charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime after confronting a large group of Hasidic Jews with anti-Semitic slurs and violence, even ripping off some masks from their victims.  The couple was driving by Bedford Ave & Ross St in Williamsburg when they saw a group of Hasidic Jews gathered outside on Sunday evening.  The Queens couple was apparently enraged about what they felt was a lack of social distancing, Police said.

The couple came out of the car screaming hateful slurs blaming the Jewish Hasidic community for the coronavirus.  They said things to the effect of, “You’re the reason why we’re getting sick,” police paraphrased. Paulo Pinho, called cops on the crowd and then approached three Hasidic men violently trying to rip off their masks and setting off a fight.  The crowd detained the pair until the police arrived and took them into custody, police said.  “They were at that corner, they encountered these three males and made anti-Semitic remarks,” NYPD Lt. Thomas Antonetti told The Post. “After making the statements, that’s when the masks were pulled off.”

As seen in a video released by The Belaaz, dozens of cops came to the scene to respond to the call, following the 8:35 p.m. attack.  The two suspected instigators were taken to a hospital, with Paulo complaining of an injury to his arm, and Clelia sustaining cuts and minor injuries in the scuffle, police said.  The victims, at least one of whom was wearing traditional Hasidic garb, declined medical attention at the scene, as per the Post.

On Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose comments last month were criticized for potentially igniting a spike in anti-Semitism, commented to reporters.  He said the alleged attack was “absolutely unacceptable” and warned others against committing such crimes.  “We don’t accept bias in New York City,” de Blasio said. “We don’t accept hate in any form.”  The mayor confirmed that the incident is being investigated by police as a hate crime.  “We will not tolerate hate, we will act on it quickly,” de Blasio added. “Anyone who engages in an act of hate will be suffering the consequences of their action.”

George Soros ex Adriana Ferreyr Still Upset about Reneged Real Estate

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Brazilian performer Adriana Ferreyr is reportedly still sour over the breakup with business magnate George Soros, and how she got nothing out of it. Ten years ago, Soro, then 79, split with girlfriend Adriana Ferreyr, then 27. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

By: Ellen Cans

Brazilian performer Adriana Ferreyr is reportedly still sour over the breakup with business magnate George Soros, and how she got nothing out of it.  Ten years ago, Soro, then 79, split with girlfriend Adriana Ferreyr, then 27. Subsequently, she filed a lawsuit which filled front-page headlines.  In 2012, when Ferreyr was 31, she opened legal proceedings against the 81-year-old billionaire for failing to give her a $1.9million apartment in Manhattan, New York which he allegedly promised her.

In the suit, she was asking for $50 million. As per Page Six, the astronomical sum surprised even her lawyer, Robert Hantman.  She cited fraud, harassment, emotional distress, estoppel and later added assault and battery.  She ended up getting nothing, and the case was dismissed.

Clearly this was a disappointment for the Brazilian film, television and stage actress.   Soros, the Hungarian-American billionaire investor and philanthropist had a net worth of $8 billion, as of February 2018, after having donated a whopping $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, a philanthropic agency which he founded.  Ferreyr, born in Salvador, Bahia, had became one of Brazil’s most popular actresses after appearing as a lead character on the prime-time series Marisol when she was 19-years-old.   Ferreyr is also an entrepreneur, having started her first company, Fesa Enterprises, at the age of 20.

When the case was thrown out in civil court in February 2015, she had allegedly gone berserk in court. The Post had reported that she lunged at Soros’ lawyer during a Manhattan court hearing and grabbed legal papers while yelling.  Inn a previous fit, Ferreyr, at age 31, had allegedly whacked the then 84-year-old Soros in the head and knocked off the glasses off the face of his lawyer Martin Singer.

At the end of the proceedings, Ferreyr had pledged to hire a new attorney and refile the case.  Page Six wrote that she is still worked up about it all, and continues to spread the allegations around to the tabloids.

Orthodox Jewish Summer Camps Plead With Upstate NY Officials to Allow Opening

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Girls walk to waiting buses after summer day camp in the Hasidic Jewish village of Kiryas Joel in New York in 2014. Several New York counties are now requiring vaccinations for campers and staff amid measles outbreaks concentrated in Orthodox Jewish communities. (MIKE GROLL/AP)

By: Robert Smith

The Brooklyn-based Association of Jewish Camp Operators wrote a letter to Sullivan County officials, pleading with them to allow the overnight camps to open — many as early as the end of June — and to not contact Gov. Cuomo about shutting down the operations, The NY Post reported.

All Reform Jewish summer camps will remain closed for the 2020 summer due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, JTA reported previously.

The landmark decision made last week will affect 16 overnight camps across the country, which collectively served some 10,000 campers in 2019. The Reform movement, the largest in the United States, is the first to suspend its entire summer camp network.

However, Orthodox camps want to open this summer.

“We are writing to you to request that Sullivan County representatives understand the overnight camp plans for operation this summer, and not send a letter to Governor Cuomo requesting that overnight camps not be allowed to operate in Sullivan County this summer,” association officials wrote.

The NY Post reported: In the letter, dated May 5, the consortium also promised the camps would be “run differently this summer” because of the deadly outbreak.

The Post continued: All children and staff members would be tested before coming to the camps, they said, and a “full and complete lockdown” would be enforced once on site, with no field trips or outside visitors allowed. Staff members could not leave the grounds on their days off.

If an outbreak would occur, the group pledged that local hospitals would not be “overwhelmed” because anyone who falls ill would be taken to city hospitals by Hatzolah, a volunteer emergency medical services group.

The association is considering closing non-overnight camps, they said.

In a Post COVID-19 World, Work at Home Stocks, Are a Solid Investment

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Work at home related software seem to be solid investments among other areas (AP IMAGE)

By: Jared Evan

What stocks are the Wall Street experts expecting to be fruitful for the investor in the post COVID-19 world?

Crain’s pointed out: The Wall Street guys apparently think Etsy will be a big winner in the post-Covid world—The Brooklyn-based e-tailer reported stronger-than-expected earnings Wednesday, thanks to so many folks buying masks they can’t find in pharmacies. Etsy’s stock price has risen 67% this year, and its billion-market value is larger than Macy’s, The Gap and Nordstrom put together.

Etsy is an American e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including  jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies and tools. All vintage items must be at least 20 years old. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee of US$0.20 per item.

Market Watch reported a very significant observation, which you don’t have to be a professional trader to realize: an obvious beneficiary in the work-at-home trend include companies that help remote employees collaborate with their bosses, colleagues, clients and customers.

Jefferies analyst Samad Samana, spoke to Market Watch and looked at RingCentral RNG  , described as cloud-based system that can tie it all together, making it easier for home-based workers to connect via online meetings, team messaging, video and voice. Other companies involved in remote office technologies include web conferencing and collaboration include Zoom ZM, Slack WORK, , Atlassian TEAM, , Dropbox DBX. Samana also likes NICE NICE, which helps companies set up cloud-based contact centers. DocuSign DOCU will also help with paperwork flow.

Some other interesting notes from Crain’s : Sam Adams maker Boston Beer hit a 52-week high Wednesday (stronger berr apparently is more popular in lock-downs, as Anheuser-Busch is trading at an all-time low , Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings on Thursday reported an increase in first-quarter operating earnings (air-freight company, due to grounded flights, the cost of air-freight is increasing)

Market watch noted that computer security is going to become more important with more work at home, its easier to hack into business computer’s and data and CrowdStrike CRWD, , Varonis VRNS, +, Palo Alto Networks PANW,  , Okta OKTA, and Ping Identity PING,  . are ones to be looked at .

Market Watch Noted: Cloud-based desktop virtualization systems store employee desktops remotely on servers instead of locally on devices. This helps remote employees access their work desktops from many different devices including PCs, smart phones and iPads, which makes it easier to work from home. The work-at-home trend will help companies that offer virtual desktop software like Citrix CTXS, VMware VMW, and Microsoft, says Jefferies analyst Brent Thill.

Work at home appears to be the trend with more of the rising stocks, technology which serves the nontraditional office are on the rise, office space and retail are on the demise

NY AG Probes NBC News on Sex Misconduct Charges; Andy Lack is Out as Chairman

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After a controversial tenure, Andy Lack, the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC since 2015, was told last Monday that he would be replaced as part of a corporate restructuring. Photo Credit: AP

By: JV Staff

After a controversial tenure, Andy Lack, the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC since 2015, was told last Monday that he would be replaced as part of a corporate restructuring. Telemundo executive Cesar Conde will now be in charge of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC.

According to an AP report, Lack’s departure was revealed when Jeff Shell, new NBC Universal CEO, outlined a new corporate governance plan. Besides Conde’s elevation, Shell is giving broad new powers over NBC’s entertainment properties to Mark Lazarus, who has overseen NBC Sports.

The 72-year-old Lack has had two runs as head of NBC News, the first as NBC News president from 1993 to 2001, and he rejoined the company as news chairman in 2015, as was reported by the AP.

NBC News’ flagships, “NBC Nightly News” and “Today,” generally run second to ABC in viewership but are stronger among the lucrative young advertising demographic. AP reported that MSNBC has gained popularity, often second only to Fox News Channel as the second most-popular cable news network each week.

The news division was embarrassed, however, when Ronan Farrow took his reporting on disgraced Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein to the New Yorker and complained his bosses at NBC showed little interest in his work, as was reported by AP.  NBC said Farrow’s material wasn’t ready to be aired. Farrow has publicly disputed that assertion and provided proof by way of e-mail that Weinstein had pressured the NBC News executives to stop him from pursuing the investigation on sexual harassment claims against him. He insinuated that Andy Lack was one of these executives that had a hand in quashing the investigation that he was conducting.

Comcast Corporation, which is shrouded in controversy itself and is often referenced in a negative manner by President Trump is the owner of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations and a major motion picture company as well as theme parks. Sources have said that Comcast directs policy at NBC News.

Comcast’s growth from a small cable operator into a multi-billion dollar media and tech giant has been driven to a large extent by strategic acquisitions, both horizontal and vertical. Horizontal acquisitions have helped the company expand into a leading provider of high-speed internet, video, voice, wireless, and security and automation systems. Part of this expansion is attributable to Comcast’s in-house Xfinity brand.

Farrow won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the Weinstein case, and the restructuring was announced as this year’s Pulitzer’s were being awarded, as was reported by AP.

AP reported that Lack’s signing of Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly to a big-money deal turned out to be a high-profile failure.

Conde’s appointment as chairman of the NBC Universal News Group puts him in charge of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. Under the old structure, Lack did not oversee CNBC. The individual presidents, Noah Oppenheim at NBC News, Phil Griffin at MSNBC, and Mark Hoffman at CNBC, remain, as was reported by AP.

Lazarus becomes chairman of NBC Universal Television and Streaming, putting him in charge of NBC’s broadcast division, entertainment cable networks like Bravo and USA, and the new Peacock streaming service.

Joseph Chetrit Nets $25M for UES Pad; Biggest Sale Since Pandemic Emerged

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The top floor of this luxury pad that has a glass-enclosed gym that overlooks a 36-foot long swimming pool. Photo Credit: Brian Wittmuss/VHT Studios

Edited by: JV Staff

While the world is caught up in the news pertaining to a nightmarish pandemic that has taken hold of our lives, the good news is that other significant events are taking place in the world of real estate.

According to the Mansion Global web site, renowned and highly respected real estate investor Joseph Chetrit has netted approximately $25 million for a townhouse that he owned in Manhattan. What makes this real estate transaction so unique in that this deal is one of the largest in New York City to close since the Coronavirus outbreak began in March, according to the Mansion Global web site.

Chetrit is a name that is well known in Brooklyn’s Sephardic Jewish community. As both a savvy investor and philanthropist, Chetrit came from humble beginnings in Morocco. Chetrit was born in Morocco to Simon and Alice Chetrit. He has four brothers: David, Meyer, Jacob and Juda Chetrit. The Chetrit family made their initial fortune in textiles and shipping.

In 2013, Chetrit and his partner David Bistricer, purchased the Sony Tower in New York City for $1.1 billion, according to a Wikipedia report, with plans to convert the building into condominiums.  In 2016, they halted the project due to fears of an over-supply of luxury housing; instead selling the building for $1.4B+ to the Olayan Group of Saudi Arabia. Additional projects include the renovation of the Temple Court Building and Annex with Charles Dayan; and the $290 million 2005 purchase along with partners Charles Dayan and Yair Levy of the 800,000 square foot historic 620 5th Avenue and its 2011 sale to RXR Realty, LLC for $500 million.

As an investor who made his primary wealth from buying low in a downturn and selling high later, Chetrit’s strategy has been market timing rather than development. He typically selects structures with flexible zoning (which broadens the pool of future purchasers) in areas seeing a downturn and thanks to his minimal use of debt, he has the ability to wait the market out.

The Mansion Global reported that a person familiar with the deal who chose to remain anonymous said that Chetrit’s Upper East Side pad had been in contract for a much larger amount of money. Due to the sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unsteadiness of the stock market, the selling  price of the eight-bedroom, 32-foot-wide townhouse on East 76th Street had to be renegotiated.

Originally, the selling price for the apartment that has six floors and is approximately 13,000 square feet in size was going for $39 million when it was placed on the market in 2017. Other swanky amenities include an elevator, a rooftop garden and a cigar bar, according to the Mansion Global report.  The top floor of this luxury pad that has a glass-enclosed gym that overlooks a 36-foot long swimming pool, according to the Douglas Elliman listing with Tal Alexander and Richard Steinberg.

So, how did this property land in Chetrit’s hands to begin with? According to the Mansion Global report, Chetrit plunked down a cool $26 million back in 2007 when he purchased this property from Lenox Hill Hospital in 2007, according to the Mansion Global web site. The property was one of the three townhouses created from the combination of six brownstones, as was reported by the Mansion Global site.

The site reported that he facades of the original buildings were preserved while the interiors were completely reconstructed. Another one of the houses was purchased for $40.25 million in 2018 by the late David Koch, the prominent investor and Republican donor, and his wife Julia Koch.

Jeffrey Epstein’s  Inmate Companion: “I Do Think He Killed Himself”

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Jeffrey Epstein’s prison “inmate companion” thinks the now infamous sex offender committed suicide while in prison

By: Joyce Leemonhauf

Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘inmate companion’ for prisoners on suicide watch who spent dozens of hours having one-on-one conversations with Epstein, spoke to Page Six and believes Epstein killed himself

Epstein’s prison confidante Bill Mersey was  the first person to speak out about Epstein’s weeks inside New York’s notorious Metropolitan Correctional Center this summer, spending dozens of hours with him in his role as an ‘inmate companion’ while the multimillionaire was on suicide watch, according to The Daily Mai in December

Mersey spent a year in prison for tax evasion before signing  up as an ‘inmate companion’ – an MCC program where prisoners complete four hours of training then take shifts around the clock to observe fellow inmates on suicide watch, for which they are paid as little as 12 cents an hour.

When he first spoke, he described how Epstein was scared and wanted prison protection from another inmate in fear of extortion. Mersey recently spoke again, this time to Page Six. He is also promoting a book about his summer with Epstein in prison.

“I didn’t know those guards around him in that Special Housing Unit. They were end-of-the-line guys. Rotated. They punched a time clock. They were collegiate and hung out with inmates. It was not a crackerjack organization. When a wave of staff was brought in afterwards to assess what happened, they said: ‘This is the worst run prison we’ve ever seen in our lives.’

“That unit is a detention. A hole. You just sit in a corner. Lockdown 23 hours a day. The warden hadn’t seen fit to put somebody in there with him. So there was nobody to stop him. It’s been said that others heard Jeffrey tearing sheets that night.

“So do I believe Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide, my answer is yes.”

Mersey: “I haven’t yet seen the footage. But I am a principal character in it. Listen, I have done freelance writing before. So am I inclined to consider writing a book? Yes.”

Strangely enough Mersey also said “He was future oriented. Like, ‘How am I going to survive?’ He did not appear suicidal nor visibly depressed. He would sit on the toilet sideways to see me. Then, lying on his back, he would go to sleep”

“Epstein wasn’t depressed nor was he a diva. One-on-one we talked about everything. We hung out. He even asked if I needed money. Even about flying a private plane once with Donald Trump to Florida. I was like a kid he went to school with. He did not ask dumb questions about my life. And 7 p.m. to 11 I kept him entertained. Normal conversation”

Essentially, his statements are almost conflicting, he claims the sick pedophile did not act suicidal but has no issue accepting that he did commit suicide.

Real Estate & Construction Industry Looking to Increase Safety for Reopening

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Jeffrey Levine, who founded Douglaston Development in 1979, said that at his work sites there is now always a medical professional on-site taking workers’ temperatures. Photo Credit: Douglaston Development

By Hellen Zaboulani

The world as we know it has changed post coronavirus.  Luxury skyscrapers now seem to have lost some of their luster to fear over increased potential for contagion.  Experts in the real estate and construction sectors are keen on these changes and are getting innovative to step up safety in response to the pandemic.

As reported by Crain’s NY, industry experts are now looking into building with virus-resistant materials, using facial-recognition software to minimize the need for touch in public buildings, and other novel ways to fight contamination in response to the novel coronavirus.

Crain’s conducted a webcast on Thursday, in which industry leaders spoke about changes that are inevitably in store for their sectors.  Kenneth Fisher, founder and chairman of Fisher Investments, said flexible open office spaces seem to be on their way out.  He said the addition of plexiglass and other dividers will likely be added to offices as they reopen, in order to adhere to social distancing.  “Everybody is going to be very, very attentive to social distancing,” he said.

For construction companies, the only projects that have been allowed to continue are those deemed to be essential, including health care and affordable housing. Jeffrey Levine, who founded Douglaston Development in 1979, said that at his work sites there is now always a medical professional on-site taking workers’ temperatures. He said the company is also providing ample personal protective equipment for its employees, and that back-office operations have been adapted, with alternating shifts and older employees staying home.

Levine and Fisher both said that companies are rethinking what materials to use based on how long a virus lives on the surface.  The novel coronavirus does not live long on bronze, brass or copper, which has led developers to consider using more of those metals, as opposed to stainless steel on which the virus lives longer. “You want to be able to use materials that are easy to clean,” Fisher said. “Right now, we’re re-evaluating some of the materials we use.”

In both commercial and residential buildings elevator, as well as all common areas, have become a cause for concern.  Contactless elevator operation could become more common, Levine said, noting that facial-recognition technology may be introduced in residential buildings to recognize tenants and get them where they need to go without the need to push a button.  For now, public spaces owned by commercial landlords remain closed.  At Park Avenue Plaza, which Fisher owns, all public seating has been taken away, and anyone who does enter must wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines.  Fisher also said his tenants have requested that his buildings implement testing. “If the tenant base wants it, you’ll do it,” he said.

Fisher added that moving forward even airflow will be looked at differently.  He recently installed new HVAC units that improve air filtering. “HVAC now is going to be paramount to doing a deal in a commercial building,” he said.  He is also planning other changes for his buildings, including the installation of ultraviolet lights for more fresh airflow, and removing revolving doors to allow for touch-free entry.  Above all, Fisher said,  “clean, clean, clean.”

As per Crain’s, the pandemic’s outbreak has also halted in-person showings of listings, which has slowed the residential real estate market, said Pamela Leibman, Corcoran Group president and CEO.  Some transactions are still being made via online showing and videos.  “People generally want to stay away from each other,” Leibman said, adding that most agents are now working from home.  Corcoran limits the number of people in its offices at any time, with fluctuating schedules.  “There’s no rule book; we’re making it up as we go along,” she added. “The good thing is everyone is putting health and safety first.”