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Mayor DeBlasio Emphasizes Social Distancing, Food Insecurity & COVID-19 Testing at Press Conference

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Administrator
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Photo Credit: NY1

By: Fern Sidman

New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio told the media at his daily coronavirus briefing on Sunday morning, May 3 at City Hall that he sees a dramatic uptick in the number of New Yorkers suffering from food insecurity and that he wants to significantly increase food delivery to 1 million meals a day.

He said that prior to the emergence of the coronavirus, New York City had about 1.2 million people who were experiencing some level of food insecurity, according to a WABC News report.

He called on nonprofits groups, staff food-distribution sites and community organizations to help the city feed people who “just weeks ago considered themselves solidly middle-class or working class,” according to the ABC News report.

The mayor also addressed the issue of continued public gatherings and enforcement of social distancing rules. He again strongly cautioned New Yorkers to maintain utmost vigilance in their associations with groups of people who are not family members that they live with.
The number of people hospitalized for suspected coronavirus has increased slightly, 113 from 92 as of April 30th. 645 coronavirus patients are currently in the ICU, down from 677 as of April 30, as was reported by NY1.

The number of deaths statewide continues to trend downward, with 280 as of yesterday.

Thanking the intrepid cadre of medical personnel in all 56 New York City hospitals who have labored assiduously to provide quality care for all COVID-19 patients, Mayor DeBlasio also extended plaudits to the lab technicians and staff who meticulously process the coronavirus tests in a timely fashion.

In a question posed to the mayor from the Jewish Voice concerning city sponsored testing sites, the mayor explicated that he visited testing centers in the Morrisania section of the Bronx and in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. He assured New Yorkers that all testing was free of charge and that the presentation of health insurance cards were not necessary to acquire a nasal swab test. The mayor emphasized that priority is being given to those over the age of 65 who have experienced virus symptoms and who have underlying conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and lung disease.

The mayor also made note of the fact that the city has established partnerships with tech companies to produce diagnostic testing kits for the first time, with an initial delivery of 30,000 3D printed swabs expected by the end of the week.

The mayor added that testing would be available to all New Yorkers, irrespective of their age and immigration status. In terms of safety at the testing sites, the mayor said that measures were implemented to keep patients physically distant from one another, while at the facility.
Hizzoner added that this announcement marks just the beginning of wide scale testing for all New Yorkers in an initial effort to possibly reopen the city and ease restrictions and mandates that have become an integral part of life of everyone dwelling in the Big Apple.
He did, however, warn of a potential second wave of virus infections emerging if the city should move too swiftly in their efforts to revive the status quo in terms of everyday living. Pointing to such as Japan and Hong Kong, the mayor illustrated the folly of feverishly rushing to re-establish a routine life as the countries he made note if witnessed egregious second outbreaks of the deadly virus that were considered much worse than the first as it pertained to fatalities. He referred to this as the “boomerang” effect.

Also addressing the matter of law enforcement authorities disseminating summonses to those who blatantly violate city mandated rules about wearing asks in public and adhering to social distancing rules, the mayor spoke about the well publicized incident last week when Hassidic Jews in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn gathered for a public funeral.

DeBlasio traveled to the venue personally along with NYPD officers to disperse the gathering and in the days that followed, observant Jews in Williamsburg and other Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn were issued tickets and summonses for holding illegal public gatherings both indoors and out.
Yeshiva World News pointed out what they perceived as glaring disparities in how certain ethnic communities were being treated by the city in the midst of the pandemic.
YWN reported that “on Shabbos afternoon, the NYPD was out around the city and not only were they not giving summonses to people not wearing masks, but they were actually giving out masks to those not wearing them.”
In fact, the main NYPD Twitter account proudly tweeted a photo of an officer giving a woman a mask and wrote “No mask? No problem. This park-goer in Domino Park didn’t have a mask, no problem, our task force officers were more than happy to provide her with one.”
At the Sunday morning press conference, the mayor was asked by a reporter about why the NYPD was handing out masks all over the city, but busy writing summonses in Williamsburg.
In other coronavirus developments, Mayor DeBlasio chastised White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett for saying on Saturday that a “phase four” stimulus package might not be necessary, according to ABC News.
De Blasio said Hassett appears bent on “saving money rather than protecting people.”
“I was disgusted when I heard these comments because it sounded like the comments not only of a cheapskate but someone who just didn’t care,” de Blasio said. “So I hope President Trump will renounce these comments immediately.”
During an interview Saturday on Fox News, Hassett noted that some states appear to be opening up their economies safely and faster than expected.
WABC reported that De Blasio said the city is $7.1 billion in the hole and that it appears Hasset has an “absolute misunderstanding” of what is happening in New York and in other areas across the country that are still steeped in the battle against the virus. He added that without another federal stimulus package, first responders, including doctors and nurses now saving lives in public hospitals, could be furloughed.
“If we don’t get help from Washington, that is what will happen,” de Blasio said.

Virus-Fueled Anxiety Grips NYC Therapists

By
Sholom Schreirber
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By Ilana Siyance

NYC’s busy hustle and bustle regularly affords its residents with a generous dose of anxiety, but the novel coronavirus pandemic has kicked it up several notches.  New Yorkers are not used to being cramped in at home in isolation.  Social distancing is bringing families are roommates too close for comfort.   Moreover, people have been losing their jobs, some are sick or grieving.  Fear of illness and economic woes top it all off.

As per a recent article in the NY Times, New York’s mental health mental health professionals say the problem is real, and overwhelming even for them.  “Never have I ever gone through a trauma at the same time as my clients,” said Melissa Nesle, a psychotherapist in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. “All I am hearing all day, hour after hour, is what I am experiencing also.”  Ms. Nesle said that at times her patients seem hesitant to unload their troubles, knowing she is in the same boat. “They are aware to some extent that I am sitting in a New York City apartment, too,” she said. “So I will say to them, ‘Yes this is really stressful; I feel you; I hear it.’ But I want to reassure them that I am OK.”  She added, though,“I am not always.”

New York city’s health professionals have been scrambled to adapt to social distancing in sessions.  Thanks to congress’s emergency legislation passed in early March allowed psychologists to use telehealth treatment in lieu of in-person sessions. To maintain client confidentiality, however, some of the professionals are forced to hold the phone, zoom or Facetime meetings from their cars or even closets, to find space away from their households.  Other therapists have found too much in common with their patients.  They have been juggling their patients’ anguish while sometimes managing their own grief from the loss of elderly relatives or parents.

So now, the emotional health of mental health professionals seems to be shaken, due to the virus-oriented anxiety they face at home and again at work.  “I am so used to feeling angry or sad or a moment of joy for my patients, and this was a completely different experience,” said Dr. Lucy Hutner, a psychiatrist who specializes in women’s mental health. “I realized what it was: It was just all of the fear and the panic and the trauma and the stress that I had been absorbing from every side.”

NYC therapists are practicing the very coping techniques that they preach, like breathing, meditating and reaching out to their own mentors.  They leave time between sessions for a walk, take break when possible, and try to maintain routine.

Dr. Donna Demetri Friedman, the executive director at Mosaic Mental Health in the Bronx, says her patients have even more to deal with than most.  The low-income residents in the neighborhood don’t have the computers or even ample cell phone credits to be in touch with a therapist.  Further, African Americans and Latinos make up 62 percent of NYC’s coronavirus deaths, though they account for only 51 percent of the population, as per data from the city’s health department.  “I do a lot of self-care so that I don’t take on the intensity of what we see day to day,” Dr. Friedman said. “But with this, it’s so pervasive, there’s so much death, there is so much uncertainty, the helplessness can creep in, in ways that it typically doesn’t.  We are doing everything and anything to help each other and our patients to get through this,” she added. “Sometimes, that’s crying together.”

 

 

NYC Tenant Associations Rally to Cancel Rent

By
Sholom Schreirber
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By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

As unemployment rises rapidly in the U.S., due to Coronavirus, tenants rights groups and community nonprofits are uniting to rally in hopes of canceling rent and mortgage payments due for the month of May. The groups have been using social media as well as sporadic in-person protests to persuade the government to halt upcoming rent and mortgage payments during this time of widespread economic hardship.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York’s radical socialist l Representative, is enthusiastically endorsing the effort, which is known as #CancelRent in online video rallies.  “It’s not that it’s impossible to do and it’s not that we can’t do it,” said Ocasio-Cortez in a live video on her Facebook page. “We lack enough politicians with political will to actually help people who are tenants and actually help people who are mom-and-pop landlords.”

As reported in the NY Times, groups across the country are encouraging tenants to withhold May rent payments, in hopes of adding pressure to attain tenant-friendly legislation.  Needless to say, landlords are pushing back, saying they are struggling to pay their bills as well.  Further, as many tenants already haven’t been able to pay rent they say the consequences for an escalation could be disastrous. They maintain that property owners too have mortgage payments to make, property taxes to pay, and expenses in maintaining buildings.

For the federal government to get involved in canceling rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the shutdown, it would require extensive and far-reaching legislation in the housing and financial markets, which many say may be unconstitutional.  Chances for an all-out bill being rolled-out remain slim but that hasn’t stopped the groups from amassing a good size army of followers, even including some progressive members of Congress.   “It’s a moment that people are literally rising up for real transformation in the housing market,” said Cea Weaver, the campaign coordinator at Housing Justice for All, a New York group.

Jittery landlords too have bonded saying that before the government can demand anything from them, elected officials would first need to act to wave looming property taxes.  Recently, a report by the NYC’s Rent Guidelines Board showed that roughly 30 percent of landlord’s expenses for rent-regulated apartments go towards paying property taxes in NYC.  Joseph Strasburg, the president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which embodies 25,000 NYC landlords, cautioned that a strike on rent payments would “create an economic and housing pandemic.”  “The city and its residential housing landscape will crumble into an economic abyss worse than the 1970s, when New York was the national poster child for urban blight,” said Mr. Strasburg.

In April, overall rent collection was not far below last year’s level, but that was because many renters paid by credit cards, and some landlords did allow concessions.

 

NYPD Spreads Across NYC Parks in Enforcement of Social Distancing; Violations Issued

By
Sholom Schreirber
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By: Arthur Popowitz

George Orwell saw it coming more than 70 years ago, and Americans need to pay attention: Big Brother is watching.

 

In fact, the increasingly brazen Nanny State is doing far more than simply watching. In excess of a thousand New York City police officers were imposing their collective will on New Yorkers who dared to venture outside over the past few days, cracking down on the lack of social distancing and face masks, as Constitutional experts around the country warned that such coercion is illegal.

 

“It’s Orwellian to be watched like this,” one freaked-out 36-year-old park-goer told The New York Post at Staten Island’s Clove Lakes Park. “It’s friggin’ nuts,” she huffed of the patrols of NYPD cars, park police officers and bike cops — whose helmets were equipped with video cameras. “It’s like something out of “1984,” she continued, referencing George Orwell’s dystopian classic. “What is this, a military state now?”

 

The questions about individual freedom versus the state’s power to intimate are real, and being hotly debated around the world.

 

“I walk out of my building [in Chinatown] and I have a cop telling me it’s illegal for me to not wear a face mask outside,” a startled Malcolm Brown, 26, griped on the Great Lawn on the warmest day in the city since March 20,” according to the Post. “I started to really pay attention and I saw dozens of police vans everywhere,” he said. “It’s an overwhelming feeling. I understand they are keeping us safe, but do we really want to become China, where they’re recording you when you come out of your building?”

 

The irony is overwhelming. At the same time law-abiding Americans are being restricted to their homes, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is arguing for the mass release of dangerous criminals.

 

“COVID-19 could claim the lives of approximately 100,000 more people than current projections stipulate if jail populations are not dramatically and immediately reduced, according to a new epidemiological model released by the ACLU and academic research partners,” the group said. “The findings indicate that — even if communities across the United States continue practicing social distancing and following public health guidance — we will still experience much higher death rates if no substantial action is taken to reduce jail populations. The United States’ unique obsession with incarceration has become our Achilles heel when it comes to combatting the spread of COVID-19.”

 

The ACLU model used data pulled from more than 1,200 midsize and large jail systems around the country, whose surrounding communities account for 90 percent of the U.S. population, the group said. “It found that, unequivocally, keeping people out of jail saves lives — both inside the jail and in the surrounding community. Lives are at stake. The time to act is now.”

 

1000th COVID-19 Patient Recovers at NY’s Lenox Hill Hospital; Released to Great Fanfare

By
Sholom Schreirber
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By: Mike Mustiglione

It was a milestone to be proud of, as Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan released its one-thousandth recovering coronavirus patient this past week.

 

Ramdeo Radhay, 61, was wheeled out the front door by hospital staffers to the sounds of boisterous applause.

 

In a video of the event, Radhay flashed a thumbs up sign, shook hands with cardiologist Dr. Shankar Thampi, and declared, “I want to thank Dr. Thampi and everyone in this hospital a million times.”

 

“Radhay, an immigrant and former farmer from the South American country of Guyana, moved to the US in 2011 and worked in auto repair until he lost his job because of the coronavirus, hospital officials said,” reported the New York Post. “He has five kids, two of which are adopted — and lives with his wife, a daughter and two of his sons, who work as medical assistants for the hospital, officials said. Two of his sons, as well as his wife and daughter, who both work in a nursing home, tested positive for the disease, officials said. Fortunately, only the father needed to be hospitalized.”

 

During his stay at Lenox Hospital, Radhay “had been doing poorly. He required oxygen for most of the time he was hospitalized. Doctors had considered placing Radhay on a ventilator when they opted to start him on plasma instead,” said amny.com. “Once the plasma treatment started, Radhay’s condition turned around almost instantly.

 

“Over the last 48 hours he has had a remarkable recovery,” Dr. Nazish Ilyas, Division Chief of the Hospitalists and Associate Chair for Inpatient Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, told amny.com “Today was the first day that we were able to take him off of oxygen completely. From where he came in two weeks ago to today, the progress he has made has really been remarkable.”

 

There have been other inspiring tales to come out of the hospital during the pandemic. The New Yorker, just days ago, profiled an intensive-care nurse named Cady Chaplin who has been on the front lines there combatting the virus, and her colleague and friend Karen Cunningham. Both live in Brooklyn.

 

“When I wear a uniform, I put it on and take on my nurse self,” Cady Chaplin said during the interview. “But you lose your personal eccentricities, so I like to wear weird T-shirts underneath my scrubs, even if it’s just for myself.

 

“Sometimes, after my shift, I walk in my apartment, slide down the door, and cry,” she added. “After I take a shower, I can’t quite figure out what it is I am supposed to be doing. Coming down from these shifts, hearing codes all day on the intercom, it’s hard to get out of that fight-or-flight response. I’ve been eating a lot of salted black licorice.”

 

NYC Hotels Designated for COVID-19 Patients Close to Empty

By
Sholom Schreirber
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By: Jim McFeeney

Hotels rooms are empty, while subway cars are jammed. Something isn’t adding up.

 

A quarter of hotels in New York City hotels that had been slated as facilities to handle patients who had been suffering from the coronavirus still sit empty and unused. At the same time, subway trains are filled with homeless people – many potentially infected.

 

In addition, in what has caused a furor from coast to coast, local nursing homes have been strong-armed into taking those who are getting over the virus, thereby endangering other residents.

 

“As of 4 a.m. Monday, the LaGuardia Plaza Hotel in Queens had 10 occupants and the Aloft next to it had 11 while a Hampton Inn and a Hilton Garden Inn in undisclosed locations in the city had no guests, according to a NYC Health + Hospitals document viewed by The Post,” the newspaper reported. All told, those hotels had only 21 occupants for nearly 1,100 rooms, according to the document.

 

“It’s infuriating and morally disgusting,” Annie Caraforo, an activist with Neighbors Together, a Brooklyn social services and advocacy group, told the Post. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and we need to be taking all of the safety precautions we can to make sure people can safely socially isolate and keep themselves healthy.”

 

A national outcry has arisen because New York’s leaders vastly over-estimate the damage they thought would be caused by the pandemic. The USNS Comfort hospital ship “holds fewer than 80 patients in New York City, leaving nearly 90% of its available space unused after its emergency dispatch to the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus crisis,” said CNBC. “Shortly after arriving from its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, the military’s floating lifesaver was adjusted to receive coronavirus patients, halving its 1,000-bed capacity.” As of mid-April, only 71 of the USNS Comfort’s 500 beds were occupied.

 

The situation has not gone unnoticed in the halls of power in upstate Albany, At one of his televised daily briefings, Cuomo showed the gathered reporters and television cameras a photo splashed across the front page of The Daily News of the homeless crammed into train cars. “That is disgusting, what is happening on those subway cars,” he told the New York Times. “It’s not even safe for the homeless people to be on trains,” he added. “No face masks, you have this whole outbreak, we’re concerned about homeless people, so we let them stay on the trains without protection in this epidemic of the Covid virus? No. We have to do better than that, and we will.”

 

Bklyn Funeral Home Gets Licensed Pulled After Corpses Found in Moving Vans

By
Sholom Schreirber
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By: Howard M. Riell

 

Like something out of a cheap horror movie, the discovery of decomposing corpses inside moving vans has cause state health officials to remove the license from a funeral home in Brooklyn that was allegedly responsible.

 

Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services in Flatlands was being investigated, according to Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, who called the firms actions “appalling, disrespectful to the families of the deceased, and completely unacceptable. We understand the burden funeral homes are facing during this unprecedented time. But a crisis is no excuse for the kind of behavior we witnessed.”

 

Police official had been notified on Wednesday of the terrible smells and viscous liquid emanating from the truck, which was left just outside the funeral home at 2037A Utica Ave.

 

“Cops found dozens of bodies piled up in the unrefrigerated cargo areas and more lying on the floor inside the business, sources have said,” the New York Post reported. “U-Haul called the macabre use of its trucks “wrongful, egregious and inhumane,” with a company source telling TMZ, “Our trucks absolutely cannot be rented for this reason.”

 

Criminal charges were not brought, according to information supplied to the Associated Press, but the funeral home was penalized for not controlling the stench.

 

“Obviously the funeral home shouldn’t have done that,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

 

Never one to miss an opportunity for publicity, Mayor Bill de Blasio also had a comment. He called the incident “unconscionable” and added, “I have no idea in the world how any funeral home could let this happen.”

 

Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams said during an interview with the New York Daily News that “While this situation is under investigation, we should not have what we have right now, with trucks lining the streets filled with bodies. It was people who walked by who saw some leakage and detected an odor coming from a truck.”

 

New York City, of course, has been the unfortunate epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic “and the city’s funeral homes have been overwhelmed,” Reuters reported. “As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 18,000 people have died of COVID-19 in America’s biggest city, according to a Reuters tally. Funeral homes say they are facing weeks-long backlogs to bury or cremate the dead.”

 

The horrible incident “highlighted a serious and continuing problem: What to do with thousands of dead bodies in New York City, which weeks ago emerged as the center of the pandemic in the U.S.,” reported wsj.com. “As of Wednesday afternoon, officials reported 12,287 confirmed coronavirus deaths in the five boroughs, with another 5,302 fatalities classified as probable deaths from the virus.”

 

de Blasio promised that New York City will create a group akin to the task force recommended by Adams to aid communication and cooperation between families, funeral homes and members of the clergy.

 

Anti-Semitic Failed City Council Candidate Sued For Allegedly Extorting Company over Racial Quotas

By
Sholom Schreirber
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by Rusty Brooks

Thomas Lopez-Pierre, a failed City Council candidate who was known for his “ greedy Jewish landlord” remarks and hurling insults at black supporters of his opponents has targeted a media company with threats of violence and economic harm if they do not comply with his social justice demands of racial quotas.

The media company has filed a lawsuit accusing Lopez-Pierre of threatening to send “gang members” to protest until they guaranteed half the speakers it books for various events would people of color or women the NY Post reported.

Lopez-Pierre is threatening Bisnow, a media and events business that that produces news and live events, focused on such as real estate, technology and businesses.

The NY Post reported: Lopez-Pierre started his “extortion scheme” in November 2019, sending letters to Bisnow’s sponsors saying he would have “recently incarcerated Black and Hispanic men … disrupt and hold up banners” at their events, the company charges in an $18 million Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit filed Saturday.

“Diversity has always been a priority for Bisnow, and they have a strong track record of outreach and inclusion in their company and events,” said Judd Burstein, a lawyer for Bisnow.

During his campaign for city council in 2017 against Upper Manhattan Councilman Mark Levine, Lopez-Pieree used vitriolic anti-Semitic attacks on Levine and on property owners he blames for the gentrification of Upper Manhattan, Observer reported.

“Together, we can defeat the greedy Jewish landlords that are engaged in ethnic cleansing”, The NY Post reported Lopez-Pierre saying in one of his campaign videos

He also provoked controversy in 2013 by appearing at a campaign event with former Gov. Eliot Spitzer during the fallen pol’s failed bid for city comptroller, by trading claims of sexual molestation with Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and by labeling an African-American supporter of Levine’s an “Uncle Tom ni**ger bitch”, in a another political campaign Observer reported.

Observer reported Lopez-Pierre had pleading guilty a few years ago to violating an order of protection taken out by his ex-wife and the NY Post reported:

In 2013, Lopez-Pierre allegedly groped Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal at a news conference.

“Stop grabbing my ass! Get off me!” Rosenthal, then 55, exclaimed at the event.

Lopez-Pierre denied Rosenthal’s allegations.

“I’m at a political event — I’d grab some old woman’s ass?” he said. “Why would I grab some old lady’s ass. That’s insane.”

NY Post reported that Lopez-Pierre threatened that unless sponsors Bisnow withdrew, “Our protestors will visit the corporate offices, homes and houses of worship of the speakers and sponsors … and yell that ‘XYZ’ person and/or firm is RACIST and SEXIST, until NYPD Officers arrive and drag them out kicking and screaming (which will be recorded on cellphones for social media),” Lopez-Pierre vowed, according to court papers.

TJV also reported last year: Lopez-Pierre  had to pay back $54,107 of the $99,180 in matching funds the Campaign Finance Board gave him for his failed bid against City Councilman Mark Levine of Manhattan. Lopez-Pierre has also been assessed $6,182 in fines for assorted forms of malfeasance. The panel charged him with a long list of wrongs including: neglecting to report over $12,000 in contributions; failing to cite over $10,000 in transactions; exceeding the $100 limit on individual cash expenditures; using campaign funds for personal use; and making campaign expenditures after the election was already over.

 

Israel’s coronavirus Response Earns international Acclaim

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israel’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been praised by media outlets around the world, says a report by the Foreign Ministry, earning the Jewish state good publicity on a global scale. The report is based on hundreds of analyses compiled by Israeli embassies across the world over the last few weeks.

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in January 2020, “Israel made tough decisions: cancelling flights, closing borders and repatriating foreign nationals, and using mobile phone tracking technologies usually used by the Israeli security services in the fight against terrorism,” says the report. Some media outlets initially felt that Israel’s hard-line policies were an overreaction.

However, once the pandemic spread throughout the Western world, international media began praising Israel’s approach. “In the later phase, Israel became a model for a country that is able to cope with the medical crisis precisely for the same reasons it was criticized before,” says the report. Israel was also praised for its efforts in repatriating its citizens from abroad via rescue flights.

The report states that since most international media are focused on the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been reduced significantly, which benefits Israel’s international reputation. Images of interfaith cooperation, such as the viral photo of Muslim and Orthodox Jewish medics praying side by side, have helped boost international perceptions of Israel.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said to Israel Hayom, “The coronavirus crisis has created an opportunity for the State of Israel to present our tremendous contribution to science and innovation in the world.”

“In terms of media representation, the coronavirus pandemic has been good to Israel,” said Noam Katz, Deputy Director of Public Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry. “International discourse has moved to digital media, where Israel operates no less than 850 channels in different languages, so we had a comfortable starting point. Secondly, the coronavirus has allowed the discourse to focus on Israel’s benefits, both in science and high-tech and in inter-religious relations.”

The Foreign Ministry’s report comes on the heels of rare praise for Israel from the United Nations. During a briefing, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov applauded “the excellent coordination and cooperation that has been established with all Israeli and Palestinian interlocutors,” adding that “Israeli and Palestinian authorities continue to coordinate their responses closely and constructively, a major factor in the containment achieved so far.”

On Twitter, Mladenov’s deputy, Jamie McGoldrick, wrote “I commend the Palestinian and Israeli authorities for their efforts to deal with COVID19 and for the exemplary levels of collaboration. Their close coordination and prompt actions will save lives.”

Confusion Clouds the Forgiveness Terms of PPP Loans

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

by Jared Evan

Small business that received loans from the second round of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program still don’t know how much they may have to repay after the government missed a deadline to give specific guidance, Crain’s reported.

Reuters reported: In principle, the forgiveness terms are straightforward: borrowers must spend 75% of the loan on payroll costs, such as salaries, tips, leave, severance pay and health insurance, within the first two months. The remaining 25% can be spent on other running costs, such as rent and utilities. Money spent on non-qualifying expenses must be repaid at an annual rate of 1% within two years.

There still are issues that need to be clarified. Crain’s reported that companies and lenders say they need more guidance on how to calculate the amount that is eligible for forgiveness and what documentation is required to support the claims.

Reuters pointed out calculating partial forgiveness sums for borrowers who have not met the 75% threshold, tends to be an area of confusion.

As a result, some business owners are holding onto the loans and may even return them, according to interviews with small business groups, lenders and borrowers.

The Paycheck Protection Program was designed as a lifeline for small firms, many of which were shuttered due to stay-at-home orders, have no revenue coming in and may be forced to close for good.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the economy shrank at an annual rate of nearly 5% in the first quarter, with consumer spending dropping 7.6%; the virus began spreading in the U.S. midway through the quarter, according to AP.

Reuters reported on an example: Josh Mason, founder of Maryland catering company Vittles Catering, said his bank only gave him instructions on how to maximize his eligibility for forgiveness on April 24, two days after he received the funds. Those instructions warned clients that the forgiveness process was “not yet clear.”

“I have read all the guidelines, but I wouldn’t be able to say exactly how much will be forgiven and not forgiven. I think that ambiguity is going to create a little bit of a mess when all of this comes to a close,” said Mason.

The U.S. Small Business Administration was supposed to clarify by April 26 how loans it approved as part of the Trump administration’s multitrillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus package can be spent and still qualify to become grants.

The SBA said late Wednesday it had approved more than 960,000 loans totaling nearly $90 billion in this round of funding. Banks have thousands more loans to submit, and many owners are still applying for the relief, AP reported.

 

Social Media Shows Californians Rebelling Against Newsom’s Beach Closures

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
Law-enforcement personnel on horseback keep protesters on the sidewalk during a demonstration on May Day at the pier during the coronavirus pandemic Friday, May 1, 2020, in Huntington Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A day after California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) ordered Orange County beaches to close because of coronavirus, hundreds of protesters flooded the city of Huntington Beach to demonstrate against what many are calling authoritarianism. Last weekend the beaches were packed, resulting on the Governor specific closing of all beaches.
Protests were held Friday and Saturday.

Deadline reported: Crowds in the tens and hundreds maintained social distancing but still managed to get in some beach time, some choosing to merely show up to register disapproval of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order that closed state and local beaches. No arrests or citations were reported, something the Orange County sheriff previously indicated. A large protest group in Huntington Beach was confronted by horseback riding police on Saturday. There was a heavy police presence in the city at the beaches, but less of a crowd and cooler weather seemed to dampen tempers

Orange county has a population of 3.16 million people and thus far 2,600 coronavirus cases and only 52 deaths. These numbers do bolster protesters  arguments against Newsom’s measures. This is going to be a debate we will be seeing for months. Should extreme government regulations be lifted in areas with very low infections and deaths or should the social distancing and quarantining continue regardless of infection numbers in fear of a second and more dangerous wave ?

 

Famous rap star from the 90’s MC Hammer posted

Here are some other scenes at Huntington Beach captured by social media figures.

 

A protest message flew over Sacramento

Communist Chinese Party Responds to Pompeo’s Statements of Evidence Pointing to Wuhan Lab

By
Sholom Schreirber
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. Photo Credit: AP

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there’s “enormous evidence” that the coronavirus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, while agreeing with the intelligence community’s determination that the disease is “not manmade or genetically modified.”

Speaking with ABC‘s “This Week” Sunday, Pompeo said

“Martha, there’s enormous evidence that that’s where this began. We have said from the beginning, this virus originated in Wuhan, China. We took a lot of grief for that from the outset. But I think the whole world can see now. Remember, China has a history of infecting the world and they have a history of running sub-standard laboratories. These aren’t the first times that we have had the world exposed to viruses as a result of failures from a Chinese lab.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the state-owned Global Times responded to Pompeo’s comments, challenging him to present the “enormous evidence” that COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology “to the world.”

This is basically the Chinese Communist Party’s position at this point, being filtered thru their own state run Global Times.

The Global Times has been one of several state-run agencies propagating disinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic through targeted Facebook ads.

 

 

Faced with 20,000 dead, care homes seek shield from lawsuits

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

By BERNARD CONDON, JIM MUSTIAN and JENNIFER PELTZ (AP)

Faced with 20,000 coronavirus deaths and counting, the nation’s nursing homes are pushing back against a potential flood of lawsuits with a sweeping lobbying effort to get states to grant them emergency protection from claims of inadequate care.

At least 15 states have enacted laws or governors’ orders that explicitly or apparently provide nursing homes and long-term care facilities some protection from lawsuits arising from the crisis. And in the case of New York, which leads the nation in deaths in such facilities, a lobbying group wrote the first draft of a measure that apparently makes it the only state with specific protection from both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.

Now the industry is forging ahead with a campaign to get other states on board with a simple argument: This was an unprecedented crisis and nursing homes should not be liable for events beyond their control, such as shortages of protective equipment and testing, shifting directives from authorities, and sicknesses that have decimated staffs.

“As our care providers make these difficult decisions, they need to know they will not be prosecuted or persecuted,” read a letter sent this month from several major hospital and nursing home groups to their next big goal, California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to make a decision. Other states in their sights include Florida, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Watchdogs, patient advocates and lawyers argue that immunity orders are misguided. At a time when the crisis is laying bare such chronic industry problems as staffing shortages and poor infection control, they say legal liability is the last safety net to keep facilities accountable.

They also contend nursing homes are taking advantage of the crisis to protect their bottom lines. Almost 70% of the nation’s more than 15,000 nursing homes are run by for-profit companies, and hundreds have been bought and sold in recent years by private-equity firms.

“What you’re really looking at is an industry that always wanted immunity and now has the opportunity to ask for it under the cloak of saying, ‘Let’s protect our heroes,’” said Mike Dark, an attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

“This has very little to do with the hard work being done by health care providers,” he said, “and everything to do with protecting the financial interests of these big operators.”

Nowhere have the industry’s efforts played out more starkly than in New York, which has a fifth of the nation’s known nursing home and long-term care deaths and has had at least seven facilities with outbreaks of 40 deaths or more, including one home in Manhattan that reported 98.

New York’s immunity law signed by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo was drafted by the Greater New York Hospital Association, an influential lobbying group for both hospitals and nursing homes that donated more than $1 million to the state Democratic Party in 2018 and has pumped more than $7 million into lobbying over the past three years.

While the law covering both hospital and nursing care workers doesn’t cover intentional misconduct, gross negligence and other such acts, it makes clear those exceptions don’t include “decisions resulting from a resource or staffing shortage.”

Cuomo’s administration said the measure was a necessary part of getting the state’s entire health care apparatus to work together to respond to the crisis.

“It was a decision made on the merits to help ensure we had every available resource to save lives,” said Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to Cuomo. “Suggesting any other motivation is simply grotesque.”

Nationally, the lobbying effort is being led by the American Health Care Association, which represents nearly all of the nation’s nursing homes and has spent $23 million on lobbying efforts in the past six years.

Other states that have emergency immunity measures are Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts; Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Their provisions vary but largely apply to injuries, deaths and care decisions, sometimes even to property damage. But there are limitations: Most make exceptions for gross negligence and willful misconduct, and they generally apply only during the emergency.

Toby Edelman of the Center for Medicare Advocacy is troubled that homes are getting legal protections while family members aren’t being allowed to visit and routine government inspections have been scaled back.

“Nobody is looking at what’s happening,” she said, adding that immunity declarations could make even gross or willful negligence suits harder since homes could argue any deficiencies were somehow tied to the pandemic.

“Everything can’t be blamed on COVID-19. Other things can happen that are terrible,” she said. “Just to say we’re in this pandemic so anything goes, that seems too far.”

Among the situations for which lawyers say nursing homes should be held to account: Homes that flouted federal guidelines to screen workers, cut off visitations and end group activities; those that failed to inform residents and relatives of an outbreak; those that disregarded test results; and homes like one in California, where at least a dozen employees did not show up for work for two straight days, prompting residents to be evacuated.

“Just because you have a pandemic doesn’t mean you give a pass on people exercising common sense,” said Dr. Roderick Edmond, an Atlanta lawyer representing families suing over COVID-19 deaths in an assisted-living facility.

“If you take the power of suing away from the families, then anything goes,” said Stella Kazantzas whose husband died in a Massachusetts nursing home with the same owners as the home hit by the nation’s first such outbreak near Seattle, which killed 43 people.

“They already knew in Washington how quickly this would spread,” she said. “They should have taken extreme measures, sensible measures. And they were not taken.”

While the federal government has yet to release numbers on how the coronavirus has ravaged the industry, The Associated Press has been keeping its own tally based on state health departments and media reports, finding 20,058 deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities nationwide.

All the new immunity laws notwithstanding, there is a potential wave of lawsuits coming. Illinois lawyer Steven Levin said he’s received dozens of calls from people considering suing homes over the outbreak. Florida lawyer Michael Brevda said his firm gets 10 to 20 calls a day. And a lawyer in Massachusetts said he’s gotten maybe 70 from families with relatives at homes struck by the virus.

“We’re getting inundated,” said David Hoey, whose practice near Boston has been suing homes for 25 years. “They’re grieving and they’re confused. … ‘My loved one just died from COVID. What can I do?’”

American Health Care Association CEO Mark Parkinson said the notion of lawyers gearing up for lawsuits in the “middle of a battle to save the elderly” is “pathetic” and doesn’t consider the hardships nursing home workers have endured.

“The second-guessing of people after a tragedy, if those people did the best that they could under the circumstances, is just wrong,” said Jim Cobb, the New Orleans attorney who successfully defended nursing home owners charged in the deaths of 35 residents who drowned in Hurricane Katrina.

“There’s a lot to be said for someone acting in good faith in the face of a natural disaster and state of emergency, and they should have criminal immunity.”

___

AP reporter Candice Choi and investigative news researcher Randy Herschaft contributed to this report.

NY Pandemic Update; Cuomo: “You know how you show love? By wearing a mask.”

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
  • New York governor Andrew Cuomo says the number of current Covid-19 hospitalizations statewide has dropped below 10,000 for the first time since mid-March in his daily coronavirus briefing from Albany.
  • The number of new hospitalizations over the last 24-hour period has also fallen to 789, though Cuomo warns this could be an anomaly.
  • Cuomo says 280 people died yesterday, lifting the total death toll to 19,189.
  • “The overall direction is good even though it’s very painful,” Cuomo says.
  • After noting that New York state has spent more than $2 billion on medical equipment this year alone, Cuomo announces the formation of a regional buying consortium with seven neighboring statesto “increase market power and bring down prices” in the pursuit of PPE, ventilators and other medical equipment. The governor says the mutual-aid agreement “will make us more competitive in the international marketplace and I believe it will save taxpayers money”.
  • “I believe this has been transformative for a generation,” he says. “Think about when was the last time government was this vital. I don’t know, maybe in a war? World War II, when government had to mobilize overnight? But literally for decades you haven’t seen government this essential to human life. Literally. And government has to work and it has to work well, and it’s not for the faint of heart. And people want government to perform. And government is making decisions every day that affect their lives and they deserve the best government. They’re paying for it, they deserve it. And they deserve competence and expertise and smarts and for government to be doing creative things and learning like we doing here today.”
  • “An individual’s role is responsibly and intelligently for yourself for your family and for your community,” he says. “You want to honor the healthcare workers and the people who literally gave their lives in some cases for what they did here? Act responsibly. Wear a mask. I know the weather is getting warmer, I know people want to get out of the house. Fine. Wear a mask and socially distance. That is your social responsibility in the middle of this overall pandemic. And when we talk about New Yorkers together and the spirit of unity and how people are helping one another and how tough we are and how smart we are and how disciplined we are and how we love one other? Show it. You know how you show love? By wearing a mask.”

Reade: ‘I Didn’t Use Sexual Harassment’ in Biden Complaint

By
Administrator
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0
Photo Caption - In this April 4, 2019, photo Tara Reade poses for a photo during an interview with The Associated Press in Nevada City, Calif. (AP Photo/Donald Thompson)

By: Alexandra Jaffe, Don Thompson & Stephen Braun

Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment.

“I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable,” Reade said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. “I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.”

Reade told the AP twice that she did not use the phrase “sexual harassment” in filing the complaint, but at other points in the interview said that was the behavior she believed she was describing. She said: “I talked about sexual harassment, retaliation. The main word I used – and I know I didn’t use sexual harassment — I used ‘uncomfortable.’ And I remember ‘retaliation.’”

Reade described the report after the AP discovered additional transcripts and notes from its interviews with Reade last year in which she says she “chickened out” after going to the Senate personnel office. The AP interviewed Reade in 2019 after she accused Biden of uncomfortable and inappropriate touching. She did not raise allegations of sexual assault against Biden until this year, around the time he became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The existence of the Senate report has become a key element of the accusations against Biden, which he has flatly denied. Reade says she doesn’t have a copy of the report, and Biden said Friday that he is not aware that any complaint against him exists. He asked the Senate and the National Archives to search their records to try to locate a complaint from Reade.

But Reade is suggesting that even if the report surfaces, it would not corroborate her assault allegations because she chose not to detail them at the time.

According to a transcript of her 2019 interview with the AP, Reade said: “They have this counseling office or something, and I think I walked in there once, but then I chickened out.” She made a similar statement in a second interview with AP that same day, according to written notes from the interview.

On Friday, Reade said she was referring to having “chickened out” by not filing full harassment or assault allegations against Biden. In multiple interviews with the AP on Friday, Reade insisted she filed an “intake form” at the Senate personnel office, which included her contact information, the office she worked for and some broad details of her issues with Biden.

On Saturday, Reade told the AP there may have been a box to check on the form noting a sexual harassment complaint, but she couldn’t remember and wouldn’t know for sure until she saw the form. Reade also said she canceled a planned television interview with “Fox News Sunday” because of security concerns.

Reade was one of eight women who came forward last year with allegations that Biden made them feel uncomfortable with inappropriate displays of affection. Biden acknowledged the complaints and promised to be “more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.”

During one of the April 2019 interviews with the AP, she said Biden rubbed her shoulders and neck and played with her hair. She said she was asked by an aide in Biden’s Senate office to dress more conservatively and told “don’t be so sexy.”

She said of Biden: “I wasn’t scared of him, that he was going to take me in a room or anything. It wasn’t that kind of vibe.”

The AP reviewed notes of its 2019 interviews with Reade after she came forward in March with allegations of sexual assault against Biden. But reporters discovered an additional transcript and notes from those interviews on Friday.

A recording of one of the interviews was deleted before Reade emerged in 2020 with new allegations against Biden, in keeping with the reporter’s standard practice for disposing of old interviews. A portion of that interview was also recorded on video, but not the part in which she spoke of having “chickened out.”

The AP declined to publish details of the 2019 interviews at the time because reporters were unable to corroborate her allegations, and aspects of her story contradicted other reporting.

In recent weeks, Reade told the AP and other news organizations that Biden sexually assaulted her, pushing her against a wall in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in 1993, groping her and penetrating her with his fingers. She says she was fired from Biden’s office after filing a complaint with the Senate alleging harassment.

The accusation has roiled Biden’s presidential campaign, sparking anxiety among Democrats. Republicans have accused Biden backers of hypocrisy, arguing that they have been quick to believe women who have accused President Donald Trump and other conservatives of assault. Trump has faced multiple accusations of assault and harassment, all of which he denies.

Reade says she was reluctant to share details of the assault during her initial conversations with reporters over a year ago because she was scared of backlash, and was still coming to terms with what happened to her.

Two of Reade’s associates said publicly this past week that Reade had conversations with them that they said corroborated aspects of her allegation. One, a former neighbor, said Reade told her about the alleged assault a few years after Reade said it happened. The other, a former coworker, said Reade told her she had been sexually harassed by her boss during her previous job in Washington. (AP)

 

The AP has also spoken to two additional people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their families’ privacy, who said Reade had told them about aspects of her allegations against Biden years ago.

One friend, who knew Reade in 1993, said Reade told them about the alleged assault when it happened. The second friend met Reade more than a decade after the alleged incident and confirmed that Reade had a conversation with the friend in 2007 or 2008 about experiencing sexual harassment from Biden while working in his Senate office.

 

NYC COVID-19 Community and Ethnic Media Update – A Round Table Discussion with Bitta Mostofi,  Dr. Oxiris Barbot & Dr. Andrew Wallach

By
Administrator
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2
Department of Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot

Edited by: JV Staff

Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Bitta Mostofi, Department of Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot, and NYC Health and Hospitals Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer Dr. Andrew Wallach hosted a Community and Ethnic Media virtual round table on Friday, May 1st on COVID-19 testing updates. 

 

We’re committed to providing information, resources and guidance to ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status and especially those living in heavily impacted areas, have access to quality care including testing for COVID-19.

 

Important Messages from Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bitta Mostofi

 

In honor of May Day, sometimes referred to as International Workers’ Day, we recognize the perseverance and resiliency of all essential workers in New York City.

  • Immigrants comprise half of the city’s essential workers—representing 53 percent of the city’s healthcare workers, 70 percent of cleaning service professionals and 53 percent of all food and drug store labor. 
  • A reminder: Anyone who works in our city—regardless of immigration status, national origin, or country of origin—has rights. 

 

Seek Care Without Fear: In New York City healthcare is a right to all who call our city home, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. If you need help finding a doctor or getting medical care, call 311.

  • New York City public hospitals and clinics have strong privacy protections, do not collect information about immigration status, and do not share patient information with anyone or any organization—unless authorized by the patient. 
    • As is already their policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said that it does not carry out operations at or near health care facilities. Individuals should NOT avoid seeking medical care because they fear immigration enforcement.
  • Seeking care and getting testing or treatment related to COVID-19 will NOT impact your immigration status or ability to apply for a green card or citizenship.
    • New York City residents who have questions about how accessing certain public benefits may affect immigration status, can call the free, confidential ActionNYC hotline, Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 1-800-354-0365 to access timely and trusted information and connections to legal help.

 

Support for NYC Small Businesses Owners and Nonprofits

  • Federal government expanded its loan programs with an additional $310 billion.
  • Loans available on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Small business owners and nonprofits can apply for up to $10 million through the Paycheck Protection Program at SBA.gov or click here for Spanish. 
  • Upcoming webinars from NYC Small Business Services to help business owners:
    • May 4 at 12PM: Assistance Overview for NYC Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19: bit.ly/SBSCOVID54
    • May 5 at 5:30PM:Assistance Overview for NYC Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19: bit.ly/SBSCOVID55 
    • May 5 at 6PM: COVID-19: Programas de Ayuda Económica para Empresarias: bit.ly/WENYCSeminario
    • May 6 at 9:30AM: Assistance Overview for NYC Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19 bit.ly/SBSCOVID56 
  • Sign up for COVID-19 Emergency Financing Assistance from NYC Small Business Services: bit.ly/NYCSBSCounseling
  • For more information, visit nyc.gov/COVID19Biz or call 311
  • WATCH: This week, Yemeni American Merchants Association hosted a Virtual Town Hall on City resources for immigrant business owners with MOIA Commissioner Mostofi, NYC Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop, and Dr. Debbi Almontaser.

 

City Distributing Free Face Coverings

  • 100,000 face coverings will be distributed, starting this week, free of charge. 
  • Visit nyc.gov/FaceCoverings for locations and times.
  • Over 1,000 full-time city workers will be assigned to patrol parks and public spaces to ensure social distancing guidance is understood and followed.
    • City enforcement officers do not ask about immigration status.
  • View this message in multiple languages. 

 

Starting May 6: MTA will Stop Service Daily from 1 am to 5 am to Disinfect Trains

  • Alternate transportation such as bus service, for-hire vehicles, or “compliant” dollar vans will be provided to essential workers who need to commute during those times, at no cost.
  • The Metro North and Long Island Railroad will also receive cleaning, but service will continue as usual.

 

Citi Bike Expansion

  • Over 100 new Citi Bike stations, including those serving workers near the Lincoln and Harlem hospitals, will be added in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. 
  • The Critical Workforce Membership program will be extended, providing one year of free Citi Bike membership to essential workers.
  • Over 5,500 employees enrolled this month. 

 

NYC Taxi is hiring for delivery work!

  • Through the TLC Driver Food Delivery program, TLC drivers will now be paid $53 per route, rather than hourly ($40 base pay + $13 for expenses), when delivering meals to New Yorkers in need.
  • Drivers can use personal cars and complete multiple routes. This change helps drivers make more money. 
  • Sign up at nyc.gov/deliverytlc or share on Twitter in multiple languages. 

 

Temporary Jobs

 

Community Testing Update 

  • COVID-19 tests are provided on a walk-in basis, at no cost to the patient, and with a priority for those over the age of 65 and those with pre-existing conditions that put them at risk for serious illness.
  • New York City has opened community testing sites in all five boroughs. 
  • NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) is currently operating free walk-in COVID-19 nasal swab testing sites through Gotham Health clinics, including 3 as part of NYCHA developments.

 

Do NOT ingest or inject Lysol or any other disinfectant as a treatment for COVID-19

 

Mental Health Resources

  • NYC H+H Helping Healers Heal Program
    • 24/7 Behavioral health helpline for H+H staff at 646-815-4150
    • 1-on-1, peer and group support, wellness rounds at all facilities
  • FDNY: Gold Standard Counseling Services Unit, among the best in U.S. for first responders
    • Counselors are available by phone 24/7 at 212-570-1693

 

Open Streets: First streets to open Saturday!

  • 4.5 Miles inside parks to ease crowding will open Saturday in Fort Tryon Park, Callahan-Kelly Park, Flushing Meadows, Grant Park, Forest Park, Silver Lake Park.
  • 2.7 Miles will open Saturday adjacent to Williamsbridge Oval, Prospect Park, Court Square, Stapleton Waterfront Park, Carl Schurz Park, Lt. Willian Tighe Triangle, Highbridge Park
  • At least 40 miles of street closures, widened sidewalks, and additional bike lanes over the next month, will provide New Yorkers with more space to exercise and move, while social distancing. 
    • Open streets will only be in effect for the duration of “NY PAUSE,” with the exception of bike lanes. 

 

Alternate Side Parking Suspended

  • Suspension extended through May 12.

 

New Safe Havens

  • 200 Safe Haven beds will begin to open this week.
    • Builds on the Mayor’s commitment to supporting vulnerable New Yorkers through the COVID-19 crisis.  
    • Safe Haven and stabilization beds provide safe, secure spaces for unsheltered New Yorkers, and connect them with the resources and support they need to find a lasting path to stability. 
    • Beds will be prioritized for the most vulnerable, unsheltered New Yorkers living on the streets and subways, with locations strategically placed in areas where outreach teams have experienced activity and determined need. 

 

Online Marriage Licenses

  • The marriage license process will be available online starting next week.
    • The site will be available in 11 languages and Language Line will be available to provide on-demand translation to any couple in need of translation services.

 

New City Task Forces 

  • A new task force on racial inclusion and equity, comprised of officials from across the Administration, will:
    • Engage hardest-hit communities.
    • Monitor response and recovery efforts in those neighborhoods.
    • Identify unique needs associated with Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) and community health care providers.
    • Work with City officials and agencies to narrow long-standing racial and economic disparities. 
  • This racial inclusion and equity task force, led by First Lady McCray and Deputy Mayor Thompson, will focus both on the immediate needs of these communities and shape a longer term strategy to close the gaps that have been exacerbated during this crisis. 
  • Civic leaders, via a Fair Recovery Task Force, will help the City formulate a broader post-crisis recovery effort that builds a stronger, safer, and fairer economy and society. 
  • Starting in June, the Fair Recovery Task Force will put forward a recovery road map that will inform the City’s recovery efforts. 

 

Updates from the NYC Department of Education (DOE)

 

Adjusted K-12 Citywide Grading Policy 

  • A new grading policy will maintain a high bar for student achievement, give flexibility to families and students grappling with the COVID-19 crisis, and provide targeted support to students who have fallen behind.
  • The new grading policy for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year is effective immediately.
  • View more information about the grading policy or view translated information.

 

Update on iPad Distribution and Support to Students 

  • NYC public schools will continue academic instruction through Remote Learning for the rest of the school year and students in need of a device may borrow internet-enabled iPads.
  • To request a device, families should call DOE at 718-935-5100 and choose Option 5 on the menu or fill out the Remote Learning Device Request form at coronavirus.schools.nyc/RemoteLearningDevices. The contact information provided on the form will be used to reach out to the family to schedule delivery of the device.
  • Everyone who fills out a request form online, with a staff member, or over the phone, will be sent follow up emails and texts. 
    • Priority will be given to students most in need.
    • All devices are granted on a temporary basis and will later need to be returned.
    • There is a limit of one device per student. 
    • You must fill out a separate form for each student who needs a device.
    • Make sure you agree to the Terms of Use in the request form. 
    • There is no need to call the DOE or 311 to check on the status of the device.

 

Additional Resources and Multilingual Materials

 

Translated COVID-19 Social Media Graphics Available

∙         Visit nyc.gov/immigrants/coronavirus to view, download, and share translated COVID-19 social media graphics. 

 

“We Speak, We LEAD”: Free Online Professional Development for Immigrant Women

  • We Speak NYC and New Women New Yorkers have teamed up to launch  “We Speak, We LEAD,” a free online workforce development and professional English language learning program for immigrant women.
  • This free series of 10 interactive job readiness workshops supports and prepares participants for entry into the NYC workforce or to pursue higher education, and helps them improve their professional English and gain confidence.
  • Register now for the pilot program. An information session is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12 from 3-5pm, and the program runs from May 19 until June 23.

 

 

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