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Queens Borough President Special Election Set To Go On Despite Coronavirus


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(photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office)


As more cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, are confirmed in New York, including a rising number of people testing positive in New York City, neither Governor Andrew Cuomo nor Mayor Bill de Blasio seems inclined to reschedule elections that are on the horizon.

Each the governor and the mayor has declared a state of emergency for their jurisdiction and, along with other officials, put a number of restrictions in place to try to limit the spread of the virus. CUNY and SUNY are set to suspend in-person classes; New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been postponed for the first time ever; most gatherings of 500 or more people have been banned; and businesses are being urged to have as many employees as possible work from home.

But the imminent special election for Queens Borough President will go on as planned, it seems, with eight days of early voting set to begin on Saturday, and election day of March 24 just beyond. Even as several candidates have announced plans to suspend in-person campaigning, like door-knocking and subway stop hand-shaking, de Blasio said Thursday that he believes it is important for democracy to forge ahead.

“There's been concern about the special election scheduled for March 24th for borough president of Queens,” the mayor said at a City Hall coronavirus press briefing. “We are analyzing those concerns but I want to be very, very clear that election will continue as scheduled. We are dealing with an unprecedented challenge, but I think it is a signature of a stable democracy that elections happen when scheduled.”

He continued: “So, we very much want that election to happen on time so long as we believe it can happen effectively. However, want to urge all candidates and campaigns to alter their activity. Right now, we're reaching out to each campaign specifically – believe that door-to-door canvassing should be stopped immediately.” The mayor added that “campaigns have many, many ways to still be effective without door-to-door canvassing or rallies. Clearly, phone-banking social media, email updates, digital ads, TV ads, radio ads – there are many, many ways, including some of the most effective ways to get the message out.”

“We have a lot to sort out of course about making the voting process as safe and effective as possible,” he added. “But I do want to say, particularly with early voting, the voting process is being spread out. So, it's almost its own version of social distancing.”

“[P]reserving our democracy is crucial,” the mayor reiterated in closing.

The election is to fill a vacancy created when Melinda Katz was sworn in as the borough’s District Attorney in January. Early voting for the borough president special election -- which is open to all registered voters in Queens, regardless of party affiliation -- begins this Saturday at 18 locations across the borough, including sites such as LaGuardia Community College, the Queens Library at Jackson Heights, and the Museum of the Moving Image.

The candidates including City Council Members Donovan Richards and Costa Constantinides; former Council Member Elizabeth Crowley; Jim Quinn; Anthony Miranda; and Dao Yin (Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer will also appear on the ballot, but he dropped out of the race).

There is precedent for postponing an election in times of emergency. The September 11, 2001 terror attack happened the same day of that year’s primary election for New York City mayor and other offices, prompting Governor George Pataki to issue an executive order that suspended elections across the state. The polls had already been open for hours and all votes that had been cast were voided. The primary was eventually rescheduled for two weeks later.

The New York City Board of Elections has been silent on what, if any, preparations it has made to deal with the fear of coronavirus at early voting sites. Emails and text messages to a BOE spokesperson went unanswered.

At a media briefing on Wednesday de Blasio said, “I am really, really hesitant to change an election, ever, for anything. I think it's a very dangerous thing to do in a democracy. So, we'll look at it, but I would say, you know, we'll give it a very careful look. We'll talk to health care experts, we'll consider the dynamics. But right now, it is not my intention to change an existing election.”

Special elections tend to have low turnout and crowds may be particularly spread out with early voting. But next month, New York will hold its presidential primary on April 28, when millions are expected to go to the polls.

Governor Andrew Cuomo would have the power to postpone both elections but has indicated no plans to do so. Asked at a news conference about whether he had considered expanding absentee voting, he said on Thursday, “No, no. Not at this time.”

He was also asked if he would use his executive authority to cut the number of petition signatures that candidates need to get on the ballot. “We’ve had no discussion about that at this time,” he replied.

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a Bronx Democrat, introduced a bill earlier this week that would allow absentee voting in the case of a public health risk – currently, state law only allows absentee ballots for people who may not be in the district on election day, cannot vote because of an illness or disability, are either a resident or patient in a veterans health administration hospital, or are detained in jail.

“There are many older New Yorkers and those with underlying health conditions in my district who are at a heightened risk from the virus – they should not have to choose between safeguarding their own health and fulfilling their civic duty,” Biaggi said in a statement. “Nor should New Yorkers who are in quarantine be denied their right to participate on Election Day. While I hope that the current public health crisis will have calmed by the April and June primary elections, we must prepare for all scenarios, and act now to ensure that every New Yorker can safely vote in our upcoming primary elections.”

At least in one county, voters may be able to cite coronavirus as a reason to ask for an absentee ballot. The Erie County Board of Elections announced on Wednesday that it had added a public health emergency as an excuse for absentee voting for the April 28 primary, which is what Biaggi’s bill would accomplish across the state.

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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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Max & Murphy Podcast: Breaking Down the Queens Borough President Special Election


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Queens is the world's borough - and there'll soon be a new borough president (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


March 11, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Breaking Down the Queens Borough President Special Election

chrisy chung david f brand 150There's a Queens Borough President special election fast approaching! Early voting starts Saturday, March 14, and election day is Tuesday, March 24. It's a crowded, competitive race to replace Melinda Katz, now the District Attorney, and all registered voters can participate. David Brand of the Queens Daily Eagle and Christine Chung of The City joined the show to discuss the race, the candidates, the forces like coronavirus impacting who might show up to vote, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts, under "Max & Murphy," and listen to Max & Murphy live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WBAI radio, 99.5FM or wbai.org.

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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
     

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Spread of Coronavirus Heightens Concerns About Especially Vulnerable Seniors


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Department for the Aging Commissioner Cortés-Vázquez (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


“We’re going to protect our senior centers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday during his latest briefing on the spread of the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, adding that city health department officials are visiting all of the city’s 600 such centers to ensure proper protocols amid the virus outbreak that has now led to 20 confirmed cases in the city, with more expected.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), older adults are at higher risk for contracting the new coronavirus that is spreading across the globe and here in New York City, and “early data suggest older people are twice as likely to have serious COVID-19 illness.”

During his Sunday briefing on the new coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo also again stressed that seniors are among the most vulnerable populations to COVID-19. “Most people have mild symptoms, most people don't get hospitalized,” Cuomo said. “The dangerous aspect again is people in that vulnerable population -- senior citizens, the elderly, et cetera. So we are trying to contain it.”

Also on Sunday, the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, pointed to the additionally dangerous combination of age and underlying conditions. “We want to make sure that elderly folks who have chronic underlying illnesses, we do everything that we can together as a community not to increase their risk,” Barbot said alongside the mayor. The underlying conditions that have been identified to exacerbate the risk of coronavirus are chronic lung disease, cancer, diabetes, immuno-compromised, heart disease.

“As our senior New Yorkers, as you've heard today, are especially vulnerable to the effects of this virus, we are also working very closely with the Department for the Aging and our other human service partners to ensure our senior centers, adult care centers, nursing homes, receive up to date guidance on how to limit the spread of the disease,” said Deanne Criswell, head of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, also during Sunday’s press conference on how the city is trying to contain and combat the new coronavirus.

Amid rising worries about older New Yorkers and senior care facilities, on Friday the New York City Council’s Committee on Aging held a regularly-scheduled budget hearing with representatives of the city’s Department for the Aging (DFTA) where coronavirus concerns were front and center in the discussion. It was one in an ongoing series of hearings on de Blasio’s $95.3 billion preliminary budget plan that the Council is holding over the course of weeks, with some taking on new importance relative to the spread of coronavirus and its impact, which could include undermining revenue sources for the city’s budget while creating new city government expenses.

City government is developing a plan to try and ensure New York City’s seniors stay healthy as the coronavirus concerns continue, although no additional funding has been requested by DFTA to provide further protections.

DFTA currently has a $434 million budget and oversees “230 neighborhood senior centers, 16 innovative senior centers, and 39 sites affiliated with senior centers” across the city and has 1,393 contracts with agency providers to deliver services, according to budget documents.

DFTA Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, along with the department’s chief financial officer, Jose Mercado, outlined the agency’s work and budget, and responded to questions from Council members, especially Margaret Chin, a Manhattan Democrat who is chair of the Council Committee on Aging and whose lower Manhattan district includes several senior centers.

Cortés-Vázquez was asked multiple times by Council Member Ruben Diaz, Sr. if DFTA is asking for or plans to ask for any additional funding to address coronavirus.

“I have the utmost confidence that the mayor is going to do all he can and has made it very clear that this is a priority and that resources will be made available to combat this disease,” Cortés-Vázquez responded.

Pressed further by Diaz Sr. about limited testing for coronavirus and what DFTA is going to do if the virus begins to enter senior centers.

“Our Department of Health and our commissioner of health has been having tabletop meetings on a daily basis with the mayor around this same issue,” Cortés-Vázquez said. “We have the utmost confidence that this administration and this health commissioner made all the provisions necessary if it were to reach that level. It has not reached that level and we do not want to cause chaos or alarm in our senior centers or in the population as a whole.”

Council Member Chin brought the mayor's plan to have city workers visit senior centers to the attention of Cortés-Vázquez, who then provided further information on the plan.

“We have been given incredible amounts of guidance and information,” Cortés-Vázquez said. “The mayor wanted to ensure the information was being implemented, so we have an emergency plan that we have devised that involves DFTA staff as well as additional staff to visit the congregate sites throughout the city precisely to ensure they are posting the information, that the information is being distributed to the consumer population and the population staff is responsible for; to ensure that the professionals have the guidance to know what to do should any incident occur and also to inform the staff, the non-medical staff, know what the protocols are. It’s a widespread effort to ensure everyone is taking the proper precautions and using the guidance that has been distributed to them.”

Cortés-Vázquez said the effort will reach over 600 senior centers, including those not funded by DFTA.

“To ensure that older New Yorkers are staying informed about coronavirus, starting today, DFTA staff will be visiting over 600 congregate sites to check that Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) COVID-19 informational fliers are on display and share DOHMH resources,” said Suzanne Myklebust, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for DFTA, in a Friday email to Gotham Gazette just after the hearing, answering follow-up questions.

“DFTA is working closely with its partners to distribute information and guidance on coronavirus. As a preventative measure against the spread of COVID-19, we have asked providers to continue to follow standard cleaning protocols and be extra diligent in their disinfecting practices,” Myklebust said.

Council Member Mark Treyger, a Brooklyn Democrat, also inquired about DFTA’s preparedness for the spread of coronavirus, citing the example of the city Department of Education asking for additional funding to provide the resources to deep clean the city’s schools and to contract with more nurses so that every school building has at least one nurse.

“My concern is that if we don’t have a health care professional at the front end and proactively helping the population, the worst thing that can happen is that seniors end up in emergency rooms and hospitals which are very dangerous because of the spread of other very serious diseases and can really compromise their health. I think it is wise for us to proactively provide health care professionals,” Treyger said.

Cortés-Vázquez responded that providers have enough resources and to the best of her knowledge no senior service providers have asked for additional funding. She also emphasized that this is an ongoing conversation in conjunction with the Department of Health and the Mayor’s Office, and that maintenance and sanitary conditions are always a priority given that senior centers provide meals, so it is not a new area of concern.

DFTA congregate sites also have a procedure if seniors begin to show symptoms or are found to have the virus.

“If a senior center member displays symptoms of sickness while at that center, senior center staff has been instructed to immediately restrict the movement of that person within the facility, by isolating the suspected case and minimizing interaction with staff and other members, and from leaving the facility,” Myklebust said by email. “The senior center staff should then call 311 to contact the nearest healthcare provider who can provide additional guidance. If an individual is found to be confirmed for COVID-19 infection, the individual should follow the recommendations of healthcare professionals and refrain from visiting any congregate sites altogether.”

Some emergency action was triggered when it was learned that a health care worker who has tested positive for coronavirus had been in contact with residents of a nursing home in southern Brooklyn.

Brooklyn City Council Member Justin Brannan tweeted on Sunday an update that the healthcare worker, who lives in New Jersey but works at King David Nursing Home, had come into contact with eight residents of the home, but that none of them were showing as symptomatic of COVID-19. Each family has also been notified, Brannan said.

At Mayor de Blasio’s press conference on Sunday, he was asked about the King David Nursing Home case, and Commissioner Barbot responded that each of the individuals who were exposed “are all in private rooms and being monitored daily. So they're in the appropriate level of isolation.” De Blasio also added that all were asymptomatic.

Also Discussed at the Hearing
Other topics that were brought up during the budget hearing with DFTA representatives included increased funding for the home delivered meals program, and what DFTA is going to do about the growing waitlist for homecare and case management.

The Council committee report in response to DFTA’s preliminary budget highlighted that there has been “persistent over-serving against the home-delivered meals target,” which presents higher demand than has been accounted for. Council members raised concerns about this in addition to rising food costs, advocating for higher funding for home delivered meals to preemptively address the concern so they can meet demand.

Cortés-Vázquez said of the home delivered meals that they will consider budgetary changes to address rising food prices, and said that saying there’s a waitlist for home delivered meals is misleading.

“We triage it and those with the greatest needs get priority. Everyone gets a phone assessment so we can assess. If someone needs a meal, that meal gets turned on immediately. So it is not a waitlist in a traditional way you think of a waitlist. Is it a problem, is the need growing? Absolutely. But it is not a problem that is not being managed,” Cortés-Vázquez said.  

Cortés-Vázquez emphasized multiple times during the hearing that combating social isolation and geriatric mental health, and confronting ageism as a whole are also priorities for DFTA.

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by Katie Kirker, Gotham Gazette

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