Gotham Gazette

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coronavirus

coronavirus

  • The $2.1 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill - What’s In, What’s Not, What’s Next?

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    Federal aid to New York is coming, but how much (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)


    On Friday, the president signed into law The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The $2.1 trillion CARES Act provides significant support for people, states, the health care system, small businesses, and yes, big businesses too. 
     
    The historic legislation ...

  • As Thousands of New Yorkers Face Illness and Death, the Governor Must Suspend Two-Witness Rule for Wills and Other Key Documents

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    A Cuomo executive order (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Death is all around us and forcing New Yorkers, regardless of age, ability, or immigration status to confront our vulnerability and mortality. 

    Among the “acts” in a recent “This American Life” episode, writer/daughter Jiayang Fan in a “A View from the Park,” spoke of her fear and trauma at no longer being able to visit her mother in a nursing

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  • To Save Our Safety Net, Continue the Regional Coronavirus Approach

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    Gov. Cuomo with neighboring governors (photo: Governor's Office)


    Tri-state governors have coordinated to close bars. Now they must coordinate to close tax loopholes.

    Governor Cuomo has gotten a lot right in addressing the COVID-19 health crisis in the past few weeks. But at the state budget deadline, he has been far too willing to shred the social safety net that millions of New Yorkers rely on, and so many more will need as the economic crisis worsens.

    One thing he got right could

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  • The City is Committed to Protecting Your Privacy During the Coronavirus Crisis

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    Taking coronavirus calls at 311 (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Your personal information is just that: personal. Even during a pandemic, it’s important that we make sure that New Yorkers’ privacy is protected to the maximum extent possible, both during the emergency and in anticipation of the aftermath once the pandemic resolves.

    As New York City’s Chief Privacy Officer (CPO), I am dedicated to protecting New Yorkers’ privacy. I lead a team of dedicated lawyers who staff the Mayor’s Office of Information Privacy and work year-round to safeguard

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: City's Hunger Crisis Exacerbated by Coronavirus Fallout

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    Meal handouts from school during coronavirus (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    April 1, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Hunger and the Coronavirus Crisis

    joel berg 150Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, joined the show to discuss the city's hunger and food insecurity crisis, which is becoming exponentially worse due to the coronavirus outbreak and its fallout. Berg discussed the

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza on the City's Shift to Remote Learning

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    Chancellor Carranza and Mayor de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    April 1, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza on the City's Shift to Remote Learning

    wbai robert carranzaNew York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza joined the show to discuss the city's shift to remote learning amid the coronavirus crisis.

    Listen to the

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  • It’s More Important Than Ever for the City to Take Care of Those Who Care for the Most Vulnerable New Yorkers

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    Council Member Helen Rosenthal, the author (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    To address the coronavirus crisis and save lives, New York City government and New Yorkers are mobilizing in ways never seen before. The City swiftly sent an unprecedented message to our human services sector -- the 250,000-plus employees who provide housing access, child and elder care, shelters, emergency food relief, mental health counseling, and disaster response. These workers -- traditionally undervalued, underpaid, and unappreciated -- were told that

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  • Expanding Construction Prevailing Wage Mandates Would Worsen Our Economic Crisis

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    Construction and the coronavirus recession provoke key questions (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


    As the coronavirus crisis continues to hit New York harder than any other state in the nation, Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Heastie have undoubtedly answered the call and stepped up in a big way to protect New Yorkers and address statewide needs.

    But as they consider ongoing negotiations over the state budget – amid a partial shutdown of New York’s massive construction industry – state

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  • How to Craft the Bare Bones State Budget New York Needs

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    Gov. Cuomo and the Legislature must budget thoughtfully (photo: Governor's Office, 2011)


    This week the New York State Legislature is supposed to adopt a budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year that begins Wednesday, April 1. Legislators are facing an unparalleled challenge: the coronavirus has caused the bottom to very suddenly fall out of the state’s economy and therefore, its revenue. Without restaurants and stores open, there can be very little sales tax collected; hundreds of thousands of employees laid off means no personal income tax

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  • Shut Down the Subway – and Fix It

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    Gov. Cuomo should close the subways, the author writes (photo: Governor's Office)


    New York City is the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the United States. State and city authorities are pleading with residents to stay home, shelter in place, and maintain distance from fellow New Yorkers to slow the wave of cases crashing into the city’s healthcare facilities.

    Yet, public transportation was running on the standard weekday schedule as of Monday morning. With subway ridership down ridership down 87%, the...

  • State Budget Negotiations are Focused on the Wrong Priorities; We Need an Emergency Coronavirus Package

    Robert Carroll State Assembly

    Assemblymember Carroll, the author (photo: New York State Assembly)


    In a few days the New York State Legislature will pass a new state budget. In a normal year, this is the most consequential task the Legislature does. In a crisis year, it may be the last thing we do.

    What we do now could help New Yorkers weather the storm. Unfortunately the discussions we are having, which are few, are emphasizing the wrong issues.

    To understand New York’s politics, one must understand that New York’s budget is not just dollars and cents, but also a

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  • Mayor and Council Speaker Differ on Creating Open Space, Enforcing Social Distancing Amid Coronavirus Shutdown

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    Mayor & Speaker at a coronavirus briefing (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday gave New York City officials a 24-hour deadline to provide plans for enforcing social distancing in public spaces as the coronavirus continues to rage through the city and the governor said there was too much group activity in the five boroughs under his “pause” orders. Mayor Bill de Blasio has since announced some of the measures his administration is taking but his approach differs from what the New York City Council under Speaker Corey

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  • Looking Ahead to a New New York

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    New York must take learn key leassons as it moves ahead (Photo: Spencer T Tucker/Mayor's Office)


    Though it feels like an eternity, it was only about a year ago that Amazon walked away from plans to build a second headquarters in Long Island City. The online juggernaut was scared out of town by a short-sighted public debate that centered on legitimate concerns about gentrification and displacement but underplayed future-looking arguments about economic growth. At the time ...

  • Elected Leaders Must Do Everything They Can to Limit Coronavirus Spread Among the Most Vulnerable — Including Shrinking Incarcerated Populations and No Bail Rollback

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    Gov. Cuomo visits a correctional facility (photo: governor's office)


    Last week, the inevitable happened: the first cases of COVID-19 in Rikers Island jails and upstate prisons were confirmed.

    We are on the precipice of a public health catastrophe in New York’s jails, prisons, and communities most impacted by mass criminalization and incarceration. COVID-19 can spread like wildfire through the state’s jails and prisons, where social distancing is all but impossible.

    Much of this is preventable.

    Right now, access to the basics, like soap and water, is

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  • Coronavirus Laid Bare the Gap in Health Care Coverage for NY and NJ Airport Workers; Let’s Close It Right Away

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    32BJ SEIU workers rally for job protections (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that there are a host of vital service jobs that are essential to keeping people safe under extreme conditions. Among them are the workers at our nation’s airports, who have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak from the start.

    Reports of possible infections at John F. Kennedy International Airport and other hubs are increasing. Many of the 40,000 airport workers in the New York area are members of my union,

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: The City's Developing Public Health Response to Coronavirus

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    Council Member Levine gets a flu shot (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    March 25, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The City's Developing Public Health Response to Coronavirus

    mark levinewbai150City Council Member Mark Levine, chair of the Council's health committee, joined the show to discuss the city's developing response to the coronavirus outbreak.

    Listen to the

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Remote Learning Begins for the City's 1 Million Students

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    Students at laptops (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    March 25, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Remote Learning Begins for the City's 1 Million Students

    The coronavirus outbreak led Mayor Bill de Blasio to close the city's schools and direct the Department of Education to shift to "remote learning" for its 1 million-plus students. Alex Zimmerman, an education reporter from from Chalkbeat NY, joined the show to discuss the shift to remote learning, how it's gone in its first days, and the larger picture for the

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  • Lessons from 9/11: A Needed Piece of the Coronavirus Recovery Plan

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    emergency supplies at a local firehouse (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


    As the city and state are on pause and most people are shut in, many (including me) are stunned and anguished about the sudden shutdown of the city’s economy. Restaurants, bars, and personal services are the grout that holds our neighborhoods together. We are heartbroken about all the waiters, cooks, bartenders, manicurists, personal trainers, and others who are now unemployed; many of these people who give character to our lives are now in dire financial straits. The same is true for

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  • Our Patients Need Medically-Appropriate Shelter, During Coronavirus Outbreak and Always

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    (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    What happens when a historic pandemic collides with an unprecedented housing crisis? The inextricable link between housing and health is now more apparent than ever as doctors both care for critically ill patients with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and simultaneously scramble to make plans for the most vulnerable in our society who simply have no place to isolate.

    Only a few weeks into this crisis, we have seen numerous patients recuperating from COVID-19 who linger for days in the hospital because of their need for

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  • Poll: New Yorkers Financially Strained by Coronavirus, Approve Governor's Response More Than Mayor’s

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    (photo: Don Pollard/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


    As New Yorkers find themselves at the country’s epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, a majority of them are worried that they do not have the financial resources to survive if the current situation lasts more than a few months, according to a new poll. And in this time of uncertainty and anxiety, the poll found that more New Yorkers are looking to Governor Andrew Cuomo to shepherd them out of the crisis than Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

    The poll, of 807 registered New York City voters, was

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  • Coronavirus and Cycling: Bike-Riding Surge Leads to Calls for Better Infrastructure, More Open Space

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    Coronavirus has created a new cycling world (photo: NYC Department of Transportation)


    New York City has seen a spike in cycling since the beginning of the confirmed coronavirus outbreak here. With most New Yorkers staying off the subway to avoid the spread of the virus, some have sought new ways of getting around, whether to their jobs (before and, for fewer commuters, since the near-shutdown order from the governor) or to make essential trips for groceries or exercise. And there are, of course, those who use bikes for their work, with food delivery expected to spike

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  • The State Legislature in a State of Emergency

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    A near-empty chamber conducts Senate business (photo: NY Senate Media Services)


    As New York has become the country’s epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo has stepped onto the national stage as New York's (and the region's) captain, coordinating the state's response to the outbreak with a profusion of executive orders and fireside chats from the State Capitol, streamed daily and with PowerPoint.

    The governor has signed 11 executive orders, suspending dozens of laws, as he, his top aides, and public health officials

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  • De Blasio Names 'Food Czar' to Combat Impending Hunger Crisis with 'Mobilization We've Never Seen Before'

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    Mayor de Blasio serves food (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    As the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has spread in New York, people have begun buying food off the shelves of local supermarkets to prepare for prolonged periods of isolation in the face of the virus. Public schools and senior centers are closing, many of which provide vulnerable New York City residents with food and meals, and tens of thousands of people appear to have already been laid off from their jobs, all leaving New Yorkers increasingly worried about food

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  • As They Issue Dire Shortage Warnings, Neither State Nor City Has Plan for Ventilator Triage

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    Gov. Cuomo gives dire warnings about hospital capacity (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    City and state officials have been saying for over a week that as the spread of coronavirus continues New York's hospitals will not be able to provide life-saving treatment for everyone who needs it. One of the most immediate needs is ventilators, which are required to save the most critical COVID-19 patients and are already in short supply in New York City hospitals. With the note of alarm reaching a fever pitch in recent days, public health officials have not made

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  • Open City Streets to Promote Social Distancing and Public Health

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    Car free day 2019 (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    The COVID-19 pandemic is posing an unprecedented challenge to New Yorkers. As we face this surreal moment together, we are also learning what it means to practice “social distancing” — and, inevitably, it has not gone perfectly. Case in point: we have taken to city parks in astonishing numbers, creating crowds and density that risk spreading the very virus we’re trying to fight.

    Is it possible for New Yorkers to maintain a safe distance and “...