Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

coronavirus

coronavirus

  • The Coronavirus Crisis Demands a Federal Emergency Housing Response

    myabdb

    Keeping people in their homes is of the essence, the author writes (photo Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office


    The federal response to the economic crisis just over a decade ago swiftly bailed out banks and other financial institutions, but left far too many struggling families in the lurch. It was too little, too late. This was devastatingly true for black families, whose home-ownership rates dropped from 50% to 42%, representing an enormous loss of generational wealth.

    We must respond differently this time to ensure that homeowners hold onto their homes and apartment building

    ...
  • New York Mass Transit System on Verge of Going Broke, Needs Bailout Quickly

    mta subway vintage

    Subway ridership has plunged during the coronavirus outbreak (photo: Marc A. Hermann/MTA NYCT)


    Patrick Foye, the chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and therefore the leader of the city’s subway and bus systems, sent a letter to the local Congressional delegation on March 17 stating that the MTA faced financial calamity and seeking $4 billion in federal aid.

    The MTA’s

    ...
  • Rolling Back Bail Reform Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Would Be Additionally Irresponsible

    sochie bail reform

    Sochie Nnaemeka, the author (photo: @sochiesays)


    In moments of crisis, we see what our leaders value. Over the past week, coronavirus has spread to Rikers Island. Our state should be focused on keeping detained New Yorkers and correctional workers safe and healthy. Instead, elected officials may roll back bail reforms in response to fear-mongering by opponents of the new law. If our leaders in Albany choose to reduce the number of people eligible to await their trial from home, the jail population could grow during a dangerous pandemic. We must put human safety over

    ...
  • Coronavirus Fallout Raises Concerns About Domestic Violence Increase, Survivor Services

    city hall domestic violence awareness

    City Hall lit up purple for domestic violence awareness (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    As New Yorkers shelter at home to avoid exposure to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has put the city largely at a standstill, concerns are growing among that victims of domestic violence may be particularly affected if they are unable to escape an abusive home.

    Time and again, studies have ...

  • New for New York City: What Solidarity Looks Like Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

    mayor covid

    social distancing amid coronavirus is key (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    New Yorkers have a particular way of showing solidarity. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, resuming normal life was an act of bravery. We would not be derailed. We would carry on. As tragedies have struck other cities and countries, the language of solidarity, arguably the language of coping, has stayed the same. In essence, we come together, try to restore a sense of normalcy, and move forward.

    The rapid spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, has rattled the

    ...
  • Coronavirus Crisis Spotlights Importance of Food Delivery Workers and Need to Legalize Their E-Bikes

    ebike leg

    The push for legalizing e-bikes continues (photo: @nily)


    Right now, our colleagues in Albany can deliver immediate justice and help keep New York fed and moving during a time of crisis. They must legalize electric-bikes in the state budget being finalized right now.

    As part of the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the de Blasio and Cuomo administrations announced this week that restaurants, bars, and cafes would close for dine-in customers, but that take-out and delivery would remain available. This move made it clear that New York City’s food delivery workers,

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Coronavirus' Impact on State Finances, with Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    tom dinapoliwbai600

    State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on state finances (photo: Governor's Office)


    March 18, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Coronavirus' Impact on State Finances, with Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    tom dinapoli wbai317New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli joined the show to discuss how the coronavirus crisis may impact state finances and more. The comptroller talked with us just after his

    ...
  • Amid Outbreak Volatility, City Takes Steps to Stabilize Human Services Nonprofits That Constitute Much of Social Safety Net

    spk qun love

    Human Services Nonprofits provide essential staff and programming to the city (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    Social service organizations in recent days have been scrambling for clarity from government officials on how they will continue to get paid as they carry out essential city services for the most vulnerable populations and take up positions on the frontlines of public health, safety, and crisis management amid the coronavirus outbreak.

    On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he was designated roughly 40,000 workers from human services

    ...
  • Passage of Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act a Key Step; Here’s What Must Come Next

    coronavirus response

    The coronavirus response must continue (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    Early last Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation that would begin to ease the economic hardships Americans are facing right now as a result of the developing coronavirus crisis. After modifications from the House that weakened sick leave provisions, the Senate voted Wednesday to pass the The Families First

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: The Coronavirus Crisis & Vulnerable Children

    children gracie mansion wbai 600

    Children and coronavirus in New York (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    March 18, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The Coronavirus Crisis & Vulnerable Children

    Jennifer March, Executive Director of Citizens' Committee for Children, joined the show to discuss vulnerable children in New York, what was needed to help them even before the coronavirus crisis hit, and what the pandemic now means for them as we head into economic recession and other added challenges.

    Listen

    ...
  • City Closes Hundreds of Senior Centers, But Will Provide Meals to Aging Population Especially Vulnerable to Coronavirus

    protect launch project

    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that all senior centers in the city will be closing in an effort to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, to vulnerable populations.

    “We will be closing our senior centers, ending all programming there with the exception of activities related to food. We will turn them into feeding centers, again, focused on grab-and-go, meaning pickup of meals for those seniors for whom that works,” de Blasio said during ...

  • ‘Possibility of a Prolonged Recession’: Coronavirus Could Wreak Havoc on City, State Budgets

    de Blasio Cuomo budget coronavirus

    Major challenges now & ahead for Mayor & Governor (photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)


    New York has weathered financial storms before, including after the 2008 recession and the September terror attacks in 2001. But the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to eclipse the scope of both those emergencies. The fiscal impact on the economy is impossible to predict with any certainty but suffice it to say, it will put a major dent in the city’s and state’s budgets for the coming fiscal year.

    In January, Governor Andrew Cuomo ...

  • The Families First Coronavirus Response Act is a Critical First Step the Senate Must Pass

    health care

    Congress must take on coronavirus and its effects (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    The Senate Should Pass the Act, More Aggressive Measures Needed to Alleviate Widespread Human Suffering and Avoid Severe Recession

    Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation that would begin to ease the economic hardships Americans are facing right now as a result of the developing coronavirus crisis. However, as of Tuesday evening, the Senate has yet to act.

    The Families First Coronavirus Response Act

    ...
  • New York City Must Act Immediately to Strengthen Our Nonprofit Social Safety Net

    social services food pantries

    Amid coronavirus outbreak, the social safety net must hold (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    Daily home-delivered meals for home-bound seniors. Case-management to help make sure people have medicine and essential supplies, and reduce the harm of social isolation. Emergency food for people who are unemployed or homeless. Child care for those who still have to go to work.

    All services we utterly need right now. And all provided by New York City’s remarkable network of not-for-profit human service providers.

    These

    ...
  • Surveillance and the City: Cuomo’s Coronavirus Coup

    gov cuomo albany

    The Governor has acquired new powers (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    It may be Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel who’s famous for saying that you should “never let a good crisis go to waste,” but it’s New York’s Andrew Cuomo who’s taking the adage to heart. For proof, one need only look to the governor’s response to the recent coronavirus outbreak.

    There should be few things less divisive than how we respond to a public health crisis. Increase funding for hospitals? Of course. Reduce barriers to disease testing? Without a doubt. So, when the governor

    ...
  • Employee in Lower Manhattan Building Home to Several City Agencies Tests Positive for Coronavirus

    de blasio coronavirus

    Mayor de Blasio delivers a coronavirus briefing (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    An employee at 100 Church Street in Lower Manhattan, where a number of city agency offices are located, tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Mayor Bill de Blasio has not disclosed the revelation publicly, even as city employees and members of the public continue to conduct business there.

    The information that a building occupant tested positive for the novel coronavirus came to city agencies from both City Hall and the building's management company,

    ...
  • Take It from Someone Who Connects People Socially: Now’s The Time for Social Distancing

    daily life imagery

    It's time for social distancing in New York (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    Much of my life’s work has been about building in-person social connections. Now, I'm wrestling with how to understand and participate in "social distancing" as a way to confront the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

    I help run a network of hundreds of political social events around the country that has created friendships and solidarity through face-to-face gatherings. I'm also chair of the board of The Tank, a Manhattan theater that runs 20

    ...
  • New York Must Halt Evictions Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

    daily life imageryshot

    People need secure housing for themselves & others (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    No one is immune to the novel coronavirus: The World Health Organization recently declared the outbreak a pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency, and the congressional doctor reportedly expects up to 150 million citizens to be infected.

    Do you know who is most vulnerable to COVID-19? Health professionals have identified people who are elderly and sick as particularly at risk, but we must not forget those who are poor or

    ...
  • Spread of Coronavirus Heightens Concerns About Especially Vulnerable Seniors

    aging execu budget

    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 ...

  • Coronavirus In Our City: New York Must Mobilize Resources and Avoid Scapegoating

    chen coro

    Coronavirus briefing by Mayor de Blasio & others (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    With the first confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, COVID-19, in New York City, our communities are on high alert. We fear that New York’s Chinese community, where I live and work, is especially at risk. That is why we are prepared to leverage our culturally competent care model to bridge any gaps that may render our communities vulnerable.

    I lead a

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Coronavirus in New York - Assessing the Threat & Response

    wbai city express

    Health officials must manage the coronavirus in New York (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    March 4, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Coronavirus in New York - Threat, Preparation, & Response

    levin gershonDr. Robyn Gershon of NYU School of Global Public Health and City Council Member Mark Levine, chair of the Council's health committee, joined the show to discuss the new coronavirus

    ...
  • Coronavirus, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties

    port authority bus

    (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    While New York’s public health system is doing its best to combat the coronavirus, we need far more assurance from elected officials, especially those involved in our criminal justice system, that they are ready to protect our civil liberties in this emergency. As a civil rights attorney, I know that we must meet this moment with a response that honors public safety, protection from discrimination and price-gouging, civil liberties, and regard for those most marginalized, including people in our jails. We cannot

    ...