Dear John,

I hope you and your family are as well as possible in this impossible time.

Today is National Doctors Day, in a profound and poignant irony. I never even knew this day existed before, and now there’s no way we could find enough gratitude for our health care workers (not only doctors, but nurses, hospital staff, paramedics, and more). Thanks to those of you who have donated personal protective equipment and meals to them right here at NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, in NYC’s public hospital system, and around the city.

The crisis has made clearer how interdependent we are, and it has also uplifted the labor of so many workers who are undervalued, underpaid, and under-protected in our society. Workers at Amazon and Instacart, who are keeping our economy going and making it possible for so many of us to stay at home right now, went on strike today fighting for health and safety measures, hazard pay, paid leave, and other worker protections. Their courage and collective action, and an outpouring of public support, is giving me hope that this crisis can offer a chance to win real gains for workers who have long deserved so much better.

A crisis like this can be a double-edged sword. As Rebecca Solnit wrote in the New York Times over the weekend, in times like these, “the possibilities for change, for the better or the worse, for a more egalitarian or more authoritarian society, burst out of the gate like racehorses.” Which side will win out, whether our society will become more inclined to authoritarianism, or to solidarity, is not predetermined. It depends on how we respond, what we value, and the work we do together to support each other.

We are already seeing so many ways people are stepping up to help one another, whether it is by donating Metrocards to essential workers, buying meals for healthcare workers, New York’s Sikh community community cooking over 30,000 meals for people in isolation (and a lot more examples like this) or calling on elected leaders, including me, to do better.

I’m grateful to every one of you fighting on the side of solidarity.

In this email:
City and State Updates
Ways to Give and Get Help
Upcoming Webinars for Freelancers and Parents
Update on Participatory Budgeting
Shopping Locally, Eating Locally

City and State Updates

As of today, there are 37,453 positive COVID-19 cases in New York City. Around the state, 9,517 people are hospitalized, with 2,352 in intensive care. More than 1,200 of our neighbors have died statewide. Our friend Alex Navarro-McKay has compiled some of the city’s data, with some useful charts and graphs over time, so it’s possible to keep an eye on trends as they emerge.
While President Trump did back down on his threat over the weekend to impose a federal quarantine on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a two-week travel advisory asking us to refrain from non-essential travel for the next 14 days.
The City is stepping up its enforcement of social distancing guidelines, and will begin fining people who refuse to disperse or do not heed warnings between $250 and $500.
As part of the efforts to triple New York’s hospital capacity, the Javits Center opened today with 1,200 hospital beds and the USNS Comfort arrived in NYC to help relieve local hospitals with another 1,000 beds.
New York State has opened a special enrollment period for uninsured New Yorkers to sign up for health care. If you recently lost employer coverage, you must apply within 60 days of losing that coverage. Because of loss of income, New Yorkers may also be eligible for Medicaid, the Essential Plan or Child Health Plus. More information at NY State of Health.
Mayor de Blasio joined the push to work with the State to suspend the Rent Guidelines Board process for the coming year, which will maintain all regulated rents at their current level for 2.3 million tenants in nearly 1 million stabilized units across the City.
While public officials urge all New Yorkers to stay home as much as possible, we recognize that home is not a safe place for everyone. NYC’s Family Courts are now closed but hearing cases virtually. For assistance with a domestic violence issue, NYers can call Safe Horizon’s hotline at 800-621-4673. All existing orders of protection have been renewed. To seek a new order of protection, call 646-386-5299 during business hours or 833-502-0447 on nights and weekends.
New York State’s presidential primary, originally scheduled for April 28th, has been officially postponed. The presidential primary will be consolidated with the state and local elections to be held on June 23rd.

Ways to Give and Get Help

Many people have asked how to support and show appreciation for healthcare workers. Here is one fundraiser to buy meals from Park Slope restaurants for the staff at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, and another project to buy meals for health care workers around the city.
Nearly a third of the city’s food pantries have closed and food security is a huge need right now. If you are able to make a donation, the Met Council, City Harvest, and Masbia Soup Kitchen are all providing critical services and need more support.
The City has issued new guidance on how to safely volunteer if you are healthy and not in a high-risk category. More information and that guidance can be found here.
Met Council has set up a helpful page of resources for those who have lost jobs, that compiles many of the programs available from city, state, federal, and private sources.
New York City has established a new home-delivered meals program for home-bound seniors, which they hope to expand beyond those who usually receive meals at senior centers. Those interested in signing up should call DFTA’s Aging Connect at 212-AGING-NYC (212-244-6469) to see if you are eligible.

Upcoming Webinars for Freelancers and Parents

Wednesday, April 1 at 7 PM: COVID-19 Relief for Artists, Freelancers and Gig Workers.

We will have city, state and federal elected officials, representatives from city agencies, labor lawyers and other advocates to help walk through what kinds of relief are currently available for freelancers and advocacy for more protections. You can register for the call here, or tune in on Facebook live, and we will send the recording and resources around afterwards.

Friday, April 3 at 3 PM: Parent Support Call for Spanish Speakers

We will talk about remote learning, answer questions, and share resources for Spanish-speaking parents. More information and a link to register is here. (Please forward along to networks who need this kind of information in Spanish)

TBD: A call for parents to get support, answers, and troubleshoot remote learning issues with a DOE representative and discuss social and emotional health with the Child Mind Institute. We are still working to confirm a time this week with the DOE but sign up to let us know what issues you most want to discuss and we will confirm soon.

Update on Participatory Budgeting

Many of you may be wondering what is happening with participatory budgeting, as we were looking forward to voting next week on some wonderful projects for our neighborhoods. Currently, the Council’s budget process is suspended, and there has not been a final determination from City Council yet on whether Participatory Budgeting will go on later in the year (virtually or in person) or whether it will be cancelled this year. We are sad for sure (PB Vote Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year), and especially grateful for all the hard work that the district committee and the budget delegates have done this year to put these projects together.

This crisis has thrown our state and city budgets into more uncertainty than ever, since we don’t know how long the disruption of business as usual will be. I’m hopeful that we will find a way to move forward that honors the work our participatory budgeting volunteers have done to envision these projects for our community, and uses our district’s resources wisely in a time of increased need.

Shopping Locally, Eating Locally

A number of you have reached out about the challenges of shopping in our grocery stores right now. For those who are anxiously trying to determine the safest way to get groceries, I found this Washington Post article helpful at striking a balance between being either panicked or cavalier. They advise accepting the reality that we cannot eliminate all risk, but can take smart steps to mitigate it when we order delivery or go to the grocery store. And thanks to the many grocery stores who are offering senior-only hours.

One last thing: this Wednesday evening, April 1st, was supposed to be the 5th Avenue BID’s annual “Taste of Fifth” event, another of the best night’s of the year, when dozens of local restaurants serve of tons of tasty food at the Grand Prospect Hall, all to raise funds for many of the amazing not-for-profit organizations in our community.

Well, they aren’t giving up. So I hope you’ll join me in taking part in their Taste of Fifth Takeout event by ordering from one of the participating local restaurants, sharing a photo on social media with the hashtag #atasteoffifthtakeout, and donating to one of the local charitable organizations at https://donorbox.org/tof2020. They really do need your help now more than ever.

As always, here is our regularly updated COVID-19 resource page.

Brad