Dear John,

Today is Census Day! The Census is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make sure that our neighborhoods get the resources and representation we deserve. The Census data is used to allocate federal resources on everything from health care to road repair, as well as redistricting and allocation of congressional seats. We are seeing every day of this public health crisis how Census data shapes the federal funds available for Medicaid, hospitals, education, and everything else that we desperately need right now.

Think of it this way: in just 10 minutes, by answering just 10 questions, you can help shape the next 10 years for our city. If you have not yet filled out your census, go to https://my2020census.gov/ to do so right now.

Done? Now text 3 friends and ask them to do it too.

The federal government’s response to this public health, and now economic, crisis has been unconscionable. But the scale of the need has highlighted just how much we depend on resources at the scale only the federal government can provide. Brooklyn in particular faces a real risk of being under counted in the 2020 Census, which will make us even less well equipped to weather the effects of this crisis in the years ahead. We have to make sure everyone gets counted.

Yesterday, the White House delivered a grim prognosis that even the best scenarios now are likely to include the loss of hundreds of thousands of people as this virus continues to spread. Physical distancing measures are working to slow the rate of infection -- so please please keep them up diligently -- but the next few weeks of increased cases and overwhelmed hospitals are going to be very hard.

Stay home, and take care of each other.

In this email:
Upcoming Support Calls for Parents and Students
City and State Updates
Confronting the Food Emergency

Upcoming Support Calls for Parents and Students

Our new reality poses a myriad of new challenges for teachers, parents, and students. We are continuing to create forums to get information to parents from the DOE and create community among parents and students. Here are our upcoming calls this week:

Thursday, April 2 at 7 PM: Caring for Our Kids Webinar for Parents on Remote Learning and Social and Emotional Health. Register here.

We will be joined by representatives from the Department of Education and a school psychologist from the Child Mind Institute to address questions about remote learning and how to manage both parent and student emotional health during this crisis.

Viernes, 3 de Abril a 3 PM: Llamada de Apoyo Para Padres y Cuidadores Durante el Coronavirus. Registrarse aquí.

Esta será una llamada para que los padres de habla hispana resuelvan problemas con el aprendizaje remoto, respondan a preguntas y compartan recursos, organizada por las oficinas de los Miembros del Consejo Municipal Brad Lander y Carlos Menchaca.

This will be a call on Friday afternoon for Spanish-speaking parents to troubleshoot issues with remote learning, answer questions, and share resources, co-hosted with the office of Councilmember Carlos Menchaca. Please forward the information above about this call to people you think would be interested.

Monday, April 6 from 5-7 PM: Quaran-Teens Call. Register here.

This meeting is an open forum for Brooklyn youth to check-in, vent, and share COVID-19 reflections. Organizers hope to incorporate civic engagement opportunities and creative activities down the road. Hosted by PB Youth Committee Leaders Anastasia, Jess, Max, Sadie.

Our teachers are always heroes. Now they are lifelines for hundreds of thousands of families. They may be working at home, but there is absolutely no doubt that they are among our most essential workers. A heartfelt thanks to every one of them.

We heard yesterday that spring break may be shortened to make up for the lost classroom days this spring. Teachers will be off April 9-10, but will go back to work April 13, according to the teacher’s union. We hope to get more clarity on tomorrow’s call with the DOE.

City and State Updates

There were 41,771 reported COVID-19 cases in NYC as of yesterday evening. More than 8,500 people are hospitalized and we have lost more than 1,000 of our neighbors. The City’s Department of Health has released a new website where you can find updated data on cases in the city. Advocates and journalists are calling for more neighborhood specific data to help understand the disparate impacts of the virus. One preliminary analysis by ANHD shows how the neighborhoods with more reported cases overlap with the neighborhoods with high concentrations of service workers, rent-burdened households, and people of color.
New York established the Hospital Network Central Coordinating Team to help facilitate a coordinated approach among the state's hospitals in combating Coronavirus. The goal is to be able to move resources and patients around between hospitals more easily to help account for rapidly changing needs.
The State Legislature is still deliberating on budget proposals, and expects to pass a “timely” budget after last night’s deadline came and went. Albany’s closed door budget negotiations are even more secretive and rushed than usual this year, and details are still fuzzy on where things will land with the cuts to Medicaid, education, and hospital funding, and the rollback of last year’s bail reforms that Governor Cuomo has pushed throughout the budget talks.
We’ve heard from many of you about difficulties applying for unemployment insurance through the State Department of Labor’s portal and phone system. They have been overwhelmed by the call volume but are working to expand capacity. Here is a useful guide from the city on what programs are available and here are the details on applying for unemployment insurance.
Ten playgrounds across the city are closing, after the Mayor determined that social distancing rules are not being sufficiently followed. More should close, there is simply no way to keep playground equipment clean.
Today is April 1, and the NYT reports that an estimated 40% of renters may not be able to make rent. While there is an eviction moratorium in place right now, this rent will still come due and there may be a rush of evictions in a few months when people still cannot pay. The State has not yet taken up proposed legislation to cancel rent for people and businesses, which I support, that have lost income due to the coronavirus response.
The City’s employee retention grant to small businesses with under 5 workers is closing applications on Friday, but the City will continue to provide loans of up to $75,000 to businesses with up to 99 employees, more info here. The federal stimulus package included $366 billion for small business loans to help retain employees, more information is here.

Confronting the Food Emergency

After reviewing the City’s safety guidelines (available here) and discussing with my family, I went to Masbia Soup Kitchen yesterday to volunteer. As more and more people lose work and volunteer pools shrink, our city’s food pantries are performing essential services with less support than ever. At Masbia, the line wound around the block, with people spaced out 6 feet from each other. Many of the people I spoke to were getting food assistance for the very first time. Masbia (and so many other food banks & social service organizations) could really use your help right now. Please support them if you can.

Tomorrow I’ll be joining former NYC Councilmember and Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger to facilitate a conversation about food security and NYC’s growing hunger crisis with Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, and David G. Greenfield, CEO and executive director of Met Council. Register here.

Be well,

Brad