[[link removed]]Dear John,



I’ll be honest: I don’t really know how to write to you today. More than ever, it feels like we are living inside a fictional world. On top of the grim pandemic, toxic politics, and widening economic depression, the level of macabre uncertainty is really too much to take.

But still, at the end of this week when many students went back into NYC classrooms, I wanted to make sure to say a word of deep gratitude -- something I believe we all feel, but that the times have rendered us less able to express -- to our principals, teachers, custodians, and school staff.

After two delays, lots of anxiety, too many leadership failures, and massive amounts of work, hundreds of thousands of students went back into NYC classrooms this week. The usual first day of school mix of excitement and apprehension is magnified many times over this year.

Many schools still don’t have the staffing they really need to make this work (my daughter Rosa’s first day of in-person classes for her senior year in high school was postponed to next week due to lack of teachers, although her school has been doing a truly amazing job). Much anxiety remains about safety precautions and the efficacy of the test and trace program. And rising case rates in some neighborhoods threaten to undo the progress we’ve made.

We will be closely watching the case rates over the next few weeks anxiously, urging caution and social distancing, and my office will be working to make sure that targeted testing and tracing resources are helping address the upticks in Borough Park, Kensington and Windsor Terrace. The city’s health officials have been out in those neighborhoods in big numbers over the past few days, community leaders have started speaking up louder, and the NYC Health Dept has issued a new order giving City agencies the power to close businesses for repeat non-compliance with COVID-19 safety requirements.

However things go over the next few weeks, we are so grateful for the educators and families working so hard to support students to process the traumas of this year and get excited about learning again.

This article about [[link removed]] PS 9 in Clinton Hill [[link removed]] , where students are returning to a school where a beloved third-grade teacher died of COVID-19 in April, moved me deeply this week. The principal and teachers are working so hard to support the social and emotional well-being of their students, and to build community with their hybrid and remote students, teachers, and families.

I’m hearing stories like this from schools across our district. Our principals, teachers, custodians, and school staff are truly heroes right now. Where too many government officials have failed us, these public sector workers are doing the work that our kids, our families, our democracy, and our future depend on.

If you’re at a school in our district that has particular needs we could help address, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. And we won’t stop demanding answers and improvements from City Hall and the DOE (and the resources that are necessary from Albany and Washington).

The learning our children do this year cannot be measured by standardized tests (and we still have work to do to cancel them), but I really am hopeful that they will get a lesson in caring for one another and policies that keep all of us safe.

So, as we anxiously navigate the next few uncertain weeks, get tested, keep your (physical) distance, wear a mask, and take care of each other. You can get a free test at a Health and Hospitals site [[link removed]] , the turn around times are much faster now and there are mobile sites in cluster case areas.

Best of luck to your kids as they navigate the bumpy start of this unprecedented year. Strength and solidarity to the educators and parents trying hard to make things work.

Brad

Updates and Resources

*
Latest
Virus
Data:
In
NYC,
there
were
451
new
cases
identified
yesterday.
We
have
lost
23,829
people
in
NYC
from
the
virus,
including
sadly
9
in
the
last
few
days,
and
249,272
total
cases
have
been
identified
in
the
city
since
the
start
of
the
pandemic.
The
citywide
7-day
rolling
average
of
positive
test
rates
ticked
up
this
week,
it
was
1.52%
citywide
today.


*
Local
Uptick:
There
has
been
an
alarming
rise
in
COVID-19
cases
in
several
NYC
neighborhoods,
including
very
high
rates
in
Borough
Park
and
worrisome
increases
in
Kensington
and
Windsor
Terrace.
We
are
reaching
out
to
City
Hall
to
make
sure
that
increased
testing,
tracing,
and
public
education
are
targeted
here.
We
all
have
to
be
vigilant
with
our
mask-wearing
and
social-distancing,
and
get
tested.


*
Absentee
Ballot
Error
Update:
The
NYC
Board
of
Elections
and
their
mail
vendor
incorrectly
mailed
absentee
ballots
to
many
voters
who
requested
them
(at
least
in
Brooklyn),
mixing
up
the
ballot
return
envelopes
of
different
voters.
This
is
very
distressing,
at
a
time
when
our
anxiety
about
democracy
is
already
so
high.
All
voters
who
received
the
ballots
with
errors
will
be
mailed
new
ballots
and
should
use
the
new
ones
to
vote.
You
can
also
vote
in
person,
early,
starting
October
24.


*
Eviction
Confusion:
Despite
headlines
declaring
that
Governor
Cuomo
extended
the
eviction
moratorium
until
January,
the
moratorium
that
expired
on
October
1
was
far
broader
than
the
patchwork
of
hardship
defenses
that
tenants
facing
eviction
are
left
to
navigate.
Here’s
a
good
explanation
[[link removed]]
of
where
things
are
now.


*
Participatory
Budgeting:
Submit
your
ideas
[[link removed]]
for
how
to
help
our
neighborhoods
recover
and
rebuild
from
this
crisis.
The
projects
that
feel
most
urgent
this
year
may
be
different,
but
we
are
glad
to
still
have
the
opportunity
to
work
together
on
this
most
democratic
of
processes
to
make
collective
decisions
about
how
to
invest
in
our
neighborhoods.


*
Indoor
Dining
at
25%:
This
week
restaurants
were
allowed
to
open
for
indoor
dining
at
25%
capacity.
Indoor
dining
will
require
patrons
to
leave
their
information
for
contract
tracing
if
needed.
The
Open
Restaurants
program
has
been
made
permanent
and
year-round,
and
5th
Avenue
between
5th
and
9th
Streets
was
added
to
program
this
weekend.


*
Census
Extension:
Federal
courts
have
blocked
the
Trump
administration’s
effort
to
cut
short
the
Census
enumeration.
Counting
will
continue
until
October
31.
If
you
have
not
yet,
please
complete
the
Census
at
my2020census.gov
[[link removed]]
and
tell
your
friends
and
family.
If
you
want
to
volunteer
to
call
or
text
New
Yorkers
to
encourage
them
to
fill
it
out,
visit
here
[[link removed]]
.


*
Register
to
Vote:
You
have
until
October
9
to
register
or
update
your
registration
if
you’ve
moved.
Visit
voting.nyc
[[link removed]]
for
guidance
on
how
to
register.
If
you
think
you
are
registered,
check
your
registration
[[link removed]]
to
make
sure
nothing
has
changed.
Absentee
ballots
are
being
mailed
out,
you
can
request
yours
here
[[link removed]]
.



456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-499-1090
[email protected]

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