Maloney Fights for Restaurant Owners In Coronavirus Stimulus
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) participated a virtual town hall hosted by Assemblymember Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn) on Sunday, Eater New York reported Monday.
Of the roughly 100 hundred attendees, a sizable percentage were in the hospitality industry. They persuaded Maloney that the existing stimulus package would not do enough to save restaurants. In addition to existing provisions, they touted rent relief, greater aid to small businesses, fewer loans, more grants, and gaps in insurance coverage to salvage their businesses.
Kallos Takes Chess Tournament Online
Councilmember Ben Kallos (D-Yorkville, Lenox Hill) hosted his annual chess tournament online for the first time over the weekend, Patch reported.
235 students participated in the Ben Kallos Chess Challenge, co-sponsored by Chess in the Schools, a nonprofit dedicated to offering low-income students chess lessons.
“I love chess and I love computers, what better way to practice ‘social distancing’ than playing chess from home…” Kallos said in a statement. “This online chess tournament will go a long way in helping keep children busy and doing something productive while they have to stay indoors.”
Rivera Fights so All Students Can Learn from Home
Spectrum and Optimum both ended their policy of denying Internet access to indebted New Yorkers after nonprofit education periodical Chalkbeat exposed how the policy undermined efforts to promote remote learning citywide, The City reported Friday.
Councilmember Carlina Rivera (D-East Village, Gramercy Park) played a major role in having them reverse this policy.
“We were really worried about the impact that this policy was having on our families, especially when so many of them were already struggling at home,” Rivera told Chalkbeat. “We appealed directly to these larger companies letting them know that at a time of crisis, we felt that essentially poverty was being punished. An outstanding bill should not prevent a student from being able to learn.”
