Stringer Wants Coronavirus Testing for All City Inmates
In a letter, City Comptroller Scott Stringer (D) urged Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) to ensure that all New Yorkers behind bars get tested for COVID-19, the Daily News reported Tuesday.
The request comes amid statistics showing that at least 365 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus. However, current data does not indicate all inmates who took such tests. This issue makes it harder to fully understand the extent of the pandemic on residents of the city’s jails.
“More universal testing is critical to prevent and manage transmission and make responsible decisions about individuals’ housing and movement throughout the facilities,” wrote Stringer. “I urge you to develop a plan to test everyone in custody.”
City Council to Propose Coronavirus Relief Package
In its first digital conference Wednesday, the City Council will bring forth eleven bills as intended to relieve New Yorkers vulnerable to the challenges the coronavirus has inflicted.
The legislative package includes provisions for greater financial security and professional security for essential workers, opening of city streets to pedestrians, housing for the city’s homeless population, and paid sick leave.
“These bills provide relief where it is needed most right now, including protecting tenants from eviction,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Midtown West, Chelsea, West Village), who supports the relief package, told the New York Post Tuesday. “We must take these steps to help make sure that New York City remains the vibrant, diverse and exciting place it was before COVID ravaged our neighborhoods.”
De Blasio Says July 4th Fireworks will Proceed
ABC 7 Eyewitness News reported Wednesday that Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) wants the city to have its annual July 4th Fireworks show sponsored by Macy’s.
He is currently speaking with the department store’s CEO to ensure that it can go on in a way that is “safe and smart”.
“One way or another, the show will go on,” said de Blasio. “How we do them and where we do them, how we do that safe and keeps New Yorkers healthy, a lot of questions to answer between now and then. Thank god, we know the fireworks can be seen by New Yorkers all over the city just looking out their window or from a fire escape or a roof. We have to do it in a way that is safe and smart. We will recognize distancing for quite a while. This is a day we cannot miss. It is a celebration that has to happen.”
