Mayor announces open streets program’s return, 40 miles of socially distant walkways
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio discussed opening up 40 miles of protected streets for pedestrian socially-distant walkways, a larger scaled version of a program that failed a month ago.
De Blasio had tried a very similar program, dubbed the open streets pilot, in which the city closed off one main thoroughfare in four boroughs for people to take socially distant walks in from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The streets included in this program were Park Ave between 28th and 34th in Manhattan, Bushwick Ave from Johnson to Flushing in Brooklyn, 34th Ave from 73rd St to 80th St in Queens and Grand Concourse between E. Burnside and 184th in the Bronx.
Now, it looks like the mayor is ready to try again, explaining in his daily press briefing yesterday that this program will open up 40 miles of open streets sooner, and a 100 miles in total later on.
Despite the program’s failure the first time around — it was scrapped after only a couple weeks because not enough people were utilizing the open streets for walks and it was using up a lot of police officers — de Blasio is determined to bring it back full force and better.
“We’re telling people, still you need to shelter in place and yes, of course keep your social distancing. But we knew in the warm weather there would be some impulse to get out more,” the mayor told New York 1. “The notion of opening up more space around the parks, opening up those streets made a lot of sense logistically and in terms of safety … It’s not [to] open up a space and ignore it. It is [to] open up a space and have enforcement to make sure that people handle it properly, but there is more space for everyone.”
The plan is to open up streets that are next to parks, since that is where the city has observed crowding occurring. The program will also allow for some sidewalk expansions, where barricades will be placed partway into the street to almost create a wider sidewalk.
Read more about this in this article: NBC 4 New York
Brooklyn bar violates shut down mandates four times, gets liquor license suspended
A Crown Heights bar has had its liquor license suspended over failing to comply with the city’s and states shut down mandates to contain the spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus.
The Atlantic Boat Club on Atlantic Avenue near Grand Avenue has committed four infractions to the mandates since the rules were first put in place, with this most recent time occurring on April 15.
Members of the New York Police Department had stumbled across the bar red-handed, as there was a long line on the sidewalk to get in and inside there were 14 people being served at the bar.
The officers emptied out the bar and issued a summons to the owner. The restaurant’s liquor license was suspended 10 days later by the State Liquor Authority and may potentially be permanently revoked.
Similar issues with this bar, in particular, happened in March, such as on March 15 when the NYPD found 86 patrons inside of the eatery when there shouldn’t have been more than 10 people inside at a time. A similar event occurred on March 26.
The Boat Club may now face up to $10,000 fines for each of the four infractions in addition to the revocation of its license to sell liquor — the main product a bar has to offer.
Read more about this in this article: Eater New York
Brooklyn middle school teacher dies of coronavirus after more than a month on the ventilator
Brooklyn middle school teacher Rana Zoe Mungin, whom Kings County Politics has reported on in an earlier COVID-19 Update, has died at the age of 30 of the coronavirus.
She died over six weeks after first developing her fever from the virus and had been on a ventilator in the hospital for over a month.
Mungin — who had asthma and hypertension — was refused admission to the hospital two times before finally being admitted to Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville on March 20.
She was quickly put on a ventilator once admitted, but was then refused treatment again when she was denied participation in clinical trials. Her sister, Mia Mungin, had even gained the support of New York’s U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration on her behalf.
Mungin was then transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital’s flagship location in Manhattan on March 27 where she began to show improvements. On April 18, she had even woken up and was able to move her eyes, prompting her doctors to try to get her to do spontaneous breathing on her own.
Unfortunately, she then developed a staph infection that brought the fever back. Mungin was refused entry to an acute rehabilitation center in New Jersey because they won’t accept coronavirus patients.
She remained on a ventilator for more than a month before dying.
The deceased taught sixth-grade social studies at Ascend Academy Charter School, where she will be dearly missed.
Read more about this in this article: Pix11 News
Queens paraprofessional fundraises to hold “pizza Fridays” for her students
A Queens elementary school paraprofessional is raising money to be able to buy pizza for the families of her school every week while school is out of session due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Josephine Tola-Dimarco, a paraprofessional at P.S. 92 in Corona, got the idea from passing by a local church where there was a line of people waiting to get free food.
She had previously done something similar when her husband was undergoing cancer treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. To thank the doctors who her family became so close with and dependent on, she raised money to give them food.
Now, Tola-Dimarco is trying to do the same thing for the kids that attend her school, especially since so many of their parents have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus.
“I feel blessed that I have a home and food on my plate, even though what I’m going through,” she told Eyewitness News. “But these kids didn’t, and it’s the saddest thing ever.”
The school staff member was able to raise $3,000 in just two days of fundraising and bought pizza for the kids and their parents to enjoy.
“They understand pizza,” she said. “It makes them happy.”
Her goal is to be able to do this every Friday, since Fridays are the day that public schools usually offer pizza for lunch. She said it brings a sense of normalcy back to the kids and they enjoy it.
“I don’t know how I’m doing all of this,” Tola-Dimarco said. “I have so much going on, but I have to thank everyone that’s contributing to this. It’s just so touching.”
Read more about this in this article: Eyewitness News
