Levine: Child Vaccination Has Gone Down
In several Wednesday tweets, City Council Health Committee Chair Mark Levine (D-Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights) called out the 63 percent decrease in child vaccinations and urged parents to visit the 1,000 non-hospital vaccination sites citywide, the West Side Rag reported.
Levine claimed that the drop was caused by our healthcare system’s preoccupation with the coronavirus. However, he made sure to point out that vaccinations are much more easy to obtain now that we’ve flattened the curve.
“This is a casualty of fact that people have had far less access to primary care while our healthcare system had to focus on covid emergencies,” he continued. “But thankfully there’s more capacity now. And the vaccination sites are not in hospitals, so less fear of being around covid patients.”
Hoylman, Rivera to Speak at Virtual LES Arts Festival
Despite the pandemic, the East Village’s Theatre for the New City will virtually host their 25th Annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, Forbes reported Thursday.
Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Midtown West, Chelsea, West Village) and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera (D-East Village, Lower East Side, Murray Hill) are among the speakers at this year’s celebration of the neighborhood’s culture.
The event will take place on Saturday, May 23 at 8 p.m. The hour-to-hour schedule is available here.
De Blasio: Staten Island Ferry Service to Increase At Rush Hour
As the city creeps closer to meeting the specifications needed to start a phased reopening, ridership on the Staten Island Ferry has begun returning closer to pre-pandemic levels, 1010 Wins reported.
In response, Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) announced Thursday that morning and evening rush hour ferry service will increase again, from once an hour to once every half hour. De Blasio insisted that he would try to maintain social distancing regulations on the ferry and is optimistic that passengers will follow them.
“Folks are gradually growing into what is allowed,” he said. “I think you’ve got essential workers that need to move around. You’ve got folks that need to get medical care,”
