Addabbo Reopens Howard Beach and Middle Village Offices
State Sen. Joe Addabbo’s (D-Broad Channel, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Glendale, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ozone Park, Rego Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, South Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Woodside, parts of the Rockaways) office announced on Friday that he would reopen his Howard Beach and Middle Village offices today, Monday, June 29.
The offices are now operating full-time and full-staffed. The Rockaway office at 88-08 Rockaway Beach Boulevard will remain closed due to renovations.
During the shutdown, Addabbo kept his offices open at reduced hours, and had staff on staggered schedules both in the office and remotely. In-office appointments were put on hold, however Addabbo and his staff worked to connect constituents with the Department of Labor to discuss their issues with unemployment insurance assistance, provided free masks and hand sanitizer, and stayed vigilant on quality-of-life issues, they said.
“I was determined to safely remain open, although at limited capacity, throughout the pandemic,” Addabbo said. “I couldn’t have my offices completely closed while many people were at a time when they needed help the most.”
The Howard Beach and Middle Village offices are now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and in-person services have resumed. All individuals will be required to wear a mask inside the offices.
The Howard Beach office is located at 159-53 102nd Street in Howard Beach, and can be reached at 718-738-1111. The Middle Village office is at 66-85 73rd Place in Middle Village, and can be reached at 718-497-1630. All calls to the Rockaway office at 718-318-0702 are being forwarded to the Howard Beach office. There is a 24-7 live operator to take calls when the offices are closed.
Schumer Calls on Feds to Extend Public Health Emergency Declaration
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) yesterday called on the Trump administration to extend the nation’s public health emergency declaration.
Schumer warned that the declaration, which was first issued this past winter to address the COVID-19 pandemic, will expire on July 25. He noted that the executive branch’s delay on the emergency declaration this past winter set the nation back in the COVID fight.
“If we have learned anything from COVID-19 it is that a ‘stitch in time saves nine,’ and the more we can do to be proactive, the better off the public will be,” Schumer said. “This past winter there was delay and dismissal towards those urging HHS to officially declare a public health emergency as it relates to the coronavirus.”
Schumer said Health and Human Services (HHS) should announce an extension and give locals across New York the reassurances they need to keep the COVID fight going. If it’s not extended, New York stands to lose billions in state and local healthcare funds, FEMA disaster dollars and even tele-health services, like those for Hospice and everyday healthcare, Schumer cautioned.
“New York is by no means out of the woods with the coronavirus, especially given the upticks we are seeing in other states and the risk those upticks pose here when you take travel into account,” Schumer said. “Extending this declaration will keep New York positioned to both respond and to keep fighting.”
More than $300,000,000 in federal healthcare dollars were dispersed across New York state last week, Schumer said. Those funds are part of a combined $2.5 billion already secured for New York as part of the Families First Coronavirus stimulus package and are tethered to the emergency declaration.
Sanders to Donate 5,000 Masks to School in Jamaica
State Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-Rochdale Village, Far Rockaway) and Ambassador Huang Ping, Consul General of China’s Consulate General in New York, will donate 5,000 face masks to P.S. 354 in Jamaica (the STEM Institute of Queens) to help protect its staff and students from COVID-19 in anticipation of the fall semester.
“I would like to thank China’s Consulate General and Ambassador Huang Ping for their generous mask donation, which will benefit a school in my district,” Sanders said. “I hope to do more of these giveaways in the future so that we can protect as many people as we can from the coronavirus.”
Sanders and representatives from the consulate will drop off the masks at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 29, 2020 at P.S. 354 located at 126-10 Bedell Street, Jamaica.
