Rivera to Host Conversation on COVID-19 and Small Businesses
Tonight, Councilmember Carlina Rivera (D-East Village, Gramercy Park) will be joining a conversation on small business survival in the era of COVID-19.
Rivera will join LES bar owner Megan Joye and Pace University SBDC Director Andrew Flamm to discuss what it’s like to be a small business owner during a pandemic. The discussion will also cover the City’s response, and the resources that are available to business owners right now.
The event will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at facebook.com/councilwomancarlinarivera.
Brewer to Join Virtual Rally to Save ICR Funding Initiative
Today, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (D) will be joining a virtual rally to call for the full funding of the Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) initiative.
The ICR initiative, first introduced in the City’s FY 2020 budget, helps nonprofit organizations handle the overhead costs that city contracts don’t cover. During the past summer’s budget negotiations, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) cut $20 million from the ICR initiative; this will greatly hinder the nonprofit sector’s ability to stay afloat during an unprecedented crisis. At the rally, Brewer and her peers will call for a full restoration of the $20 million.
The event will take place today at 12:30 p.m. over Zoom. To RSVP, click here.
De Blasio Launches COVID-19 DOE Situation Room
Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Chancellor Richard Carranza announced the opening of the Department of Education’s COVID-19 Situation Room, a multi-agency partnership to facilitate rapid responses to COVID-19 outbreaks in schools.
The partnership unites the Department of Education with the Department of Health and Mental Health, and the Test & Trace Corps. It allows the three agencies to coordinate their efforts to test, trace and quarantine students who contract the virus. As of the announcement, any teacher can call the Situation Room if they receive notice from a student or faculty member who tested positive for COVID-19.
“The Situation Room is the precise system we need to identify, trace, and treat positive cases within our school communities,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “My pledge is simple: every case will be met with swift and decisive action to keep transmission low and our kids and teachers safe.”
Cuomo Announces 38th Straight Day with COVID-19 Infection Rate Below 1 Percent
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced yesterday that – for the 38th day in a row – less than 1 percent of the COVID-19 tests performed in New York have come back positive.
Of the 63,358 tests results recorded in New York last Sunday, 583 (.92 percent) were positive. The State also reported only four deaths – one each in the counties of Erie, Suffolk, Westchester and Queens.
“New York’s government sets the tone for the state’s response to COVID-19, but New Yorkers drive it home,” said Cuomo. “We can defeat this virus and create a better future, but we need New Yorkers to wear masks, socially distance and wash their hands as local governments enforce state guidance. There’s no doubt that we’ve made progress, but this is not over yet. By staying New York Tough, we’ll get through this together.”
