Mayor de Blasio on COVID-19 and Items of Concern July 30, 2020

 Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. When we wake up to news that’s almost impossible to comprehend, and today is one of those days, and I'm going to talk about this and I'm going to talk about how troubling it is, but I'm also going to remind us that we're going to have to fight through everything that's being thrown at us, just like generations before. This is an extraordinarily difficult time, layer upon layer of crisis, but we won't give up in the midst of this. And I have to say, sometimes you see things that just are astounding, even with all the shocks we've experienced recently. So, the news this morning, the single largest drop in the gross domestic product of this nation in its history. That's what we've lived through over these last five months. It's almost impossible to comprehend. As recently as February, a thriving economy, this city, in many ways, the strongest it's ever been, and look what we all have been put through. And look at the human cost, look what's happening in every neighborhood of the city to hardworking families. Look how much people have been through, and there's so much more ahead. That's the honest truth. We, of course, need to recognize, first of all, the impact on lives, the impact on families in terms of those we've lost. Our nation now has lost over 150,000 people. And as people are grappling with that pain, as people are trying to find a way forward in their lives. One of the few things that helped was that unemployment support from the federal government – that is expiring tomorrow. People depended on those $600 checks, and now they're gone. So, it's sobering. It's painful. We cannot be defeated by it, but we have to look at it squarely in the eye and deal with it.

 

So, I think a lot of people, even some people had supported President Trump are going to look at that and say, no, that is abrogation of responsibly, but, more importantly, that's in the assault on our democracy and it cannot stand. We need to have that election on time. We need to have the election so the American people can make their decision. That election has less than a hundred days away. A new government is less than six months away, potentially, that could help us to move forward. So, that election must happen. But, in the meantime, every one of us needs to fight for that stimulus. And think about, again, the human reality for so many families, what it's going to mean to no longer have the support they were getting. Just to think about what people will not be able to afford. There are families right now, working class families, even middle-class families trying to choose between food or medicine or the basics of life. And those choices are going to get tougher and tougher. We're going to be there – we're always going to be there for the people that city, so we're always going to provide free food for anyone who needs it, we're going to provide free health care for anyone who needs it. But the burdens are getting greater and greater. So, what can we rely on? We can rely on each other in New York City, because we've proven time again that New Yorkers stand by each other, support each other. This city will do everything we possibly can to help the people in the city. And I know in every neighborhood there are people helping, helping each other through. And we're going to have to lean hard on each other to get through this crisis.

 

Now, while our federal government isn't acting, I want to give credit to New York State, because they're doing something that's going to reach a lot of people. And eligible New York State residents will have an opportunity to get additional unemployment benefits, up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits. That's crucial for a lot of families. So, anyone who qualifies for this, please take advantage of this right away. You can go online at labor.ny.gov and get that support. And we have to, here in the city, keep helping people to survive, to move forward business by business, job by job, person by person. We know that our recovery will depend on building back jobs and it will be painstaking work. Our federal government used to know this. A great New Yorker, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, use that concept of giving people jobs in their hour of need, that was one of the most foundational ideas the New Deal. That's how we got out of the Great Depression. One day, I want to believe our federal government will get it again and fund a massive jobs program so people can really get the employment they need and their families can come back and our economy can come back. But, in the meantime, what we need to do is prepare people for the jobs that are starting to come back, even if it's much slower than we want and working toward the day where people get back on their feet. So, our Department of Small Business Services is, right now, providing free training to get people ready to come back into the economy. There are areas of the economy that are still strong and will grow again. There are jobs that need to be filled. We need to get people ready for them. And here to tell you how we're going to do it, our Commissioner for Small Business Services Jonnel Doris.

 

Commissioner Jonnel Doris, Small Business Services: Thank you, sir. As you said, Mr. Mayor, New Yorkers have been going through a hard time and many have lost their jobs of no fault of their own. We know that this is in our immigrant community, our people of color, and also our young people who are getting hit the hardest. But we're here to help at SBS, and we've been doing that throughout this pandemic. We're here to provide the training, the resources that they need. We've already connected and worked with 37,000 New Yorkers. We will continue to work with additional New Yorkers as they call into our hotlines and seek the support that they need. We are training them in in-demand skills for our tech industry, health care, industrial, media and entertainment industry. We are working with them in home health aide, in commercial drivers as well. We're also working with our workforce one centers, 18 workforce one centers across the city who have been working virtually to assist New Yorkers to get jobs that they so critically need.

 

Since mid-March, we have worked with over 500 employers to fill 9,800 jobs. Whereas we're currently working with those employers to fill 3,600 jobs. So, listen, if you're a New Yorker and you need assistance and you need support, please make sure that you visit us on our website nyc.gov/workforce. But before I turn it back to the Mayor, you know, this work is critical work and our essential workers have been doing an amazing job, getting us back to where we are now. We had some job seekers who came into our virtual workforce one centers who were looking for support and help and we were able to help them. John, who was looking for a pivot in his career, didn't have a job, was seeking help and support, came to our workforce one center. He's now employed as a transport and nurse – transport- nurse in our Health + Hospital care system – that's happened. As of April, we're continuing to do that to hundreds of New Yorker. Also, Maria, at foreign-born New Yorker who was seeking also work, who was out of work because of COVID, was able to come back and get support from my workforce one centers and get a job and is not working in our Health + Hospital systems as well, and also working with patients who are tested positive, the elderly, in particular, for COVID-19. So, look, we're here to help and assist you no matter what your concerns and needs are. You can call 3-1-1 or you can meet us nyc.gov/workforce.

 

Mayor: Thank you very much, Jonnel. Appreciate what you and everyone at Small Business Services is doing to help people get back on their feet. So, this is something we're going to be talking about for a long time – how are we going to bring back New York City, how we're going to bring back jobs, how we’re going to get people connected to jobs, how are we going to help people get into the industries that will grow again. We have a lot of work to do ahead in the city and we're going to be talking about a lot over the coming weeks and months. But we continue to face the immediate challenges. And right when we're dealing with this huge difficult news on a national scale, we've got an immediate challenge right here in Brooklyn that I want to bring to your attention. We got a warning this morning from Con Edison, and there is a problem in Southern Brooklyn. I really want to urge people to act quickly. We've got to protect our electricity supply for all New Yorkers. We've got to make sure we avoid any disruptions in our electricity. Right now, there is a problem with some of the equipment in Southern Brooklyn. And so, if you live in the following neighborhoods, I'm going to you to pay special attention, and I'm going to ask for your help. So, residents of Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, South Park Slope, Greenwood, and Sunset Park. Again, Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, South Park Slope, Greenwood, and Sunset Park. If you live in those neighborhoods, your electric supply is in danger right now. There's something you can actually do to help us address this, which is to avoid using major appliances, avoid washers, dryers, microwaves, limit air conditioning use as much as possible. Hopefully, this is something that gets resolved in the course of the day, but every-day people can make an impact here and we really want to make sure you did not have your electricity disrupted. So, everyone, please take this warning seriously, please act on it, and we will do everything in our power, and we will push Con Ed hard to resolve this situation quickly.

 

All right, going to go now to our daily indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19, threshold is 200 – today, 87 patients. Number two, daily number of people in Health + Hospital’s ICU’s, threshold 375 – today, 299. And number three, percentage of people testing citywide for COVID positive, the threshold 15 percent – today, again, this good number we've been at for a long time, two percent.