Wednesday, May 13, 2020

MAYOR DE BLASIO ADDS 12 MORE MILES OF OPEN STREETS AND NINE MILES OF NEW TEMPORARY PROTECTED BIKE LANES


Combined 21 New Miles Brings City Total to 30 Miles of Open Streets Since End of April

  Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today the City will open 12 more miles of streets and an additional nine new miles of temporary protected bike lanes to pedestrians and cyclists starting tomorrow, May 14th. The new Open Streets and bike lanes will bring New York City's total to 30 miles of streets since the program was announced on April 27th.

Nearly eight miles of the new open streets will be placed in neighborhoods in every borough and managed by local precincts; 1.35 miles, in three boroughs, will be managed by Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and community organizations; and another 2.83 miles will be adjacent to parks.

The nine new miles of bike corridors will be phased in over several weeks using barrels, signage, and other barriers, with a goal of creating critical connectors from already-established protected lanes.

“Now that warmer weather has arrived, New Yorkers will need more options to enjoy the outdoors at a safe, social distance,” said Mayor de Blasio. “We’re grateful to all our local partners, and we believe new bike lanes will lay the groundwork for a cycling surge in the months and years to come.”

Local Partner Management
Partner
Boro
Street
From
To
Mileage
Notes
Sunnyside Shines
QN
46th Street
Queens Blvd
Greenpoint Ave
0.05
8a-8p Sat-Sun
Park Slope 5th Ave BID
BK
4th St
5th Ave
4th Ave
0.07
10a-6p all days
Flatbush Development Corporation
BK
Newkirk Ave
Coney Island Ave
E 17th St
0.34
3p-7p Tues and Thurs
Pine Box Rock Shop/Bushwick
BK
Grattan St
Morgan Ave
Bogart St
0.08
10a-8p Weds-Sun
Concrete Safaris/Harlem
MN
115th Street
Park Ave
3rd Ave
0.18
2pm-5:30 weekdays
Meatpacking BID
MN
13th Street
9th Ave
Washington St
0.13
8a-8p all days
Meatpacking BID
MN
17th St
10th Ave
8th Ave
0.33
8a-8p all days
Meatpacking BID
MN
Little W 12
9th Ave
Washington St
0.09
8a-8p all days
Hudson Yards/HK Alliance
MN
Hudson Blvd East
35th St
36th
0.04
8a-8p all days
Hudson Yards/HK Alliance
MN
Hudson Blvd West
35th St
36th
0.04
8a-8p all days

Total mileage  1.35

Local Precinct    Management





Neighborhood
Boro
Street
From
To
Mileage
Kingsbridge
BX
W 238th Street
Tibbett Ave 
Irwin Ave
0.05
Mott Haven
BX
140th Street
Brook Ave
Willis Ave
0.02
Jackson Heights
QN
34th Ave
78th Street
Junction Blvd
0.89
Sunnyside
QN
Skillman Ave
39th Pl
43rd St
0.19
Sunnyside
Qn
39th Ave
Woodside Ave
Barnett Ave
0.43
LIC
QN
5th Street
46th Ave
49th Ave
0.28
LIC
QN
27th St
Hunter St
Queens Plaza S
0.16
Flushing
QN
Roosevelt Ave
155th St
Northern Blvd
0.09
Flushing
QN
Peck Ave
137th St
Main
0.10
Crown Heights
BK
Prospect Pl
New York Ave
Brooklyn Ave
0.14
Sunset Park
BK
6th Ave
44th St
51st St
0.34
Carroll Gardens
BK
1st Pl
Smith St
Henry St
0.30
Carroll Gardens
BK
2nd Pl
Smith St
Henry St
0.30
Carroll Gardens
BK
4th Pl
Smith St
Henry St
0.30
Williamsburg
BK
Berry St
N 12th
Broadway
0.90
Brooklyn Heights
BK
Joralemon Street
Hicks Street
Furman Street
0.14
Boerum Hill
BK
St. Marks Place
3rd Ave
4th Ave
0.13
Kensington
BK
East 7th St
Caton Ave
Ditmas Ave
0.78
Clinton Hill
BK
Hall St
Park Ave
Myrtle Ave
0.15
Fort Greene
BK
S Portland Ave
S Elliot St
Dekalb Ave
0.41
Upper West Side
MN
West End Ave
87th St
96th St
0.44
Upper West Side
MN
75th St
Broadway
Riverside Dr
0.20
Harlem
MN
114th St
Manhattan Ave
Frederick Douglass Blvd
0.08
Morris Park
BX
Rhinelander Ave
Williamsbridge Rd
Bronxdale Ave
0.50
Fordham Heights
BX
Creston Ave
Fordham Road
Kingsbridge Rd
0.31
Total mileage
7.63
Adjacent Park Roads
Park/
Neighborhood
Boro
Street
From
To
Mileage
Quarry Ballfields/Belmont
BX
Oak Tree Place
Hughes Ave
Quarry Pl
0.14
River Park/West Farms 
BX
Boston Road
180th Street
Bronx Park S
0.10
Bronx Park S
Boston Road
Bryant Ave
0.05
St. Mary's Park/South Bronx
BX
Jackson Ave
143rd St
147th St
0.21
McCarren Park/Greenpoint
BK
Nassau
Banker St
Lorimer St
0.14
Maria Hernandez Park/Bushwick
BK
Suydam St
Knickerbocker Ave
Irving Ave
0.13
Cooper Park/E Williamsburg
BK
Sharon St
Morgan Ave
Olive St
0.16
Sternberg Park/Bushwick
BK
Leonard St
Montrose Ave
Boerum St
0.10
Korean War Veterans Plaza/Bk Heights
BK
Cadman Plaza East
Johnson St
Tillary St
0.07
Dome Playground/Kensington
BK
38th Street
Dahill Road
15th Ave
0.37
Cobble Hill Park/Cobble Hill
BK
Congress St
Clinton St
Henry St
0.10
Jackie Robinson Park/Hamilton Heights
MN
Edgecombe Ave
St. Nicholas Pl
145th St
0.51
Claremont Park/Claremont
BX
Clay Ave
173rd St
Claremont Parkway
0.25
North Shore Esplande Park/St. George
SI
Bank Street
Jersey St
Parking Garage Driveway
0.50
Total mileage  2.83


In April, the Mayor and Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced that 40 miles of streets citywide would be opened by the end of May to allow greater social distancing, with a plan to expand to a total of 100 miles in the weeks and months ahead. 

Pedestrians and cyclists can use the roadbed of each open street. No through traffic is permitted, with remaining vehicle traffic limited to local deliveries, pick-ups/drop-offs, necessary city service, utility, and emergency vehicles only. Such drivers are alerted to be hyper-vigilant and to drive at 5 MPH along these routes. Open streets hours will be from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM but may vary slightly depending on staff availability.

The City will use barrels, signage, and other barriers to create temporary dedicated cycling space that builds on this March’s addition of lanes on a section of Manhattan’s 2nd Avenue and on Smith Street in Brooklyn. Crews will begin Thursday on lower Broadway in Manhattan from Barclay Street to Morris Street. The lanes announced today may be phased into permanent lanes as city resources come back online and as DOT gathers additional feedback from affected community boards and elected officials.

Other protected bike lanes, to be installed on a rolling basis over the next two weeks, include:

Boro
Street
From
To
Mileage
Queens
Crescent St
Queens Plaza N
Hoyt Ave N
.98
Manhattan
Broadway
Barclay St
Morris St
.50
Manhattan
38th Street/39th Street
1st Ave
11th Ave
3.9
Brooklyn
4th Ave
1st St
Flatbush Ave
1.4
Brooklyn
Ashland Pl/Navy St
Hanson Pl
Sands St
1.1
Brooklyn
Flatbush Ave
Grand Army Plaza
Ocean Ave
1.3
Total mileage



9.18

"As we continue our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, we are also working to help New Yorkers travel more safely by bringing new temporary bike lanes and open streets to more neighborhoods, including the South Bronx, Upper Manhattan, Bushwick and Kensington," said NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We thank the NYPD and all the BIDs and other community organizations that are stepping up to help us expand this important initiative. As we continue to announce more of these projects in the coming weeks, we especially want to hear from residents of neighborhoods around the five boroughs who want open streets but may not have formal community partners to help with implementation.”

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Governor Cuomo Urges New Yorkers to Wear Their Masks Out of Respect For the Nurses And Doctors Who Are Fighting to Save Lives


Governor Cuomo: "This mask says I respect the nurses and the doctors who killed themselves through this virus to save other people. And I respect the nurses and the doctors, so I'm not going to infect anyone, or allow anyone else to be infected unnecessarily so I don't cause more stress on the nurses and the doctors."

Cuomo: "This mask says, I respect the essential workers who get up every day, and drive the bus, or drive the train, or deliver the food, or keep the lights on so that I can stay home and I can stay safe. It says I respect others. And I respect you. And that is a statement that we should all be willing to make any day. But especially in the middle of this."

  When you wear a mask, you say, I respect you. That's what the mask says to everyone you walk past. I respect you. I respect you. I respect your health, I respect your privacy, I respect your space, I respect you. I can do anything I want with myself. This is America. But I respect you. And out of respect for you, I wear this mask.

This mask says I respect the nurses and the doctors who killed themselves through this virus to save other people. And I respect the nurses and the doctors, so I'm not going to infect anyone, or allow anyone else to be infected unnecessarily so I don't cause more stress on the nurses and the doctors.

This mask says, I respect the essential workers who get up every day, and drive the bus, or drive the train, or deliver the food, or keep the lights on so that I can stay home and I can stay safe. It says I respect others. And I respect you. And that is a statement that we should all be willing to make any day. But especially in the middle of this.

Yes, I want individuals to be informed so they make the right decision, but it's about us at the end of the day, right. It's a mindset that says it's not about me, it's about we. And we have reciprocal responsibilities, and a collective and a mutuality that says, I'm going to respect you, and help you, and you're going to help me, and respect me. That's how your battle community spread, with community unity. That's what the mask says.

Governor Cuomo Directs Hospitals to Prioritize COVID-19 Testing for Children


State is Investigating Approximately 100 Reported Cases & 3 Deaths Related to COVID Illness in Children with Symptoms Similar to an Atypical Kawasaki Disease and Toxic Shock-Like Syndrome 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed hospitals statewide to prioritize COVID-19 testing for children displaying symptoms similar to an atypical Kawasaki disease and toxic shock-like syndrome. The State is currently investigating approximately 100 reported cases in New York where children - predominantly school-aged - are experiencing these symptoms possibly due to COVID-19. The illness has taken the lives of three young New Yorkers, including a 5-year old in New York City, a 7-year old in Westchester County and a teenager in Suffolk County.

"We have been behind this virus every step of the way and even as we are now beginning to see the numbers on the decline, the virus is still surprising us," Governor Cuomo said. "Initially we thought COVID-19 didn't affect children, and now we're dealing with a disturbing issue where we have about 100 cases of an inflammatory disease in children that seems to be created by the virus. New York is leading the investigation of this situation and we are advising all hospitals and medical providers to prioritize diagnostic testing for any children that are displaying symptoms of this illness."

New Yorkers should seek immediate care if a child has:

  • Prolonged fever (more than five days)
  • Difficulty feeding (infants) or is too sick to drink fluids
  • Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting
  • Change in skin color - becoming pale, patchy and/or blue
  • Trouble breathing or is breathing very quickly
  • Racing heart or chest pain
  • Decreased amount of frequency in urine
  • Lethargy, irritability or confusion

At the request of the CDC, the state is helping to develop the national criteria for identifying and responding to COVID-related illness. The State Department of Health is also partnering with the NY Genome Center and Rockefeller University to conduct a genome and RNA sequencing study to better understand COVID-related illnesses in children and the possible genetic basis of this syndrome. New York State is also notifying 49 other states across the country of emerging cases of COVID-related illness in children.

At the direction of Governor Cuomo, the State Department of Health has issued an advisory about this serious inflammatory disease, called "Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Associated with COVID-19," to inform healthcare providers of the condition, as well as to provide guidance for testing and reporting. Health care providers, including hospitals, are required to report to the Department of Health all cases of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome potentially associated with COVID-19 in those under 21 years of age.

Though most children who get COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms, in the United Kingdom, a possible link has also been reported between pediatric COVID-19 and serious inflammatory disease. The inflammatory syndrome has features which overlap with Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome and may occur days to weeks after acute COVID-19 illness. It can include persistent fever, abdominal symptoms, rash, and even cardiovascular symptoms requiring intensive care.

Early recognition by pediatricians and referral to a specialist including to critical care is essential. Molecular and serological testing for COVID-19 in children exhibiting the above symptoms is recommended. The majority of patients have tested positive for COVID-19, some on molecular testing for SARS-COV-2, others on serological testing.

MAYOR DE BLASIO on COVID-19 - May 12, 2020


Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well, good morning, everybody. The past few days we've focused on the progress we've made in this city, throughout this city, and how it relates back to everything that you have done, your hard work. I am very, very clear about the fact that socially social distancing isn't easy. Shelter in place isn't easy. Even remembering to wear a face covering all the time isn't easy, but New Yorkers have done it overwhelmingly, and consistently with a lot of strength, a lot of discipline. So, we have talked about how that has given us now a chance, having done a lot to get to a stronger place to go on the offensive, to do the things that will contain this disease further and move us towards a better situation. Now, we've talked about some of the things that we're going to need to do. We're going to need to have the most extensive ability to trace people around the city who have been exposed to disease, to get them the help they need, to get them to isolation if they need that in one of the hotels, all the services that go with that. We've talked about that whole apparatus that has to be built, and obviously the grassroots piece intensifying our grassroots efforts. More community efforts like the community clinics I spoke about yesterday, fortifying them, strengthening them, helping them with new tools to deepen their work. More and more telemedicine, more and more support and personnel to reach deeper into communities. These are the characteristics of going on the offensive. These are the characteristics of being able to move forward in a coordinated way to beat back this disease. 

Right now, at our public hospitals and clinics, we have capacity for just over 5,000 tests a day across 23 sites. And again, every single one of these tests counts for the everyday New Yorker. It gives you information you desperately need about your own status, but of course it is crucial to our ability to fight the disease everywhere, and to lay that foundation for the ability to trace the disease and follow up with each and every case over time. But we've got to get to the point where testing is much more widespread around this city. It will be done in stages, but it's absolutely a requirement if we're going to win this fight to have testing be widespread.

I'm announcing 12 new Health + Hospitals sites, and these will be expanding over the next three weeks. So, during the month of May. First, starting next week, week of May 18th, two new sites. In Manhattan in Washington Heights. In Brooklyn, in Midwood. So, when you take where we are today, about 5,100 tests per day in our Health and Hospitals sites, that's going to add another 1,200 or so. That gets us in the course of next week up to 6,300 per day. Then the following week, the week of May 25th, we will add 10 new sites. In Staten Island, three sites, Prince's Bay, Concord and Port Richmond. In Queens, one site in Woodside. In Manhattan, a site in East Harlem. In Brooklyn, sites in sunset park, Bay Ridge and Canarsie. And in the Bronx, in Fordham Manner and Melrose. So, add that into the equation. So again, by next week we get the sites up. It takes us to 6,300 tests per day. When you add those additional 10 sites, that will add 4,400 tests per day more. Therefore, by the week of May 25th we'll be at 10,700 tests per day at Health and Hospitals sites alone. By the week of May 25th when you add everything together, we'll be in the range of about 20,000 tests day. I want to see us in the months ahead, get to 50,000 tests a day, and then ideally go beyond that. The criteria for who gets tested will keep evolving as more and more testing becomes available, and we'll have more to say on that in the coming days, but it stands to reason. As we reach deeper and deeper into the city, we want more and more people to participate. 

Test and trace. Remember testing is important for every individual who gets tested, and tells you something absolutely vital for yourself and your family, and helps you know how to handle the situation you're in. But what we want to do for everyone, is build out the tracing element of this. Finding out if someone tests positive, who have been the other contacts that they've had, close contacts who need to be evaluated in many cases will need to be tested as well. So, the goal here is to trace people, and then for those who do require support and isolation, to make sure that happens seamlessly. Once someone's identified as needing that isolation, and needing that option, to get them there, the transportation to get them there, the medical support once they're there, food, laundry, you name it, all of that has to be put together. It has to be constant. It has to be something that people can access quickly. And when they're done and they're safe, they go back home. And then of course there's more people who will need to take advantage of the isolation. So, it's a nonstop effort, always having a room available for anyone who needs it, and that's crucial. I want people to be very, very clear about this. We're building out a test and trace capacity with the goal of making sure there is an isolation location for anyone who needs it. And we have a lot of hotel capacity that we already control, and we can get a lot more as needed. So, we'll build it as big as it needs to be.

Last week announced the executive leadership of our test and trace corps. We are now bringing two more leaders in to build out this leadership further to oversee the tracing and isolation operations. And each of these pieces is a really big job unto itself, given the scale of this city. So, we looked for people who were really good, really talented, really experienced, and could handle the sheer intensity of what we were asking them to do. So first, our new Director of Tracing Dr. Neil Vora. Neil Vora is someone who since 2015 has served in our Health Department as Director of Disease Control Informatics Data and Outbreak Response. That is a mouthful, but, but a very important job. And he is someone with tremendous expertise in tracing infectious diseases. In fact, so much so that in 2014 working with the Centers for Disease Control nationally, he literally went to West Africa in search of information on Ebola and literally went into caves in West Africa to learn about the bats. Who were the carriers of Ebola and rabies. Talk about hands-on, talk about a can-do spirit. Dr. Vora has proven by his actions that he is someone who is going to go out there and get the job done no matter what it takes. He's also overseeing New York City's Ebola monitoring and Zika Testing Coordination Program. So, he has dealt with tough situations before, and brings so much expertise and spirit to this effort. So, we welcome him. We welcome Dr. Vora as our new Director of Tracing.

Now, the team he will lead, the contact tracers, their job will be to identify each and every case. Dr. Vora knows from the work he's been doing already as a key member of our COVID-19 response effort, that we've got to make sure that that is good and precise work, but then we also have to make sure there's the right hand off to the team that will manage the isolation for all new Yorkers who need it. And so, to coordinate our isolation team, the new director of our isolation effort will be Dr. Amanda Johnson. She is currently the Senior Director of Ambulatory Care Integration at Health and Hospitals.

Now, Dr. Johnson is not only a great physician herself, but she has built a career on helping other physicians to build their skills, to really understand their patients and everything that's going to take to get someone through the whole process from the beginning of their challenge or disease identified to full recovery. She was chief resident at the university of California at San Francisco and also there and in her current work at Health and Hospitals. Her focus was on teaching residents, teaching doctors to care for the whole person, to care for the patient from beginning to end, to make sure that there was that continuity, and this is so important to the work she will do directing our isolation effort. Also, a bonus qualification, she has a joint MBA, MD from Harvard. So, her background is not only as a doctor but also with an operational mindset, a business mindset of how to make something big and complex come together. The isolation team that Dr. Johnson will put together will make sure that people have a seamless experience and we want to encourage those in need isolation to take advantage of it, to know it's there for them, to know it's free to know, to know it will be an easy, straightforward process. And in that vein the actual hiring of the tracers is moving rapidly, we have the generals, but now we need the army. And 7,000 applications have come in so far and we're still encouraging more because as I've said, we're starting with a certain number, but this effort is going to grow out easily, could take us to the five to 10,000 range. So, we want people with public health background to apply and apply right away at nyc.gov/traceteam. Again, nyc.gov/traceteam put your application in immediately. And I have an update today that the first 535 contact tracers are now being trained through the Johns Hopkins university training initiative sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. As they complete their training and they're ready to go, those tracers go into action right away. So, this effort is moving quickly, our goal is to have 2,500 tracers in play by the beginning of June on the field doing this good work. 

We have found a great leader to serve in the role of executive director announcing day that Grace Bonilla will be Executive Director of the task force. She has been doing an extraordinary job since 2017 as the Administrator of the Human Resources Administration, she'll continue in that role but also take on this important responsibility. Her whole life has been spent helping vulnerable New Yorkers and folks who are not getting their fair share, this is what she has focused on. She is a lifelong New Yorker, born and raised in Queens, she understands life in this City. She also understands the immigrant experience coming from an immigrant family. She has done amazing work before government as well and including as CEO of the committee for Hispanic Children and Families and she was one of those unsung heroes who helped us to put together the pre-K initiative. And the very beginning of the administration, we had a senior advisory group in 2014 that helped us figure out how to rapidly put together pre-K. And it was a group that immensely contributed to that success in the first months of this administration. So, Grace has done so much and we're so happy she'll be taking on this role. The goal here is clear, right now, what can our city agencies do as part of this immediate response to help address these disparities and then go beyond to contribute to all the thinking, the planning, the, the bigger changes that we're going to need in this City that we'll be working on over the next 20 months, the more structural change as well. 

Okay. Let's turn to another topic and this topic, this is really on our minds and it really has grabbed us all just in the last week or two. It's sobering, it's bluntly frightening and I want to say to parents out there of, you're hearing this information about pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome. And it sounds scary, it does sound scary, I'm speaking as a parent myself. It's something we did not see essentially throughout March and April, this was not something that the health care community saw on their radar and then in the last week or two, suddenly we're seeing something that's very troubling. And we're combining the efforts of health care professionals all over New York City to understand what it is and how to deal with it. We're talking about characteristics that have been seen before but now are being experienced through the prism of this pandemic, that's what's causing particular concern. So I'm going to give you an update on the numbers here and they continue to grow and that's why we are really, really concerned and really want to get the word out to all family members to keep an eye on their kids and to act immediately if they see a problem. As of the latest information we have 52 confirmed cases, so that number has continued to grow, 10 cases pending right now for this City. Of the 62 cases, so the 52 confirmed in the 10 they're still being evaluated, 25 tested positive for COVID-19 and another 22 percent – excuse me, another 22 had COVID-19 antibodies. So again, 25 individual children tested positive for COVID-19, 22 had COVID-19 antibodies. We have lost one child and that has made it even more sobering and even more an area of concern to all of us. But again, what we understand so far from our medical community is early detection, early action makes all the difference here. So again, the symptoms, persistent fever, again, persistent fever, rash, abdominal pain, vomiting and if you see any combination, especially be concerned. Dr. Barbot, I thought yesterday I gave a really great description that every parent could understand, or every family member could understand. If your child is off, if your child doesn't have energy of your child, is not themselves, and has at least one of these symptoms, call immediately to your doctor, your health care provider. If you see multiple symptoms even more urgent, we want people not to hesitate here and if you don't have a regular doctor, call 3-1-1 and you'll be connected to a Health and Hospitals clinician. This is something where the quicker a parent reports to them, the quicker a health care professional can evaluate, the more chance of protecting the child and seeing through them, seeing them through this challenge safely.

Consistent results now, every single night, last night, 362 individuals were engaged by our outreach workers and again, specially trained police officers who work with the homeless, 360 to engage 211 accepted help, 178 went to shelter, 33 went to hospitals. Every single night, we're seeing the same things, high level of engagement, large number of homeless individuals being engaged, the majority accepting help. We've never seen that before, it keeps happening night after night, I'm sure it won't happen perfectly consistently every night. But if the first week is any indication this is a game changer and we're going to put everything we've got into making this work because I think it could fundamentally change the future of homelessness in the City for the better and get a really large number of people off the streets once and for all.

Okay, let's now talk about the daily indicators. Overall, the work you've done has been great and the indicators have really, really moved over the weeks. But we've got to keep going, we had a really good day, yesterday, three going down together. Today, we do not have as good a day, but I'll qualify it by saying where things went up it was very by very little amounts. We want it all to go down consistently when they all go down consistently it says something really profound has happened and that's the gateway to opening up more and reducing restrictions. But today little too much of a mixed bag. So, indicator one daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19 that is down from 55 to 51. And I always want to celebrate when only 51 people are going into the hospital for COVID-19 compared to where we were a few weeks ago. But the sheer numbers when they're this good, that is something really to be happy about. That one went down. Let's keep that going down. Now, on the number of people – indicator two – daily number of people in the ICUs across Health + Hospitals for suspected COVID-19, that number went up. It only went up by a small amount in the scheme of things from 537 to 550, but it still went up. That's not what we want obviously. And that's a number that's still higher than anyone would want - that many people still fighting for their lives. So, we got to see more progress there. And then indicator three, percent of people tested positive for COVID-19 citywide – it went up by only one percentage point. Again, not what we want, but only one percent up. So, overall trend line, very good. Daily results, not yet what we're looking for. Stick to it because we know what you're doing is working. Let's just keep doing it. Let's keep trying to do it better.

TEST AND TRACE: MAYOR DE BLASIO BUILDS OUT TRACING AND ISOLATION OPERATION


12 new NYC Health+ Hpitosals testing sites will open by May 25

  Mayor de Blasio today announced that the City will double its testing capacity at NYC Health + Hospitals and open 12 new testing sites by May 25th. To support the City’s goal of testing and tracing every New Yorker who needs it, Dr. Neil Vora and Dr. Amanda Johnson will oversee the Test and Trace Corp’s Tracing and Isolation operation. The City also announced today that Grace Bonilla will serve as the Executive Director of the City’s Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity, building on the City's commitment to confront longstanding inequities throughout the recovery process.

“Widespread testing is our best defense against the virus,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.  “Our mission to test and trace every New Yorker in need of a test is an urgent one, which is why we are building out an operation totally unprecedented in scale—giving us the ammunition we need to defeat COVID-19 once and for all.”

Additional Testing Capacity
With the goal of testing 20,000 New Yorkers per day citywide by May 25th, the City will open 12 new NYC Health + Hospitals COVID-19 testing sites. Two of these sites, in Washington Heights and Midwood respectively, will open the week of May 18th. The remaining 10 sites in the following neighborhoods will open by May 25th:

Staten Island
Prince’s Bay
Concord
Port Richmond

Queens 
Woodside

Manhattan
East Harlem

Brooklyn
Sunset Park
Bay Ridge
Canarsie

Bronx
Fordham Manor
Melrose

Test and Trace
The first 535 contact tracers have now completed their 5-hour contact training from Johns Hopkins University, building on the City’s goal to train 1,000 tracers by June 1st. Dr. Neil Vora, the Test and Trace Corps’ newly-announced Director of Tracing, will oversee hired tracers and the City’s broader tracing operation.  He has served as the Director for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Disease Control Informatics, Data, and Outbreak Response since 2015, where he oversaw the City’s Ebola and Zika testing coordination. To ensure traced patients are supported and connected to care, Dr. Amanda Johnson will oversee the City’s isolation strategy as Director of Isolation. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Ambulatory Care Integration at NYC Health + Hospitals.

Racial Inclusion and Equity Task Force
Grace Bonilla will serve as the Executive Director of the City’s Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity.  Bonilla is a native New Yorker who has dedicated her career to fighting for the city’s most vulnerable. Bonilla will run the task force while still serving in her current role as HRA Administrator.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the fatal consequences of racial disparities in America. This task force is comprised of officials from across the Administration to engage hardest-hit communities, monitor response and recovery efforts in those neighborhoods, and work with City officials and agencies to narrow long-standing racial and economic disparities. The task force is co-chaired by First Lady Chirlane McCray, Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson, as well as recently appointed co-Chair Deputy Mayor Dr. Raul Perea-Henze.

“This is a defining moment for our city and in the midst of this historic crisis, there is an urgency to address the fatal and devastating  consequences in our communities hardest hit by COVID-19. The pandemic has exposed long-standing racial disparities, but we will not spend time studying the problems, admiring the problems or lamenting the problems. Under Grace’s leadership, we will put forward recommendations that will help inform our community conversations and the immediate medium and long-term actions we will take,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray. “It is no small task to serve as the Executive Director of this imperative task force and we are fortunate to have Grace, who has decades of experience fighting on behalf of New Yorkers, lead us in this effort.”

“As we reflect on the impact of COVID-19 across the five boroughs and prepare to restart our great City, it is our solemn responsibility to acknowledge, analyze, and address the inequalities laid bare by this crisis,” said Executive Director of the Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity Grace Bonilla. “While this virus has further exposed how deeply embedded inequality is across so much of our society, we are presented now with a unique opportunity to rebuild a City that is stronger and fairer than ever before. Only by taking this opportunity, learning from this tragedy, and reckoning with the responsibility we have to communities citywide can we build a real foundation of shared renewal for all. As Executive Director of the Task force on Racial Inclusion and Equity, I am honored to take on this mission on behalf of all New Yorkers and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure the society we remake truly reflects the depth and breadth of our City’s character.”

“We are thrilled to have Grace serve as our Executive Director on this Task Force,” said J. Phillip Thompson, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives. “As a life-long New Yorker with extensive experience working within the non-profit sector and City government, she understands the needs of our hardest-hit communities and will be a strong voice in our fight for a fair recovery that leaves no community behind.”

“The disparate impact of the COVID-19 epidemic among our communities in New York City reinforces the urgency of the de Blasio Administration's mission to ensure fairness and opportunities for all New Yorkers,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Raul Perea-Henze. “As a proven administrator and dedicated public servant, Grace Bonilla will lead the Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity in generating systemic solutions that incorporate the voices of the most vulnerable who are deeply affected by this crisis, to build the foundation for a stronger, more sustainable and inclusive recovery.”

HISPANIC EVANGELICAL CHURCHES PROVIDING HELP DURING THIS PANDEMIC