MAYOR DE BLASIO PROVIDES UPDATES ON NEW YORK CITY’S COVID-19 RESPONSE March 8, 2020

New Yorkers should text COVID to 692-692 to get regular updates on the latest developments regarding COVID-19

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today issued additional guidance regarding COVID-19. A new case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the Bronx today, bringing the citywide total to 13. 

“As we continue to see community transmission between people who have no direct connection to travel to one of the affected countries, we are asking New Yorkers to adjust their routines to stem the spread of the virus where they can," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I cannot reiterate enough that if you feel sick, stay home; we need every New Yorker to do their part to keep their neighbors safe.”

Protecting Yourself and Others

To reduce overcrowding, the City is advising private-sector employers and employees to consider telecommuting where possible and to consider staggered start times for workers. Those who take the subways at rush hour should consider commuting to work via alternative modes of transportation, like biking or walking, if possible.

Special Guidance for Vulnerable New Yorkers

The City is advising those with chronic lung disease, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or a weakened immune system to avoid unnecessary events and gatherings. If you have family or friends who have one of these conditions, do not visit them if you feel sick.

Those with a history of smoking and vaping are more likely to experience serious illness related to COVID-19. For help quitting, call 866-NY-QUITS.

Travel for City Employees

The City has ordered local government workers to cancel all non-essential international travel, effective immediately.

Keeping Kids Safe in Schools

The City will hire an additional 85 school nurses to ensure every district school building has a full-time nurse by the end of the week. All international school trips have been cancelled for the remainder of the school year. After sending a survey to nonpublic schools to help identify shortage of paper towels, soap, hand sanitizers, and medical supplies, the Department of Education will distribute materials to any school experiencing shortages.

Guidance for Doctors and Medical Providers

With private lab testing now available, the Health Department is sending guidance to providers to test patients with respiratory illnesses who have been admitted to the hospital but are not in the ICU. For non-hospitalized patients with fever and either cough or shortness of breath, priority will be given to patients 50 years and older or individuals of any age who have chronic conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, weakened immune systems, or chronic lung disease. Those with COVID-19 symptoms and underlying chronic conditions are at greater risk for serious illness if they contract the virus.

Supporting Small Businesses

The City will provide relief for small businesses across the City seeing a reduction in revenue because of COVID-19. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees who have seen sales decreases of 25% or more will be eligible for zero interest loans of up to $75,000 to help mitigate losses in profit. The City is also offering small businesses with fewer than 5 employees a grant to cover 40% of payroll costs for two months (an average of $6,000) to help retain employees. Eligible owners who would like to learn more about these programs should call 311 for assistance.

New Yorkers should continue to exercise basic precautions while going about their lives: wash your hands, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing. Starting Monday, the City is expanding it’s public health advertising campaign to ensure New Yorkers have the facts and resources they need to protect themselves from COVID-19.

If you have any questions on finding medical care call 311. To get regular updates on the latest developments with coronavirus in New York City text COVID to 692-692. You will receive regular SMS texts with the latest news and developments.

Currently 19 New York City residents are under mandatory quarantine and 2,176 are under voluntary home isolation. Those under mandatory quarantine receive daily calls and twice weekly unannounced visits by DOHMH. Upon identification, all individuals under voluntary home isolation will receive calls and texts with information and reminders to call a doctor or DOHMH if they feel sick or develop symptoms, such as fever and cough or shortness of breath

Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance Meeting Monday March 2, 2020

The scheduled guest speaker for the March meeting was Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. A few hours before the meeting VNNA President Bernadette Ferrara announced that the scheduled guest Bronx DA Clark was sick and would have to be rescheduled at a later date. 

49th Precinct Neighborhood Coordination Officers Nicewicz and Brancatelli  of Sector A went over crime stats, saying that while murder and rape continue to decline, the five other category crimes continue to increase for February for the second month in a row since the New No Cash Bail law went into effect. They then answered some questions from the audience about quality of life issues. 

Elected offiaial representative were next, and VNNA President Ferrara spoke about the proposed 200 Adult Men's Homeless shelter for 1400 Blondell Avenue.several members of the audience opposed opposition, and then the discussion turned to favor a family homeless shelter if Community Board 11 was to have a shelter placed in it. Community Board is responsible for 394 Homeless families for a total of 849 homeless individuals, according to the Department of Homeless Services. Since these people have been placed in other community board areas the city will place homeless people from other parts of the Bronx and city in CB 11.

Officers Nicewicz and Brancatelli go over some crime prevention tips.

The executive board of the VNNA are between the NCO officers of the 49th Precinct. (L - R) John Messinger Treasurer, Sharlene Jackson-Mendez Vice-President, Bernadette Ferrara President, Marion Manfredi Secretary, Bob Nolan Senior Advisor, and Charmone Peets Sergeant at Arms

MAYOR DE BLASIO PROVIDES UPDATES ON NEW YORK CITY’S COVID-19 RESPONSE March 7, 2020

  “This morning, we confirmed 7 new cases of COVID-19. We are seeing more community transmission between people who have no direct connection to travel to one of the affected countries,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. I urge New Yorkers to remain vigilant—not alarmed—and take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones.  As we continue to see more cases of COVID-19, we will be providing as much guidance to New Yorkers as possible to keep our city safe.”

New Confirmed Cases in New York City

-Two additional family members of an Upper West Side man in his 50s tested positive –wife and 11 year old daughter. They are currently in mandatory quarantine and are mildly symptomatic.

-A male Uber driver in his 30s is currently hospitalized in Queens. He is not a TLC licensed driver, and drives on Long Island.

-Two women in Brooklyn in their 60s and 70s became symptomatic after returning on a cruise from Egypt with a known cluster of cases. They are both at home in mandatory quarantine.  

-A male in his 30s from Brooklyn is currently in the hospital in serious condition after returning from a trip to Italy.

-Additionally, a Manhattan man in his late 50s tested positive after spending time with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 in Chile. He was discharged from the hospital this morning and is under mandatory quarantine.

As of this morning, 18 New York City residents are under mandatory quarantine and 2,255 are under voluntary quarantine. Those under mandatory quarantine receive daily calls and twice weekly unannounced visits by DOHMH. Starting today, upon identification, all individuals under voluntary quarantine will receive a robo-call and text with information as well as frequents texts reminding to call your doctor or DOHMH if you develop symptoms.

Yesterday, the mayor directed those who are showing any symptoms should stay home, and contact a healthcare provider. If their symptoms do not improve they should see a doctor immediately. As the City pivots to a lower threshold of monitoring for those showing symptoms, those who are well should continue to take basic precautions while going about their lives: wash your hands, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing.

New York City disease detectives have determined new information about COVID-19. The virus can only transmit when bodily fluid, such as through a sneeze, cough, or spit, is transferred from a person who has the virus, directly into another person. Disease detectives have determined that the virus does not survive for more than two or three minutes in open air.

New York City Health + Hospitals

-Issued revised system-wide guidance on managing suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients in accordance with CDC, NYS DOH and NYC DOHMH guidelines.

Conducting patient drills at all 5 NYC H + H skilled nursing facilities to assess their ability to swiftly assess, triage, and treat patients.

-System-wide intranet-based, “COVID-19 Guidance and Resources” webpage is live, serving as our single source of information for H + H workforce members. Major topics include:

1.         Clinical Guidance

2.         Equipment and Supplies

3.         Policies

4.         Training Resources

5.         Patient & Community Tools

6.         FAQs

7.         Leadership Messages

8.         Public Health Partner Links

9.         Email Us

-Participated in Citywide Pandemic Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) Initiatives and Workshop, to ensure seamless H + H essential corporate location services (e.g., Medical & Professional Affairs, Emergency Management, Finance & Payroll.)

-Conducted System-wide CEO, COO, CMO, CNO leadership briefing / workshop to review current status and next steps, led by System-wide CMO / Incident Commander.

Department of Education

-DOE is stocking every DOE school with supplies necessary to protect our kids. DOE will be constantly monitoring current levels in schools and spot checks to confirm supplies are stocked. DOE remains in constant contact with the Office of Emergency Management.

-For all non-DOE school (including charters, non-public schools, etc) approved disinfectants will be available for pickup Monday at distributions centers across the city. All schools have been informed supplies are available. Additionally, today DOE is sending a survey to all these schools to determine current supplies and additional needs.

-Over February break, there were 12 school trips to countries that now have a level 2 or 3 travel advisory. There were no travel advisories for these countries at the time of departure. The Health Department does not consider these students to be at risk and none are currently showing symptoms. The DOE is contacting all students and staff on these trips to instruct them to seek medical care if they are feeling symptomatic.

-All three teachers who traveled to Italy and who were tested for COVID-19 have tested negative.

-Updates on DOE guidance can be found here: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/health-and-wellness/coronavirus-update

Department for the Aging

-DFTA has issued a fourth guidance to all City contracted and non-contracted senior providers on cleaning and readiness.

-DFTA has begun visits to over 600 senior congregate settings weekly to ensure implementation of congregate setting protocols. DOHMH, DFTA, NYCHA, HPD, HDC, NYCEM, and PEU are having daily meetings regarding the City’s elderly population.

Department of Social Services

-DSS has directed outreach workers, with guidance form Health and Hospitals who identify a person with potential symptoms via questions and observation to do the following:

-Call the Joint Command Center for the deployment of an NYPD Homeless Team (HOU) with a nurse or the FDNY to take the person to an H&H facility. Outreach workers will remain with client until transport arrives.

-If the client tests positive, the client remains at the H+H facility and outreach teams are to work with DOHMH detectives to determine the client’s contacts and areas where the client has been.

DSS has convened 12 internal working groups to develop a continuity of operations plan specific for COVID-19 as well as specific operational plans to ensure New Yorkers receive the services and support they need. Discriminating against passengers is unacceptable and illegal. If any rider experiences discrimination, call 311.

-HRA has posted educational materials on safe hygiene in all of their 71 locations as well as providing the COVID-19 fact sheet in multiple languages.

Department of Consumer Affairs

-DCA continues to monitor sites of reported price gouging and will refer reported instances to the New York State Attorney General.

-Earlier this week, DCWP declared facemasks temporarily in short supply to prevent stores from overcharging New Yorkers. Stores found to be overcharging consumers will be issued a violation with a fine up to $500.

-DCWP encourages consumers who feel they were overcharged to file a complaint at nyc.gov/dcwp or by contacting 311. DCWP also encourages consumers to file a complaint if they feel a store tried deceive them about the quality or effectiveness of the product, availability, or price.

Taxi and Limousine Commission

-TLC sent guidance to its drivers to advise drivers that, while COVID-19, is not known to transmit through air on casual contact, drivers should consider keeping their windows open when transporting passengers and not use-recirculated air in cars.

-TLC continues to advise licensed drivers, vehicle owners and operators are encouraged to clean their vehicles at least every 24 hours, using standard cleaning and disinfection protocol and cleaners such as Clorox, Purrell, Peroxide and multi-purpose cleaner, with special attention to disinfecting surfaces and objects that are touched often, such as door handles, armrests, and seatbelts, as appropriate.

-TLC sent an anti-discrimination notice to 600 TLC employees and will resend guidance sent to all licensed drivers.

-Discriminating against passengers in unacceptable and illegal. If any rider experiences discrimination, call 311.

Department for Small Business Services

-SBS has distributed information to business owners on how to prepare for slowing sales and guidance on what to do with employees who may be sick.

Department of Sanitation

-DSNY is expanding cleaning protocols of fleet and facilities

Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

-Distributed materials to ENDGBV Family Justice Centers (FJC), which are located near all borough court houses and posted materials in waiting rooms for survivors.

New York City Children’s Cabinet

-Disseminating educational materials on COVID-19 to Children’s Cabinet Community Coalitions partners via Robin Hood Foundation Fund for Early Learning (FUEL) grant.

Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities

-MOPD published a public service announcement in American Sign Language on the Coronavirus, using DOHMH language: https://youtu.be/Uu7PRKGK1_s. This has been distributed online through social media channels.

New York City Paid Sick Leave Law

Guidance to employees: Use your Paid Sick Leave & stay home if you or a family member is ill!

Guidance to employers: Ensure your employees know about & use their paid sick leave to keep everyone safe!

Under New York City law, all private sector workplaces with 5 or more employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year. Caring for oneself or a family member who is ill is exactly what paid sick leave is for.

·          Full time and part-time workers are covered.

·          Retaliation for taking sick leave is against the law.

·          Immigration status is irrelevant.

·          Employers cannot require employees to disclose health information.

For more information or to file a complaint call 311 or go to: www.nyc.gov/workers to connect to the Department of Consumer and Workplace Protection

If New Yorkers are the victim of a hate crime or discrimination:

If you are the victim of a hate crime or witness what you believe to be a hate crime, please call 911 or visit your nearest police precinct. NYPD officers will not ask about the immigration status of anyone seeking emergency assistance or help to report a crime.

          

Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes is monitoring incidents in New York City, and working with the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force. OPHC has engaged with community organizations throughout the city about COVID-19 and has disseminate DOHMH informational material to the Hate Violence Prevention Initiative. This is a network of 15 organizations that represent diverse communities throughout the city.

The City Commission on Human Rights is monitoring and responding to potential bias incidents due to fear and stigma around COVID-19 which may manifest themselves as harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, nation of origin, or other protected classes under the NYC Human Rights Law. If you experience any discrimination, dial 311 and ask for the Commission on Human Rights

CV - 19 Update March 6, 2020

  Bill de Blasio: Okay we have updates for you. First of all what you heard from the Governor earlier I want to emphasize here in the city. Obviously, this is this a new reality of community spread. So the fact is, even compared to a few days ago, we have a very different reality. When we began the week, our focus was on people who had traveled to effected countries overseas and those who had come in contact with people who traveled to those countries. What's happened in just the last few days is the initiation of community spread, meaning that these cases now are coming from within our communities in an untraceable fashion. That's going to lead to a series of changes.

So starting now, I'm going to offer some specific things that are starting to change in our approach. You'll hear more in the coming days. But let me first start with the overall numbers at this hour. At this point, still five confirmed cases of coronavirus, five individuals in New York City. We have an update on testing that will show a big jump in numbers compared to yesterday. This is the beginning of numbers starting to expand rapidly. So we have 47 negative now. That's about double where we were yesterday. And that's good. The number of negative tests continues to be strong. We have 40 outstanding tests at this moment. Now these numbers are very dynamic as new cases are being discovered, but right now that's the pertinent scorecard and we'll keep giving you updates as we get more information.

The community spread means we're going to have to determine some new strategies and it means it's going to be particularly dynamic. As we get more information, we're going to constantly update because sometimes we will learn something and it changes the approach and we want people to understand it in real time. What we have now that we didn't have as well, is our own information. So when we started dealing with this crisis, we were dependent on information from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and the broader medical literature. Now over these last days, we've started to get direct information from our own disease detectives and they have every day more and more information to work from. And we also are working, of course, very closely with the State Health Department and the cluster in Westchester is crucially providing us a lot of information. We of course, wish there were no cases at all. But when we see more and more cases, we actually learn from them and it helps us to understand how what's going on with this disease and how to address it.

A reminder to everyone, this is a brand new disease. The global medical community is still trying to understand it. There are still things that we just don't understand about this disease and again, it is a disease with no cure at this moment and no vaccine. So it is clear that we will learn by doing, our health professionals will learn by doing and get a better sense of this. We know one thing now from experience for sure, community spread means a greater ease with which this disease can be transmitted because it's just in more places. Even compared to a week ago, the likelihood of being in a place where someone had been infected by coronavirus was less than it is now. It has grown in the last week, so there's a volume issue here. There's just more places where more New Yorkers might come in contact with someone because the disease has been spreading out in the community. Now I remind you over the vast majority of people, they experienced very mild symptoms and have no lasting impact from this disease. There are people who may have it, don't even realize they have it. We've certainly seen that in some of the cases already. One of the children in the Westchester family had almost no manifestation of the disease. But the fact is it has spread substantially.

The other thing, and this is going to be a little graphic, so forgive me, but you will certainly understand what I'm saying. How it transmits from people to people. We've said from the beginning, it is not like the measles and I've asked our health professionals to be really clear and specific about this. Everything we know about this kind of disease, because it is part of a family of diseases is you're never going to have a situation where it becomes an airborne disease. Meaning it hangs in the air like measles does, like some other diseases do and can be contracted hours later after its presence in a room, for example. That is not coronavirus. What it is, is something that transmits through bodily fluids, but not all bodily fluids. So again, forgive the bluntness – a sneeze, a cough, if you spit and remember sometimes people spit inadvertently just talking energetically. That's how it can transmit, but not just that. It actually has to get into your body, which means basically your mouth, your nose, your eyes. Hands can also be the path.

If something's on your hand and you often, all of us have, we're touching our mouth, we're touching our nose, we're touching our eyes. People do it all the time. They don't even realize they're doing it. That's how it gets into you. It cannot just be any place else on your body or any place else in the air. It has to get directly into you. So the point being you kind of need a direct hit because it doesn't just hang in the air. It's also important to know, I’m sure people will have common sense questions. What if someone sneezed on a countertop? The disease doesn't last long, literally minutes and it's gone. I asked earlier, what if someone sneezed into someone's drinking water? It doesn't transmit through anything you ingest. What if someone sneezed on your soup? It does not transmit through something you ingest. It has to have come in mouth, nose, eyes, through directly breathing it in, directly breathing in someone sneeze or cough or spit. Or it gets on your hand, hand there to your body, but really soon thereafter because it doesn't stay alive very long in the open air. So just to make sure we are abundantly clear about what they call transmissibility.

So I'm going to go into some of the specific cases in a moment, but in light of the community spread, here is where we start to give some new guidance. And again, this is not yet invoking emergency powers and I hope we don't get to that point. This is guidance right now. We'll be very explicit day after day with any changes and if we ever get to the point of needing to use emergency powers. So I'm going to separate the guidance into two categories. Folks who are well and folks who have symptoms. And again, the symptoms are the symptoms you would normally associate with a common cold or flu.

If you're well and you don't have any symptoms, it's just go about the basic precautions. Wash your hands, use alcohol based hand sanitizer. Try not to be touching all the parts of your face that allow in the disease. Avoid handshakes. So I'm someone who shakes a lot of hands all day. Our Health Commissioner saying she would really prefer people tap elbows, not do handshakes while we get through this part of it. And be vigilant about symptoms. If you do get symptoms, if you get a fever, if you get a cough, if you get a sore throat, don't assume it's nothing. Assume it's something in this atmosphere.

Again, community spread has caused us to want to up the ante on our guidance to New Yorkers. So in light of that, if you do have the symptoms, if you have a fever, if you have a cough, if you have a runny nose, if you have congestion, stay home. Simple voluntary point, just do the smart thing. Stay home, don't go to work, don't go to school, don't go out on the town, don't go to a restaurant, don't go to a theater, just stay home. If it is the normal kind of sicknesses we have this time of year, as everyone knows over a few days that passes by and then you can go back about your life. If it turns out it's something more serious than obviously we want to get you help, but in the first instance, just a simple symptoms and nothing else. Stay home. Obviously the parents, the same guidance for your kids if your kids are sick, and we've said consistently and it still remains true, this disease again seems to be much more prevalent in the older folks than in kids. But if your kids are sick, just abundance of a caution. Keep them home. Alert your doctor as soon as you're sick. Again, if there's no extenuating circumstances like a travel nexus or other things that – or preexisting conditions, it was just an average healthy person having these kind of diseases we typically have this time of year. That's those kinds of symptoms. Call your doctor, let the doctor know what's going on. Give it a day or two. If you're getting well, that's great. If you're not getting well, we want you in.

We're going to talk about testing and the expansion of testing that has occurred. And the good news is for folks who are going to need testing, we have more capacity. Again, alerting your doctor immediately to everything. I want emphasize this folks, if you have travel history, if people in your family have travel history, that's still pertinent here. Even though the community spread is the new powerful reality we're dealing with, there's still that travel nexus, that's important. Also, preexisting conditions, crucially important – respiratory problems, heart disease, immune system problems. The doctor needs to know exactly what they're dealing with. And in the case of preexisting conditions, that's a case where probably they're going to want you to get tested right away. So as to the testing – we now have substantial new testing that has come online through the private sector. That is changing the numbers rapidly. So we've said in the course this week we could do dozens of tests in a day. As of now that is turning into hundreds of tests a day as we speak. We want to get up to thousands of tests per day capacity. We're on the way there, but what would help us immensely, and this is still where we need help from the federal government. We need the FDA to approve testing that is faster and more efficient than that, which is currently available. They have the capacity to do that. We've obviously made that request. So the number of tests we can perform is getting, those numbers are getting better. But the speed and efficiency of the test is still not what we want it to be. We need the FDA to help us. The faster we can get turnaround on results, the more we can do to address the situation.

Let me do an update on some of the individual cases. So, I talked about this morning, we have a man in Manhattan. And this directly relates to the original Westchester case. The gentleman who works at the law firm in Midtown, lives in New Rochelle. This is a direct nexus to that case via New Rochelle. The man in question is 51 years old. From what we know, no preexisting conditions, lives on the Upper West side, mildly symptomatic at this point and isolated at home. Married, his wife is 47 years old, has three daughters, ages eight, 10 and 11. All are mildly symptomatic. Essentially showing the kind of symptoms associated with a cold. All tested today. We're going to have the results later on. And the disease detectives have interviewed the families – the family members I should say, to clarify any contacts that they need to trace. And obviously we'll have that information ready and then we'll judge accordingly related to the test results.

Another case, which I think has been talked about publicly, and this spans a New York and New Jersey. 32-year-old health care worker, at Hackensack University Medical Center, in isolation, in stable condition. This individual has an apartment in Midtown, Manhattan that is his primary residence and also an apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The health officials in New Jersey have been working with us very closely and obviously with New York State Health officials as well. The disease detectives have done the interview in this case. I'm going to give you some of the information. There's some other pieces we're still confirming. We'll have more for you at the next briefing. He worked on February 29^th, seeing patients while symptomatic. But also while wearing a mask and gloves, saw ten patients but then went for care the next day. All patients had been identified and monitored. None are symptomatic. So none of those ten patients are symptomatic at this point. And this has obviously been a number of days since then. So that's a very good sign that so much time has passed. We are tracing any other contacts now. We'll have an update on that tomorrow.

Finally I'll just give you some quick Spanish in a moment, But one more update. The teachers that we talked about previously. So yesterday we talked about a teacher from James Madison High School, Brooklyn tested negative. That was the teacher went on the trip to Italy. 44 kids, and six other staff, still none have any symptoms. And again, we're almost at the two week mark. There were two other teachers who were on their own personal vacations over the winter break. One is a teacher and I will, let me say the most important part first. Both tested both negative. The second and third teachers both tested, both negative. One teaches at PS 369 in Brooklyn. One teaches at PS 130 in Lower Manhattan. So as soon as those teachers, who do not have coronavirus, but have been just generally sick, as soon as they are fully well, they'll all return to the classroom. But none of those teachers have coronavirus.

About this Event Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. in partnership with the Third Avenue Business Improvement District, Destination Tomorrow - the Bronx LGBT Center, New York State Department of Labor, the Bronx Private Industry Council, and the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation will host the 2020 LGBTQ+ Career Fair at Hostos Community College on Friday, March 20, 2020 at 1:00pm. Over 100 companies will be present and seek to recruit from the LGBTQ+ community to fill key positions. Participants will also have access to six (6) Career Readiness Workshops, On-Site Resume assistance, and one-on-one Career Coaches.

Free Attendee Registration - Click Here Check Out Participating Companies - Click Here Spread the Word, Share this Flyer - Click Here Fireside Chat: Getting Hired in New York State Karen Coleman Deputy Commissioner New York State Department of Labor Join New York State Department of Labor in a Fireside Chat centered on identifying your career track and making sure you get hired. New York’s economy is growing stronger every day and we have seen a huge increase in employment in The Bronx, coupled with a large drop in our unemployment numbers.  This is a direct result of improved partnerships between businesses, community-based organizations and government.  By working together, we can connect area businesses with the talent they need.   Seminar Sessions How to Structure Your Resume Have a resume? Need some advice on how to make it better?  Attend this seminar and have expert recruiters review your resume and provide feedback on what you can do to make yourself stand out.  Learn how to position yourself on paper and methods to convey your strengths to prospective employers. Interview 101: Dressing & Speaking Learn the basics of how to command an interview and stand out as a company's next hire.  Join hiring experts for a session on dressing for your interview and using language to strengthen your negotiating position. Marketing Yourself You know you're the most qualified person for the job - but how do you let a prospective employer know that?  This session focuses on marketing yourself to a prospective employer and identifies methods to bolster your credentials and leverage your professional experiences. Finding A Career That's Right For You We all need to start somewhere.  Finding the right career path can be challenging and knowing where to start is the key to beginning that journey.  Join industry leaders for a conversation about how to start a career search that is right for you. What's Your Profile Say About You - LinkedIn and Social Media Learn how to develop your personal social media strategy.  From LinkedIn to Facebook more and more employers are looking online to find out about prospective candidates.  Develop a plan for yourself that sets you apart from others while also cultivating your professional image. Leveraging Life Experiences Heavy on life experiences, but having a hard time making that transition to professional experiences?  Join recruiters from throughout New York City to assist you in synthesizing life experiences to position yourself for the job market.  Maybe you are a rockclimber? or have a passion for helping others.  These experiences, if described well, can make you a shining star during the interview process. Are Your a Prospective Employer? - Click Here For more information contact Javier Medrano, Deputy Director - Third Avenue Business Improvement District, jmedrano@thirdavenuebid.org, 718-665-3983