326 Days and Counting

 

I still have 326 days left in office.

Governor Cuomo Announces New Yorkers with Comorbidities and Underlying Conditions Can Make Appointments at State-Run Mass Vaccination Sites Beginning February 14

First Appointments Will Be Scheduled for February 15

Local Health Departments Determine How, Where, When to Schedule Appointments in Their Jurisdictions, as Early as February 14, With Vaccinations Beginning February 15

New Yorkers With Comorbidities and Underlying Conditions Must Provide a Doctor's Letter or Medical Information Evidencing Comorbidity or A Signed Certification Determined by A Local Government; State Will Audit Local Systems

NYS DOH Will Host a Call with County Executives and Local Health Departments to Review Vaccinating New Yorkers with Comorbidities and Underlying Conditions

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions can make appointments at state-run mass vaccination sites beginning February 14, with the first appointments scheduled for February 15. Excess vaccine supply meant for hospital workers can be used to open eligibility for New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions. Local health departments will determine how, where and when to schedule appointments in their jurisdictions, and those appointments will begin as early as February 15. No local jurisdiction should accept appointments until the allocations are known, and no earlier than February 14.

"As the state's effort to vaccinate health care workers nears completion this week, we are now shifting those doses to prioritize those New Yorkers with comorbidities and pre-existing conditions - a group which has felt the brunt of COVID's destructiveness first-hand," Governor Cuomo said. "While this is a great step forward in ensuring the most vulnerable among us have access to this life-saving vaccine, it's no secret that any time you're dealing with a resource this scarce, there are going to be attempts to commit fraud and game the system. That's why it's been critically important that we put safeguards in place to prevent bad actors from slowing the distribution process and we have done just that. Again, I want to remind newly eligible New Yorkers to please be patient when beginning to schedule appointments - we can only administer as many doses as the federal supply allows and we're continuing to fight for more every day." 

To show they have comorbidities or underlying conditions, New Yorkers must provide documentation as required by the facility where they are getting vaccinated which must be either:

• Doctor's Letter, or
• Medical Information Evidencing Comorbidity, or
• Signed Certification 

New York State will audit local systems. The New York State Department of Health will host a call with county executives and local health departments to discuss strategies and compliance associated with vaccinating New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions. 

The full list of comorbidities and underlying conditions is available below. The list is subject to change as additional scientific evidence is published and as New York State obtains and analyzes additional state-specific data.

Adults of any age with the following conditions due to increased risk of moderate or severe illness or death from the virus that causes COVID-19: 

• Cancer (current or in remission, including 9/11-related cancers)
• Chronic kidney disease
• Pulmonary Disease, including but not limited to, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and 9/11 related pulmonary diseases
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including Down Syndrome
• Heart conditions, including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, or hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) including but not limited to solid organ transplant or from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other immune weakening medicines, or other causes
• Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2), Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell disease or Thalassemia
• Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus
• Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
• Neurologic conditions including but not limited to Alzheimer's Disease or dementia
• Liver disease

Governor Cuomo Announces New York City Indoor Dining Can Reopen Early on February 12 and COVID-19 Stats FEBRUARY 8, 2021

 

New York City Restaurants Can Now Open on Lunar New Year Day; Guidance Available Here

7,716 Patient Hospitalizations Statewide

1,454 Patients in the ICU; 961 Intubated

Statewide Positivity Rate is 4.28%

114 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York City indoor dining can reopen at 25 percent capacity on February 12, Lunar New Year Day. The reopening was previously scheduled for Valentine's Day, but restaurants requested an earlier reopening date to allow staff to prepare and the request has been granted. The reopening is subject to strict state guidance, which can be found here.

"We're in a footrace with COVID, and the footrace is clear--it's rate of vaccination versus rate of infection and we're continuing to make progress on both fronts," Governor Cuomo said. "Not only have we administered more than two million doses of the vaccine, but the infection rate continues to decrease and New Yorkers should feel good about that. After all, this was possible because of their actions, their discipline and their sacrifice. As we move forward, we're continuing to respond to the facts and data every day, and when the enemy changes tactics, we change with the enemy. We were planning to open the restaurants in New York City to indoor dining on Valentine's Day, but they've made the point that they'd like to open a couple of days earlier so they can prepare for Valentine's Day. That's a reasonable request, so we'll start indoor dining on Friday at 25 percent so the restaurants can get ready."

Today's data is summarized briefly below: 

• Test Results Reported - 197,183
• Total Positive - 8,448
• Percent Positive - 4.28%
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 4.42%
• Patient Hospitalization - 7,716 (+67)
• Net Change Patient Hospitalization Past Week - -287
• Patients Newly Admitted - 729
• Hospital Counties - 57
• Number ICU - 1,454 (-5)
• Number ICU with Intubation - 961 (-18)
• Total Discharges - 133,470 (+565)
• Deaths - 114
• Total Deaths - 36,339

RECOVERY FOR ALL OF US: MAYOR DE BLASIO RELEASES GUIDELINES FOR “OPEN CULTURE” PROGRAM

 

Cultural organizations can apply to produce performances and arts programming in designated streets starting March 1

 Mayor Bill de Blasio today released guidelines for the City’s Open Culture program, which will permit outdoor cultural performances on designated city streets this spring. Open Culture will provide stages for artists and cultural groups in all five boroughs, putting artists back to work and providing New Yorkers the opportunity to enjoy the arts safely in their neighborhoods. 

“Arts, culture, and live events are the heart of New York City. Today, we’re bringing them back,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “From Open Streets, to Open Restaurants, to Open Culture, New York City has found creative and sustainable ways to connect New Yorkers to their neighborhoods while staying safe from COVID-19. I’m honored to support the cultural institutions who make our city great, and I can’t wait to see our creative community in action.”

 

"Art and culture make New York's communities stronger, more vibrant places and they provide jobs for cultural workers across the five boroughs," said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Casals. "The pandemic has hit the cultural community hard, particularly the performing arts sector which thrives on live, in person experiences. With Open Culture, we're thrilled to raise the curtain on dozens of streets across the city as new sites for culture, community, and engagement, and we look forward to seeing our artists and cultural groups bring them to life later this spring."

 

“New York City can't come back without the creative economy, which has been severely impacted by the pandemic with so many live music and performing arts venues unable to operate since March of last year,” said Anne del Castillo, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “The Open Culture program allows people to safely experience our performing arts offerings while supporting the venues, cultural institutions and talented performers who make our great city the creative capital of the world.” 

 

“Open Culture will provide critical revenue and recovery opportunities for hundreds of arts and entertainment organizations, while giving New Yorkers brand new ways to enjoy their neighborhoods. We are proud to work across city agencies to write the playbook on creatively using public space to meet needs during this time,” said Ellyn Canfield, Executive Director, Citywide Event Coordination and Management.

 

Modeled on the City’s successful and nation-leading Open Streets program, Open Culture is a new permit type available from the Mayor’s Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO) allowing for ticketed performances, rehearsals, classes, and workshops. Arts and cultural institutions, as well as entertainment venues, can secure a permit for single day, socially distanced performances at over 100 street locations throughout all five boroughs. Following the release of these draft guidelines, applications will open to eligible organizations March 1, 2021 and will extend through October 31, 2021. Eligible organizations include:

 

• Arts and Culture Institutions: Members of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG); recipients of Cultural Development Fund (CDF) support; recipients of borough arts council funding in 2019 or 2020; or other groups are eligible for CDF grant funding but haven’t received before.
• Cultural Venues (Performance Venues): Entertainment facilities designed to be used for a performance in front of a live audience; this could include concert venues, theaters, and other establishments.

 

SAPO will accept applications on a rolling basis starting March 1, 2021. For complete guidelines, visit SAPO’s website.

 

"The Bronx Council on the Arts is proud to be a partner in this initiative that will help bring back arts and culture to the City, and particularly to the Bronx, where artists and the community have been so disproportionately impacted by the pandemic," said Viviana Bianchi, Executive Director, Bronx Council on the Arts.

 

Governor Cuomo Marshals the Return of the Performing Arts to New York with "NY PopsUp"

 

An Expansive Statewide Festival of Pop-Up Events Delivered Right Into the Daily Life of New Yorkers, Transforming Existing New York Landscapes into Stages for World-Class Performance

More Than 300 Pop-Up Events Planned Throughout the Five Boroughs and Across New York State in 100 Days

All Made by New York Artists to Revitalize New York Audiences and Bring the Struggling Live Entertainment Sector Roaring Back to Life

Festival to Serve as a Bridge to the Full Safe Return of Live Performance Back to New York

Begins February 20th

Multi-Disciplinary Events to Grow in Scale, Volume and Geographical Footprint Through Labor Day

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the launch of NY PopsUp - an unprecedented and expansive festival featuring hundreds of pop-up performances, many of which are free of charge and all open to the public — that will intersect with the daily lives of New Yorkers. This series of events, intended to revitalize the spirit and emotional well-being of New York citizens with the energy of live performance while jumpstarting New York's struggling live entertainment sector, is a private/public partnership overseen by producers Scott Rudin and Jane Rosenthal, in coordination with the New York State Council on the Arts and Empire State Development.

The Festival will serve as a "pilot program," creating the state's first large-scale model for how to bring live performance back safely after this prolonged COVID-related shutdown. The programming for NY PopsUp will be curated by the interdisciplinary artist Zack Winokur, in partnership with a council of artistic advisors who represent the diversity of New York's dynamic performing arts scene. NY PopsUp will launch on Saturday, February 20 and run through Labor Day. The Festival will reach its climax with the 20th Anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival and The Festival at Little Island at Pier 55, bringing the total number of performances to more than 1,000. NY PopsUp is being coordinated in lock step with state public health officials and will strictly adhere to Department of Health COVID-19 protocols. 

"Cities have taken a real blow during COVID, and the economy will not come back fast enough on its own - we must bring it back," Governor Cuomo said. "Creative synergies are vital for cities to survive, and our arts and cultural industries have been shut down all across the country, taking a terrible toll on workers and the economy. We want to be aggressive with reopening the State and getting our economy back on track, and NY PopsUp will be an important bridge to the broader reopening of our world-class performance venues and institutions. New York has been a leader throughout this entire pandemic, and we will lead once again with bringing back the arts." 

The events produced by NY PopsUp, in addition to being free of charge, will be staged across every type of neighborhood and district in all five boroughs of New York City, throughout Long Island and Upstate New York, and in all regions of the state. As the current realities of COVID-19 make mass gatherings and large, destination-style events impossible, NY PopsUp will meet New York City and State residents where they are, infusing their daily lives with the surprise and joy of live performance. The hundreds of free, pop-up events that constitute NY PopsUp will make stages out of New York's existing landscapes, including iconic transit stations, parks, subway platforms, museums, skate parks, street corners, fire escapes, parking lots, storefronts, and upstate venues, transforming everyday commutes, local communities, and locations never used for performances into canvases of awe and exhilaration. Instead of there being masses of audience members at a handful of events, this Festival is a mass of events, each for a safe and secure 'handful' of audience members. 

As COVID restrictions begin to loosen, the model that NY PopsUp builds for holding safe live events will pave the way for the reopening of multidisciplinary flexible venues ("flex venues") throughout New York State to open and participate in the Festival. These will be the very first indoor performances since the pandemic began and will mark a major moment in New York's recovery efforts. Not only will these indoor events be a symbol to the entire world that New York is back, they will also be a key step in the long process of getting tens-of-thousands of arts professionals around New York State back to work; and a bridge to getting Broadway and all of the New York cultural world open. These Flex Venues are established performance spaces without fixed seating and are thus able to be adapted for social distancing. Examples of these venues would include The SHED, The Apollo, Harlem Stage, La MaMa, and The Glimmerglass Festival's Alice Busch Opera Theater. All indoor events will strictly follow Department of Health public health and safety guidance.

Congressman Ritchie Torres Endorses Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson for Bronx Borough President

 

“Throughout my time in the Council, I saw firsthand Council Member Gibson in action working everyday to address the needs of her constituents and bring important resources to her district. Together, we partnered on several projects including the expansion of the HealthBucks program to increase access to nutritious foods, and hosted food drives for families throughout the course of the pandemic. Council Member Gibson knows and loves the Bronx and its communities, and is the partner we need to push the borough forward. She’s a fighter and has the tenacity and grit to be an excellent Borough President. I’m proud to endorse her candidacy, and look forward to partnering with her to address the various crises the Bronx faces as we aim to recover from the impact of the pandemic,” said Congressman Ritchie Torres.

“Throughout our time in the City Council, I was proud to work alongside Congressman Torres on important issues like criminal justice reform, affordable housing, and support for the LGBTQ+ community. Together, as chairs of the Public Safety and Public Housing Committees, we worked to ensure that our NYCHA residents had safe and secure housing. He has been an important partner in helping our community get through the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting programs like HealthBucks that help improve access to healthy affordable food. I am thankful to have his support in my campaign for Bronx Borough President and look forward to continuing to work with him to make our borough a fairer, more equitable place to live,” said Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson, candidate for Bronx Borough President.

In her campaign for Borough President, Gibson is focused on recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing new jobs and opportunities to the borough, and ending the distinction of being the least healthy County in New York State. 

Gibson was first elected to the State Assembly in 2009 and City Council in 2013, where she currently serves. While in office she has made criminal justice reform, affordable housing, and education priorities. More information can be found on her website: www.gibsonbp2021.com                                                                                

Funeral Assistance up to $7,000 for the Expenses of Laying a Loved one to Rest.

 

 Last year, as COVID ravaged our district, a leader from a Queens community organization – Elmcor – came to us with an issue that was devastating families: funeral costs.

For much of last year, we pushed and pushed the Trump administration to make this critical relief available. Finally, today, we announced that families who’ve lost a loved one will soon be able to get reimbursed up to $7,000 for the expenses of laying a loved one to rest.

The program is retroactive and will reimburse families who lost loved ones to the pandemic as far back as January 2020. It is available to everyone nationwide, including those who are undocumented.

We know there is so much left to do – but this is a small, yet crucial victory.

Early in the pandemic, community leaders shared with us the disparate impact of COVID cases on our community compounded with the devastating economic impact of funeral expenses.

Alexandria’s dad passed away when she was a teen and she had to arrange his services. The funeral expenses were part of the financial devastation, and she never wants anyone else to experience that. So, working with Senator Schumer, she got to work right away to prioritize funeral assistance in the next relief bill.

Now, FEMA is authorized to reimburse up to $2 billion in funeral expenses. Through this measure, families won’t have to bear the incredible financial burden on top of the immeasurable loss they have endured. This will also help families who have suffered the financial burden of funeral costs over the last year get back on their feet.

With hope,

Team AOC

Comptroller Stringer Unveils Comprehensive Food Security Plan To Combat Hunger In New York City

 

Offers immediate local, state, and federal recommendations to close gaps in emergency food programming

Calls for creation of $25 million City-based emergency food program to serve undocumented New Yorkers left out of federal and state safety net programs; a “shared delivery zone” program that centralizes neighbors’ food deliveries to meet online retailers’ minimum purchasing requirements; expanded SNAP outreach and purchasing power; and increased halal and kosher food options

 New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released a comprehensive food security plan to combat hunger in New York City and reach any New Yorker in need regardless of immigration status. Comptroller Stringer called for the City to create a $25 million emergency food program to serve undocumented New Yorkers left out of federal and state safety net programs, expanded SNAP outreach and purchasing power, and increased cultural competence in the City’s current food programming to ensure that New Yorkers of all backgrounds are able to access benefits.  Comptroller Stringer also proposed the creation of  a “shared delivery zone” program that would allow neighbors to accept food deliveries from online retailers at a central location, combining their purchasing power to meet retailers’ minimum purchasing requirements and share in the cost of delivery fees.

The COVID-19 pandemic has acutely heightened food insecurity in New York City. An estimated 1.6 million New Yorkers report being unable to afford food – an increase of 400,000 in the last year. New York City employment remains 605,000 jobs below pre-pandemic levels, with the majority of job losses concentrated in lower-wage sectors and communities of color. According to Comptroller Stringer’s Popular Annual Financial Report, nearly one in four New Yorkers of color lost their jobs in the economic fallout of COVID-19. However, New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) data indicate that 42,000 fewer New Yorkers are receiving SNAP benefits today than in 2015.

“There is no excuse for a single person to go hungry in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, yet more than 1.6 million New Yorkers go to bed hungry in our city every night,” said Comptroller Stringer. “We don’t have a food shortage in New York City – we have a management shortage.  Our current food programs are simply not reaching enough of the New Yorkers who are most food insecure – especially lower-income New Yorkers, New Yorkers of color and immigrant New Yorkers hit hardest by the economic devastation of COVID-19. My emergency plan to combat food insecurity meets New Yorkers where they are regardless of immigration status, cultural background or language. Hunger does not discriminate  – and neither should we.”

Comptroller Stringer offered immediate local, state and federal recommendations to combat food insecurity and close gaps in the social safety net:

Create an emergency food program to serve undocumented New Yorkers using $25 million in FEMA reimbursement funding. The Biden Administration has agreed to lift the cap on FEMA reimbursement for New York State and City’s pandemic related costs, clearing the way for 100 percent reimbursements. This will result in $1 billion in reimbursements for New York City. This funding creates an opportunity to address food insecurity among New Yorkers who cannot access the federally funded SNAP program due to immigration status. The City should dedicate at least $25 million of this funding to create food security programs for immigrant New Yorkers who have been left out of other safety net programs.

Increase and improve SNAP outreach to ensure all eligible New Yorkers are receiving this valuable benefit. While emergency food programs are a crucial part of our food security system, there is no substitute for putting money into people’s pockets to enable them to purchase food for themselves. The Biden Administration has authorized the increase of SNAP benefits, making this critical benefit even more valuable to New Yorkers. Yet the most recent HRA data indicates that 42,000 fewer New Yorkers are receiving SNAP benefits today than in 2015. To ensure that all eligible New Yorkers are receiving SNAP, the City should:

• Create a comprehensive, coordinated, citywide outreach campaign to educate New Yorkers about SNAP benefits and encourage enrollment. This should be combined with outreach efforts to promote the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC),  Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), senior meals, and summer meals to ensure New Yorkers are using the programs they are eligible for and entitled to.
• Provide more funding for community-based organizations (CBOs) to conduct SNAP outreach and enrollment, particularly ones with linguistic and cultural competence to reach New Yorkers across our city’s diverse neighborhoods, including CBOs that work with immigrants and survivors of domestic violence who may have greater barriers to accessing services due to data sharing sensitivities.
• Use data to inform and drive outreach efforts. To the greatest extent possible, the City should examine data sets from agencies including Human Resources Administration, Department for the Aging, Administration for Children’s Services, Department of Education, and Department of Finance to identify New Yorkers who may be eligible for SNAP and ensure that information about the program is shared with them via mail, text, or phone.
• Streamline the process of applying for multiple benefit programs by creating one online portal that informs New Yorkers about key benefits, allow required interviews to cover multiple program applications whenever possible, and work towards sharing application data between programs to the greatest extent possible under city, state and federal law. This would reduce the time consuming, confusing, and bureaucratic application process that can deter New Yorkers from seeking the full range of benefits they are eligible for.
• The State should increase funding for SNAP outreach to further support these activities in New York City, and take a similar data driven approach by establishing a statewide process for data sharing between Medicaid and SNAP cases to identify Medicaid recipients who are not receiving SNAP.

Increase where and how EBT cards can be used to give SNAP beneficiaries more purchasing power. While EBT cards can be used in-person at most supermarkets and major retailers, there are very few online retailers that accept SNAP. This means that New Yorkers living in food deserts cannot use their SNAP benefits to buy food online and have it delivered to their homes – missing a major opportunity to increase food security. Further, most bodegas, green carts, and local merchants like halal and kosher butchers do not have EBT terminals, limiting options for New Yorkers to use their benefits close to home, and denying sales opportunities to local businesses that are often minority and immigrant owned. To increase opportunities for SNAP usage:

• The Federal government should expand the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot to include local grocery stores, smaller retailers and farmers markets. Currently the pilot allows SNAP to be used when ordering groceries online from select Amazon, Shop Rite, and Walmart stores in New York State. To increase food access for more New Yorkers, USDA should identify and enable farmers markets, smaller local grocery stores, as well as chains that have a larger presence in New York City, to participate in the pilot.
• Congress should change federal law to allow SNAP beneficiaries to purchase hot food at SNAP authorized retailers. This will allow New Yorkers who do not have cooking facilities at home, or do not know how to cook, to be able to purchase complete meals.
• The State should work with USDA to include New York in the SNAP Restaurant Meals Program to enable people who are currently homeless, people with disabilities, and older New Yorkers to use SNAP at select restaurants.
• The City should support expanded use of SNAP benefits at green carts, bodegas, and local merchants like halal and kosher butchers by funding, or seeking funding, to subsidize the cost of EBT terminals and transaction fees, and working with the State to obtain waivers from USDA where needed. This would have a secondary benefit of increasing business opportunities for small businesses, many of which are immigrant, minority, or women owned.
• The City should create a “shared delivery zone” program that allows neighbors to accept food deliveries from online retailers at a central location, allowing them to combine purchasing power to meet retailer’s minimum purchasing requirements and share in the cost of delivery fees. This would be especially useful at NYCHA developments where deliveries could be made to community rooms, allowing residents to simply retrieve their groceries from an onsite location on their way home.

Make immediate plans to fill gaps in the City’s food pantry network. Ten and a half months into the pandemic, there are still gaping holes in the city’s food pantry network that have not been filled. Food Bank for New York City’s recent analysis found that 38 percent of emergency food providers across the five boroughs had closed by mid-April, with a whopping 50 percent of Bronx emergency food providers shutting their doors.3 As a result, more and more New Yorkers are traveling farther from their neighborhoods to find emergency food. The City should be taking immediate steps to provide emergency food in the City’s food pantry deserts while planning for more permanent investments. To ensure New Yorkers can access emergency food no matter where they live, the City should:

• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the City’s food pantry network to identify areas that are underserved by emergency food providers but have high rates, or pockets of, food insecurity.
• Invest in programs to bring emergency food to those areas in the near term, including opening pop-up pantries in community locations like senior centers that have refrigerator space but are currently closed due to the pandemic, and increasing programs like mobile markets that bring fresh food to communities by truck.
• Immediately allocate an additional $25 million to ensure existing pantry operations can keep up with demand for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2021, and ensure funding for emergency food providers to connect their customers with SNAP, WIC, tax refunds, and job training and placement services.

Increase the cultural appropriateness of the City’s current emergency food programs so more New Yorkers will take advantage of them. The City has spent hundreds of millions to bring food to New Yorkers in need through the City’s Get Food boxes and grab and go meals at Department of Education (DOE) school sites – programs that serve all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status. The Get Food program has been critical for seniors who are staying safe by staying home. Despite this tremendous investment, many New Yorkers still do not find food that they want to eat or know how to cook with through the City’s programs. The City should consider the following changes to increase utilization of its programs:

• Increase the amount of fresh fruits, vegetables and pantry staples that are available in the City’s Get Food boxes and provide more choice to allow people to receive food that meets their dietary needs.
• Ensure that food offered through DOE’s grab and go locations provide options that are culturally relevant to the surrounding community, as well as appropriate for both children and adults.
• Continue to improve the quality and diversity of kosher and halal food options in both Get Food boxes and grab and go meals.

• Work with local restaurants, caterers, and markets to ensure they can participate in the Get Food program, and if they cannot meet the current or future RFP requirements alone, encourage submissions through multi-business partnerships. This would increase the diversity and cultural appropriateness of the food provided while creating opportunities for minority, immigrant and woman-owned businesses who have struggled during the pandemic.

Strengthen federally funded Child Nutrition Programs to ensure no child in New York City goes hungry. School-based nutrition programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) are critical to ensuring the nutritional needs of New York City children and expectant and new mothers are met regardless of immigration or citizenship status. Additional federal investment would create further tools to combat food insecurity among the youngest New Yorkers. The following action should be taken to increase food access:

• Congress should make improvements while reauthorizing Child Nutrition Programs to ensure sufficient federal reimbursements for the breakfast, lunch and afterschool meals that New York provides free of charge and establish a permanent summer and vacation EBT program so families can continue to receive support to purchase food for their children all year round.
•  Congress should extend WIC eligibility for children up to their sixth birthday to ensure that children who are not enrolled in school programs until then can still access food assistance.

Create borough-based councils of emergency food providers, advocates, community and faith-based organizations, and mutual aid networks to partner with the City on improving food access. Local organizations have unique knowledge of community needs, deep networks of relationships, and the trust of the communities they serve. The City should create borough-based councils so food network stakeholders can advise the City on local needs and priorities, help shape community engagement strategies, and provide input on the City’s food programs, policies, and initiatives.