Albanian American Open Hand Association and Councilman Mark Gjonaj Toy Giveaway

 

Albanian American Open Hand Association and Councilman Mark Gjonaj Toy Giveaway

By Robert Press

Tuesday afternoon became a joyful time for many children who came to 2134 Barnes Avenue for the Albanian  American Open Hands Association and Councilman Mark Gjonaj Toy Giveaway. 

Hundreds of toys for boys and girls placed on tables by age group were waiting to go home with one of the many children who would get to take one home with them. 

First the children would meet Councilman Mark Gjonaj at the door where they would clean their hands with hand sanitizer, and then receive a candy cane. They would go down three stairs to find the toy they wanted, and then receive a hat and pair of gloves before being greeted by Santa Claus. There were also delicious Councilman Gjonaj doughnuts for all. 

To make sure the children's hands were clean, Councilman Gjonaj brought a big bottle of hand sanitizer and a bucket of candy canes.

Here one child points to the hand sanitizer leaking from the bottle.

Toys were set up on many tables for boys or girls, and by age group.

There were gloves and hats for the children courtesy of Councilman Gjonaj.

Santa is greeted by Violet Yueiiaj before he greets the children. 

This little girl was very happy to see Santa Claus.

Other children were happy to see Santa, and show off the toys they chose to go home with them.

Councilman Gjonaj, Miriam Quinn (sitting on Santa's lap, and Aleksander Nilaj of AAOHA.

Another photo with Santa, Councilman Gjonaj, AAOHA founder Aleksander Nilij and AAOHA volunteers. 

MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW NYC FERRY LANDING IN THROGS NECK, THE BRONX

 

Extended Soundview Route from Ferry Point Park now connecting more Bronx Commuters to the Upper East Side, Midtown and the Financial District, as network expansion continues

 

NYC Ferry’s five-borough system has served over 21 million riders since its 2017 launch

 

 Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rachel Loeb, President and CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today officially launched NYC Ferry service in Throgs Neck in the Bronx with the opening of a new landing at Ferry Point Park. The new facility extends the Soundview Route, which stops on the Upper East Side, in Midtown, and the Financial District. As of today, the route, now starts at the new landing in Ferry Point Park and continues to existing stops in Soundview, East 90^th Street, 34^th Street, Stuyvesant Cove, and Wall Street/Pier 11. From start to finish, the total traveling time is 60 minutes, shortening commutes for thousands of New Yorkers.

 

“The Throgs Neck ferry landing is a game changer for Bronx commuters,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Starting tomorrow, this landing will provide affordable, accessible, and time saving transport, expanding transit options for all New Yorkers, further connecting the five boroughs and building a recovery for all of us.”

 

“NYC Ferry has become an integral part of New York City’s transportation system less than five years since its launch, and today we’re excited to bring service to Throgs Neck to help Bronx residents reach their workplaces and other destinations faster,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Rachel Loeb. “NYC Ferry ridership has outpaced expectations since the system first launched and ridership has recovered from the COVID crisis faster than any other mode of transit. We are proud this system is serving all five boroughs with safe, reliable, daily service, as we keep more New Yorkers with limited public transportation options moving.”

 

“The new NYC Ferry landing will expand access to Ferry Point Park and the Bronx waterfront while significantly improving public transportation options for the surrounding community,” said Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff. “We look forward to seeing New Yorkers use this new ferry stop along with the park’s new pathways and public parking spaces, for years to come.”

  

On the extended Soundview route, vessels will continue to run every 40 minutes during peak times, and every 60 minutes during off-peak weekday times. The winter weekend schedule has vessels arriving every 75 minutes, though this will be more frequent in future summer weekend schedules. Residents of Throgs Neck will be able to reach E. 90^th Street in 25 minutes and make the trip all the way to Wall Street/Pier 11 in 60 minutes, providing a one-seat ride that will cut many current commuting times by about 30 minutes. Detailed timetables for the Soundview route, along with a map of all NYC Ferry routes, can be viewed here.

 

The extension of the Soundview route is part of an announced NYC Ferry expansion plan that in August 2021 added the St. George route connecting Staten Island to Manhattan’s West Side, and will bring service to Coney Island, as well as year-round service to Governor's Island. 

 

The new Bronx landing is situated within Ferry Point Park, where a newly upgraded free parking lot is available to riders and park users. A small electric transit vehicle will be available, with preference to seniors and people with disabilities, to shuttle riders from the parking lot to the ferry landing.

 

“A thriving city requires us to consider new, alternative modes of transportation, as well as expansion to existing modes of transportation," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. "Ferry service in Throgs Neck will provide commuters and visitors alike, an efficient and fun way to get from point a to point b and also explore The Bronx. I thank NYCEDC and the administration for their work to expand ferry service to Throgs Neck, and I look forward to seeing this service expand in the future."

 

“With the expansion of the Soundview ferry route into Ferry Point Park, commuters in the Northeast Bronx will now have faster and more reliable access to the Upper East Side, Midtown, and the Financial District without having to pay an exorbitant cost for convenience,” said Bronx Borough President-elect Vanessa L. Gibson. “This ferry line expansion is also another step forward towards decreasing transit deserts in our city and achieving greater transportation equity in our borough for residents that need it the most. I want to thank Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, and transportation advocates for their work on this project and I look forward to working with the new administration in pushing for more public transportation access in the Bronx.”

 

"The residents of the Eastern Bronx have suffered for years due to a lack of transportation access, and today the City finally delivers on its promise to increase ferry service within our community. It will also provide new transportation opportunities to residents that have struggled with hours-long commute rides into Manhattan,” said Council Member-elect, Marjorie Velazquez.

 

“This is a proud moment for the community of Throgs Neck! The NYC Ferry will take our residents to Manhattan in under an hour. Community Board #10 remains a transit desert and we could not be more grateful to have this wonderful addition to our transportation network. Thank you Mayor de Blasio and NYC EDC for this historic achievement for our community,” said CB10 District Manager Matthew Cruz.

 

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19 - DECEMBER 28, 2021

 

96,049 Vaccine Doses Administered Over Last 24 Hours    

77 COVID-19 Deaths Statewide

 Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19.

“With just three days left in the year, let's make a New Year's resolution to beat this pandemic in 2022," Governor Hochul said. “Let's start by celebrating New Year's safely this weekend. Before visiting friends and family, please get yourself tested and make sure you are vaccinated and boosted, if eligible. Please remember to wear a mask when gathering with others. If we all do what’s right, we can make 2022 a very different year from the hardships we've had to endure so far.”

Today's data is summarized briefly below.

· Test Results Reported – 210,996

· Total Positive – 40,780

· Percent Positive – 19.33%

· 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 13.36%

· Patient Hospitalization - 6,173 (+647)

· Patients Newly Admitted – 1,148

· Patients in ICU - 945 (+32)

· Patients in ICU with Intubation - 519 (+18)

· Total Discharges - 227,712 (+457)

· New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 77

· Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 48,150

The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only. 

· Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC - 61,084

This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings. 

· Total vaccine doses administered – 33,229,440

· Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 96,049

· Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 680,721

· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose - 88.7% 

· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 80.4% 

· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 95.0%

· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 82.7%

· Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 77.5%

· Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 69.5% 

· Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 83.4%

· Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 71.5%

Attorney General James Issues Warning to ClearMD Health to Stop Misrepresenting Turnaround Times for COVID-19 Test Results, Demands Refunds for Consumers Who Paid for Expedited Results

 

ClearMD Health Has Been Charging Consumers for Expedited COVID-19 Test Results, But Has Failed to Meet Promised Turnaround Times

ClearMD Health Letter Follows Similar Letters to LabQ, Labworq, and Sameday Health Last Week

  New York Attorney General Letitia James today issued a warning letter to ClearMD Health — a private lab with a number of locations throughout Manhattan and one in Queens that advertises coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing — for not meeting promised turnaround times for test results. Numerous consumers have now passed the timeframe in which they were promised test results, even those who paid for expedited testing. Today’s letter notifies ClearMD Health that New York law prohibits false advertising and instructs the company to immediately update the company’s website and any signage at test sites to accurately reflect how long individuals can expect to wait before receiving COVID-19 test results. Attorney General James also demands refunds for all consumers who paid for expedited test results but did not receive them in the timeframe initially promised.

“What we’re seeing more and more are private labs and collection centers making false promises about turnaround times for COVID-19 test results when there is no way for them to keep up with the demand. What’s worse is that a number of these companies are charging New Yorkers for a ‘quick’ test result that is anything but that,” said Attorney General James. “ClearMD Health has been charging New Yorkers hundreds of dollars for expedited test results but has repeatedly failed to deliver on that promise. With COVID-19 positivity rates skyrocketing due to Omicron and New Yorkers gathering with loved ones for the holidays, companies need to stay true to their word and provide COVID-19 test results in the timeframes they are promising. ClearMD Health must immediately update its website and its signage and notify patients of the realistic timeline in which they will receive results, as well as provide refunds to every patient who paid for expedited test results but never received them in the proper timeframe. All New Yorkers who continue to see misrepresentations about COVID-19 test turnaround times are encouraged to file a complaint on my website right away.”

ClearMD Health offers free or low cost COVID-19 tests for those with insurance, as well as for CARES Act patients, and charges high fees for premium services, such as $498 for those seeking a two-hour result. The website promises “the fastest [test] turnaround time in New York – less than 24 hours,” with no mention of any fee. Additionally, ClearMD Health’s website guarantees “PCR results in as quick as 12-24 hours” and claims they can provide “COVID testing quick enough to keep up with the busiest of New Yorkers.” But the Office of the Attorney General has become aware of consumers who paid for expedited test results but did not receive their results in those guaranteed timeframes.

In addition to warning ClearMD Health to update its website and signage and to instruct its employees to provide accurate information concerning turnaround times, the letter issued by Attorney General James requests that ClearMD Health contact all of its customers who are currently awaiting COVID-19 test results to let them know when they can realistically expect to receive those results. Attorney General James also demands refunds for any consumer who paid for expedited test results but did not receive them in the timeframe originally promised.

Today’s letter follows three separate letters Attorney General James sent last week to LabQ, Labworq, and Sameday Health demanding that the companies take similar steps to update their websites and their signage, and to inform consumers about realistic wait times for COVID-19 test results.

Attorney General James asks any consumer who believes a lab or other testing facility is making misleading statements about their turnaround time for COVID-19 test results to file a complaint online with the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau or call the office at 1-800-771-7755.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO AND MAYOR-ELECT ERIC ADAMS ANNOUNCE ‘STAY SAFE AND STAY OPEN’ PLAN FOR SCHOOLS

 

City doubles in-school testing. New safety measures will use at-home rapid tests, reduce unnecessary school absences

 Mayor Bill de Blasio, Mayor-Elect Eric Adams, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Incoming Schools Chancellor David Banks today announced a multi-pronged approach for safely returning to school in-person this January following winter break. The Department of Education (DOE) is strongly encouraging all eligible students to get vaccinated, and all students and staff should get tested prior to the resumption of classes on January 3. The City is adding City-run testing sites this week. The DOE will double the in-school surveillance testing program and deploy millions of at-home rapid tests to allow students to continue learning in school.

 

These measures are in addition to the multi-layered approach to health and safety that has kept positivity rates in schools low and has successfully limited the spread of COVID-19 in schools—making them some of the safest places for students and staff to be during the pandemic. Families can book an appointment at any eligible site with "$100 incentive available" listed on the nyc.gov/vaccinefinder or call 877-VAX4NYC (877-829-4692) to find a participating site.

 

“Schools are among the safest places to be throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re working closely with the incoming administration to keep it that way,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “By doubling COVID-19 testing in schools, getting our students vaccinated, and sending students, teachers and staff home with at-home test kits, we can keep everyone healthy and finish out this school year strong.”

 

“The numbers speak for themselves—your kids are safer in school,” said Mayor-Elect Eric Adams. “Thanks to testing, vaccinations, and at-home testing kits we’ll keep it that way. We’re working closely with the de Blasio Administration and we’ll be ready to bring students and staff back to the classroom on January 3^rd.  This is how we move our city forward.”

 

"The safety of our students, staff members, and communities is our top priority," said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter. "Thanks to our multi-layered, gold standard approach to health and safety, New York City's schools continue to be some of the safest places to be during this pandemic. These new measures in school testing build on our high standards for safety, protects our communities, and allows for students to continue receiving an excellent education in-person."

  

Returning to School Safely

All New York City students and staff members should and are encouraged to get tested prior to January 3^rd. In partnership with the Test+Trace Corps, families and DOE staff members can go to any City-run testing site to get tested or pick up readily available at-home rapid tests. Sites with rapid tests can be found at: nyc.gov/covidtest, text “COVID TEST” to 855-48, or call 311 to find a testing site near you. 

 

Doubling In-School Surveillance Testing

The nation’s largest in-school surveillance testing program is expanding to double the number of individuals tested in each school by including both unvaccinated students and vaccinated students, as well as staff. The random in-school surveillance program continues to provide public health experts with an accurate look at the prevalence of COVID-19 in schools. All families, regardless of whether their young person is vaccinated, should consent to in-school testing at https://www.schoolsaccount.nyc/ or return a signed consent form to their school. As part of the return to school, school leaders will continue messaging the importance of providing consent as a critical part of keeping schools open and communities safe during the winter months.   

 

Keeping Staff Safe

New State policy, which aligns with new CDC guidance and was co-written with the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, shortens the isolation period for fully-vaccinated critical workers (including school personnel) who test positive, but are asymptomatic, to five days. Staff can return on the sixth day as long as they remain asymptomatic, have not had a fever in 72 hours, and wear an appropriate high-quality mask (such as a KN95, which will be provided to staff). Staff will continue to have access to at-home rapid tests as well as in-school testing. 

 

Immediately Identify & Respond to Positive Cases to Stay Open

Every student and adult in a classroom with a positive case will immediately receive an at-home rapid test kit and will need to take two tests in five days. Students who are asymptomatic do not need to quarantine and can continue attending school. This policy is more expansive than the CDC’s quarantine policy, which applies to only close contacts. The DOE is sourcing approximately two and a half million at-home rapid test kits, in addition to the one million test kits provided by the Governor, to have on hand before the start of school.

 

Additionally, in anticipation of a winter increase in cases, the Situation Room has doubled its staffing levels from 275 to over 500. All positive cases, including from rapid tests, will be reported directly to the Situation Room via phone or email, and the Situation Room will provide schools with support, communications to families, and monitoring for instances of widespread in-school transmission that would result in a school closure.

 

Continuation of Gold Standard Health & Safety Protocols

The DOE closely adheres to CDC guidance: making vaccination easily accessible and available for all, a vaccine mandate for all in-school staff members, universal indoor masking, physical distancing, routine screening testing, fully functioning ventilation systems backed up by two air purifiers in every classroom, and oversight by the Situation Room.  

  

For the 2021-22 school year, to determine the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention practices in New York City public schools, public health experts assessed how many students, teachers, or staff members of a New York City public school developed COVID-19 after being exposed in school, an epidemiologic measure called “secondary attack rate.” They found that only 1 in 120 contacts developed COVID-19, or a secondary attack rate of 0.83%.

  

This is far below the secondary attack rate that would be expected in a household where 1 in every 7 close contacts become infected, or a secondary attack rate of 15%. Additionally, it is comparable to the secondary attack rate during 2020-21 school year when only 40 percent of students were learning in-person, indicating that prevention measures continued to be highly effective at reducing in-school COVID-19 transmission from October – November 2021.  

 

Disruptive Passenger On Airline Facing Federal Charges

 

  A criminal complaint unsealed today, charges a Lebanon, Tennessee woman with interfering with a flight crew following an incident on board a Spirit Airlines flight flying to Nashville on November 27, 2021, announced U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Amanda Renee Henry, 43, surrendered to FBI agents in Nashville this morning and will appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge later today. 

“In accordance with the Attorney General’s directive, the prosecution of those who endanger the safety of airline passengers, flight crews, and flight attendants is a priority of this office,” said U.S. Attorney Wildasin.  Those whose behavior disrupts or otherwise endangers the safety of persons on aircrafts should expect to face federal charges.”

According to the criminal complaint, Henry was a passenger on a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and became disruptive and appeared to be intoxicated.  Passengers seated next to Henry requested to be moved to other seats due to Henry’s disruptive behavior.  Since Henry was seated next to an emergency exit, flight attendants decided for the safety of everyone on board to move Henry to another seat.  When they requested that Henry move, she refused and grabbed her carry-on bag and ran toward the front of the aircraft screaming, “I’m getting off this plane.”  Another flight attendant blocked Henry from getting to the main cabin door and began to restrain her, at which time Henry began to kick and hit the flight attendant.  Henry also assaulted the other flight attendant who assisted in trying to restrain her. 

Once the flight attendants were able to restrain Henry, a passenger who was an off-duty firefighter assisted the crew by sitting with Henry and keeping her calm for the duration of the flight.  When the plane landed at Nashville International Airport, Henry was arrested by the Nashville Airport Department of Public Safety and charged with public intoxication.

If convicted of the federal offense, Henry faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Kurtzman.

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

5 Days and Counting

 

With five days left they love me. New York City schools will stay open comes Monday January 3rd, right Governor David Patterson, I mean Kathy Hochul. Don't you agree Kathy that our public schools are the safest place for children to be. That's exactly what I say Kathy, and the state will pay for additional testing of school children. There will be double the testing than before, and children will be given home tests for COVID, Isn't that right Mayor Adams? 

Like I have been doing elsewhere before, I am setting policy for years to come, and Mayr Adams will have to change it if he doesn't like it. Charlene do we have everything packed? Did you take everything we brought into Gracie Mansion, and everything we were given while I was Mayor, and then everything else that wasn't nailed down. We can sell whatever we don't want to keep on Ebay.

Governor Hochul Joins Mayor de Blasio and Mayor-Elect Adams for a Media Availability

 

Governor Hochul: "Collective New Year’s resolution – let's beat this together. Get vaxxed, get boosted, wear a mask, get tested, and we will get through this together, New Yorkers." 

 Thank you, Mayor de Blasio for your partnership and your collaboration from the very beginning to fight this surge. I remember we sat together, it was an evening, we just heard about the very first case of Omicron that appeared in New York State and New York City. And that afternoon we sat together and pledged full cooperation together to let people know that we would be united in our attack on this virus and do everything we can to keep New Yorkers, as well as every New York State resident safe, and to continue that pledge of collaboration. 

I'm very pleased that we were able to literally, just a couple of days ago, send over 600,000 rapid tests to your Department of Health last week. And we now have five state-run testing sites that'll be launched tomorrow to help amplify your efforts already, and also hitting people where they go. The MTA is a great place for us to launch testing sites and we'll be opening five more soon, we have two now. So, those are all coming online and continue to ramp up as well as continuing our 37 pop-up sites and 17 more planned. So state and city working together, we're going to make sure that there's no shortage of supply, as well as making sure, in the case we need ambulances, we just sent 10 more ambulances to New York City as well.

But as you mentioned, Mayor, it is so important that we get our kids back to school as soon as this winter break is over. We all have such a strong public interest. We saw the failed experiment, despite the very best efforts of incredibly hardworking, passionate teachers who did their very best with remote teaching and the parents who were just pulling their hair out at kitchen tables, trying to make sure that it worked successfully. Everybody did their part, but we also understand, as you mentioned, schools are safe as a result of our joint mandates, and I have a statewide mask mandate for children in school to make sure they're safe. Our teachers are vaccinated. So we all have to do our part to continue though, to make sure that parents feel comfortable when they send their children back to school on January 3rd. 

So from our standpoint, what the State of New York can do to help best is to make sure that there are sufficient testing kits available to be used by the school district. And that is why I directed our Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to provide 2 million tests to New York City to allow children to stay in school. And I want to thank our Department of Homeland Security and the Port Authority and DOT and commissioners of all sorts of agencies, General Services, Thruway Canals. They are all being deployed in a statewide effort, but also sending the first 2 million test kits to show that they're available to help New York City schools because of the dense concentration of individuals in the city, the high population, and where we're seeing the rates go right now. So we are working around the clock to offer our best efforts to work with you. The many calls we've had with your departments – I love the collaboration that's going on between our departments of Health. Something that's been missing, but is now in full gear. And all the teacher unions leaders, they've been on calls with us and the parents and everyone. 

We're really working closely together to make this happen. I have a call just in a couple of hours with our statewide school superintendents, because they're such critical partners in this effort as well. And I also appreciate what the administration has been doing. The collaboration you've extended to us, but also to the incoming Mayor-elect Eric Adams. That is what the public wants to see. They don't want any battling, no turf battles here, because we have one common battle to fight and that is against this variant.  

And I also want to commend the teachers and the school leaders. They know we're all in this together. They've been asked to do so much, such extraordinary work, and we are forever grateful to them for what they've done in the past and what they're going to do now in this shortened time to make sure we can launch the next semester with a safe environment for them and the students. So we're all in this together, I thank them. 

But lastly, as you mentioned, Mayor, parents, we could avert all this if every child were vaccinated. We still have time. We literally have hundreds of thousands of kids who have been safely vaccinated already. So you're not the first. You need to join the ranks of parents who have done the right thing for their children to make sure they're protected. 

This new variant is affecting children more than the past variants. Before we always said, don't worry so much, it's not really affecting children. That was a different variant. It is affecting children more, but the ones who are getting severely sick are so far only the unvaccinated children. So that should be the message you need to know right now, that children can be exposed to this – contract it, in rare cases get sick, but only those who are unvaccinated. So that's why I so look forward to continuing to work with Mayor de Blasio, yourself, for your leadership. 

Also incoming Mayor-elect Eric Adams, we've had many conversations. We'll continue keeping our schools open, continuing our economic recovery for all New Yorkers, as well as our paramount goal of protecting public health. So I want to thank you for inviting me to participate here.  

Collective New Year’s resolution – let's beat this together. Get vaxxed, get boosted, wear a mask, get tested, and we will get through this together, New Yorkers.