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ROMANCE IS BACK! GOVERNOR CUOMO BRINGS BACK INTIMATE DINNERS FOR VALENTINE’S DAY–MARRIAGE RECEPTIONS of 150 Tested, MARCH 15 : NY RESTAURANTS TO OPEN AT 25% CAPACITY FOR FRIENDS, BUDS, COUPLES AND LOVERS. Hospitalization Rate for Corona positives Falls to 4.65%
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WPCNR GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONAVIRUS REPORT January 30, 2021:
We’re using the limited supply of vaccines as efficiently as possible and continuing to stop the spread of the virus and we’re also focused on safely getting the economy back on track while safeguarding public health.
The restaurant industry is the lifeblood of New York City and we are all too aware of the economic hardship they have endured at the hands of COVID.
Thankfully, if our current trajectory holds, we will be able to reopen New York City dining at 25 percent capacity on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.
Additionally, other larger events that follow strict guidelines will be permitted beginning March 15th.
We cannot become complacent now—we must all continue to do our part to keep beating back COVID. Our collective actions determine how quickly we can return to some of what we’ve missed throughout this pandemic.
Chart of the Day: Today’s update on the State’s vaccination progress. Here’s what else you need to know tonight:
1. COVID hospitalizations fell again to 8,357. Hospitalizations are down 916 from a peak of 9,273 on January 19th. Of the 270,518 tests reported yesterday, 12,579, or 4.65 percent were positive. There were 1,543 patients in ICU yesterday, down 41 from the previous day. Of them, 1,012 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 151 New Yorkers to the virus.
2. As we get more supply of the vaccine, new appointment slots are coming online at New York State vaccination sites. We are currently vaccinating eligible New Yorkers who are part of Phase 1a and 1b. See if you’re eligible and schedule an appointment.
MARRIAGES FOR PARTIES OF 150 NEGATIVE TESTED PERMITTED AS OF MARCH 15
3. Effective March 15th, marriage receptions can be held under limited state guidelines. Events must be approved by the local health department and there will be mandatory testing of all guests before an event.
Capacity at weddings and receptions will be limited to no more than 150 people or no more than 50 percent of the venue’s capacity, whichever is lower. All patrons must be tested prior to the event. This upcoming change in guidelines follows the success of the Buffalo Bills program, which allowed fans to attend home games with mandatory testing.
4. As of 11am Friday morning, 95 percent of first doses allocated to the state have been administered. This represents 1,316,032 first doses administered of the 1,387,840 allocations received from the federal government. So far, 244,644 second doses have been administered out of 618,115 second doses received. See data by region on the State’s Vaccine Tracker.
5. Due to extreme cold, the drive-thru vaccination site at Jones Beach will be suspended over the weekend. The polar vortex currently impacting the state is producing strong winds and dropping wind-chill levels to near zero, which creates safety concerns given the structure of the open-air tents currently being used at Jones Beach.
Anyone scheduled for vaccination during these two days is being notified of the suspension via email and text message, and appointments will be rescheduled. The rescheduled appointments will take place beginning Sunday, January 31 and continue until Wednesday, February 3.
6. A reminder that New Yorkers should not be charged for Personal Protective Equipment by in-network health care providers under their state-regulated health and dental insurance coverage. Pursuant to State Department Financial Services guidance, insurers are required to make sure that consumers are not charged PPE-related fees by in-network providers.
New Yorkers who have been wrongfully charged are eligible for a refund from their insurer. To date, the Department has recovered a total of $414,727 of PPE-related charges for more than 14,000 consumers since the start of the pandemic.
Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Tonight’s Deep Breath Moment comes to us from across the country, where Oregon businesses are pooling together to give one million blankets to local homeless shelters by 2024. Bob Dalton, CEO of Sackcloth + Ashes, started this initiative to help the homeless in Portland during the winter season and has partnered up with local businesses to help. The partnership is about 20 percent of the way toward their commendable goal. If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to New York State’s Coronavirus Updates here.
Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
JAVA WITH JOHN, GEORGE AND JOE : WHITE PLAINS WEEK THE JANUARY 29 REPORT INSTANTLY ON www.communitymedia.org and YOUTUBE–CLICK THE WHITE ARROW!
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THE CITIZENETREPORTER
WITH GEORGE LATIMER COUNTY EXECUTIVE
ON
THE SPORTS COMEBACK IN SCHOOLS
VACCINE EXPERIENCE AT WESTCHESTER COUNTY CENTER HE TAKES YOU THROUGH IT WHAT HAPPENS
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS DR. JOSEPH RICCA ON OPENING WHITE PLAINS SCHOOLS TO ALL STUDENTS 5 DAYS A WEEK IN SPRING–WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN.
THE MITCHELL TWO MONTHS AWAY FROM TOPPING OFF
GRID LOOKING FOR A PARTNER TO TURN BOULEVARD ON EAST POST ROAD INTO MORE HOUSING AS RETAIL DOES NOT COME THROUGH
THE NEW 10 WORST PERFORMING TOWNS AND MUNCIPALITIES INFECTED WITH CORONAVIRUS THE LAST TWO WEEKS
THE COVID POSITIVES COUNTYWIDE THE LAST 7 DAYS
HENRY AARON
WHITE PLAINS SALES TAX $$ DOWN 20% FIRST HALF. 6 MONTHS OF DECLINES. $9 MILLION DEFICIT IF SECOND HALF PERFORMS ON THE MONEY. COUNTY UP 9.8%, BUT OVERESTIMATED SALES TAX REVENUES BY $67 MILLION.
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WPCNR QUILL AND EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. Based on data from the New York State Department of Taxation and finance. January 29, 2021:
White Plains did not have a great December in retail sales.
The city ended the first six months of 20-21 Fiscal year down $5,063,506 down to $21,718,689, compared to $26,950,563 in July-December of 2010
It was the sixth consecutive month of declining sales tax revenues for White Plains.
If the city earns the $25,317,531 they did last year from January to June, they will earn $47,036,220 for the year, down $4 Million from the 219-20 total.$51 Million.This will mean they will not be able to fund the anticipated $5,000,000 the city devotes to the Taxpayers Stabilization Fund each year, which ostensibly pays anticipated pay increases. To meet the anticipated need to shift the required funds into the Tax Payers Stabilization Fund ($5,000).
Since they need $4 Million even if Jan-June numbers equal last January to June, the city would either have to do a combination of property tax increase and expenditure cutting effective now.
He city is hamstrung by its own charter which forbids the city from budgeting any amount of sales tax revenues that are more than the city made in the previous year.
It the sales tax revenues continue to decline at the 20% trend, the deficit will continue to climb.
If softness continues at the 20% declining pattern, the city will be down $5,237,874 from the $25,317,531 Million made in sales taxes from January to June 2020 last fiscal year.
If the handle the next six months (including January just about over) is 15% down the deficit is $3.8 million , If 10%, $2.5 Millon, 5%, $1,265,867 Million.
The City has until April to craft the new 21-22 Budget. If the January figure doesn’t robustly bounce to $4,549,018 figure of January 2020, that will be very bad news.
If the revenue drain continues in February and March, that means the city has to consider cuts in something, capital expenditures particularly would be a good start.
Possible Solution: Change the City Charter Prohibition on Forecasting More Than You Made the Previous Year.
The city could bet on a turnaround midyear and not incur having to make cuts.
If the Common Council changed the charter rule allowing them to raise the $46 Million they budgeted for 2019-20 and will be down slightly from, by say the percentage of their budget deficit which now looks to be around a maximum of $5 Million.
They could change the charter to say the Council in anticipation could raise the projection of sales tax beyond the amount raised the previous year, say by no more than 5% or liberally, 10%.
Make the change in the charter time-limited to 3 years. This would allow the city to avoid the draconian political third rail of raising taxes and cutting jobs and services.
Such an Emergency Financial Initiative would help to craft the 21-22 budget with a safety value if spring revenue continue soft.
If the city is down $9 million in revenue from sales taxes by budget time, the city, to meet the next year budget would have to choose between a 27% property tax increase flat out, or cutting expenses $4-1/2 Million and raising property taxes 12% or so.
If the next 6 months come back even or even close to even, the city could avoid cutting expenses, services and raising property taxes to draconian, vote burning levels.
Raising the charter restriction to allow a projection within a 5 % or 10% increase is not too draconian. (Not 27%). That would expect $4.6 Million approximately what the deficit shaping up now is looking like, if January to June revenues sustain themselves at last spring levels.
A TIME LIMIT would have be placed this “Emergency Financial Inititive” (EFI) to avoid abusing expectations.
A 5% increase in the charter amount from the previous year this year would be $2.3 MILLION. Ability to raise it 10% would raise the $46 Million 4.6 Million, exactly the amount the city has to replace the way things are doing.
Westchester County finished with $680.7 Million in Sales Tax Receipts reflecting their 1% sales tax increase.
The final figure is 9.8% higher than 2019 when the county earned $619.8.
The county blamed the covid crisis for not reaching their prediction of $748 Million in sale tax receipts. The county was chagrined to realize that an approximate $67 million sales tax shortfall from their original projection of a 27% overly optimistic expectation of increase in sales tax revenues, and blamed it on Covid-19.
Westchester County is not restricted to keeping sales revenues projections no more than the previous year, is insightful as to what happens when hope and optimism are blind to reason.
The Covid epidemic actually helped in erasing the deficit the county blamed it for, by enabling the county to replace the sales tax gap by shifting covid funds not used by the end of the year into the county reserve fund.
They moved $40 million of the reserve funds into the general budget, and supplemented it with retirements and other savings to close the 2020 budget balanced.
THE BIG CHILL 13 SUNNY WPCNR DEGREES WITH CRUNCHY SNOW UNDERFOOT AND SNOW ANXIETY FOR END OF WEEKEND BITTER COLD
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FULL MOON ON THE RISE
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GEORGE LATIMER COUNTY EXECUTIVE TONIGHT AT 7 PM ON WPTV “PEOPLE TO BE HEARD” CH 45 FIOS, CH 76 IN WP OR www.wpcommunity.org anytime.
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THE CITIZENETREPORTER
INTERVIEW
COUNTY EXECUTIVE
GEORGE LATIMER
ON THE STATE OF THE COUNTY
STARTING HIS FOURTH YEAR AS COUNTY EXECUTIVE
ON
HOW WESTCHESTER COMES BACK BIG TIME
UNEMPLOYMENT–DAYCARE INITIATIVES
AID TO SMALL BUSINESSES HOW IT’S WORKING OUT
WESTCHESTER IS MORE ATTRACTIVE TO BUSINESSES MOVING UP
REACHING PEOPLE OF COLOR TO TAKE THE COVID VACCINE
PLAYLAND-STANDARD AMUSEMENTS THE BIG BUILD
MAKING THE WESTCHESTER AIRPORT MASTER PLAN A COMMUNITY PLAN
THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING GAP
COVID INFECTIONS ONGOING THREAT
OPENING UP SCHOOL SPORTS AND PREVENTING A COVID SPREAD
Infections coming down in NY State. ORANGE ZONES LIFTED WITH SOME EXCEPTIONS. BUT UK CONTAGIOUS COVID “VARIANT” IS IN WESTCHESTER.
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WPCNR GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO NIGHTLY COVID REPORT. January 27, 2021:
We’re slowly coming down from our holiday surge and the number of new cases and hospitalizations have decreased across the state. In response, we’re making modifications to our micro-clusters.
All Orange Zone restrictions, and some Yellow Zone restrictions, have been lifted
| Yellow Zone restrictions, which include mandatory weekly testing of a portion of students and faculty at schools, remain in place in those zones. To be clear statewide limits remain the same—a 33 percent cap on gym occupancy, a limit on private gatherings of 10 people, a 50 percent cap of occupancy in retail establishments—and of course, masks are still required in public when social distancing is impossible to maintain. The improvement in the numbers is a testament to New Yorkers’ hard work and diligence against the virus and we must keep it up. Vaccine FAQ of the Day Here’s what else you need to know tonight: 1. Hospitalizations fell to 8,771. Of the 202,661 tests reported yesterday, 11,028, or 5.44 percent were positive. There were 1,558 patients in ICU yesterday, up 14 from the previous day. Of them, 1,027 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 170 New Yorkers to the virus. 2. As of 11am Wednesday, 96 percent of first doses allocated to the state have been administered. This represents 1,246,946 first doses administered of the 1,304,050 allocations received from the federal government. Second dose allocations are separately allocated so no one should worry about not being able to get a second dose if they have already received the first. 3. Additional cases of the UK variant have been identified in New York State. The new cases have been found in Long Island, New York City, Westchester, Saratoga, Tompkins, Niagara, Onondaga, Essex and Warren Counties, bringing the statewide total to 42 known cases. 4. The State extended a partnership with HelloFresh to deliver free meal kits to veterans and military families in New York. Since establishing this partnership in July 2020, HelloFresh has provided more than 200,000 nutritious meals to veterans and military families in New York City who are facing food insecurity due to COVID-19. Now, New York and HelloFresh are extending this collaboration through the second quarter of 2021, ensuring that veterans and military families in New York City will continue to receive these nourishing meals throughout the challenging months ahead. We thank HelloFresh for their partnership. 5. All residents of nursing homes participating in the federal Long Term Care Facility vaccination program have been offered the vaccine. To date, 72 percent of nursing home residents have been vaccinated. By February 7th, all staff at nursing homes will have been offered the vaccine. Nursing home residents who declined the vaccine on the first opportunity—perhaps wanting to wait until others had received the vaccine—will get additional chances to get the vaccine. Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Central Park received an unexpected visitor today—a snowy owl. Spotting this species of owl is an extremely rare event. Snowy owls are common in the Arctic tundra, but not in New York City, and so bird-watchers marveled at the unusual sighting. Snowy owls migrate south in winter. Avid birder David Barrett speculated that this particular snowy owl mistook the park’s baseball field for a sand beach. Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo |
ted statewide—including all cluster zones in Western New York.
The Yellow Zones that remain are in Newburgh and in New York City (two in the Bronx, one in Queens, and one in Washington Heights).
The improvement in the numbers is a testament to New Yorkers’ hard work and diligence against the virus and we must keep it up.
Vaccine FAQ of the Day Here’s what else you need to know tonight: 1. Hospitalizations fell to 8,771. Of the 202,661 tests reported yesterday, 11,028, or 5.44 percent were positive. There were 1,558 patients in ICU yesterday, up 14 from the previous day. Of them, 1,027 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 170 New Yorkers to the virus. 2. As of 11am today, 96 percent of first doses allocated to the state have been administered. This represents 1,246,946 first doses administered of the 1,304,050 allocations received from the federal government. Second dose allocations are separately allocated so no one should worry about not being able to get a second dose if they have already received the first. 3. Additional cases of the UK variant have been identified in New York State. The new cases have been found in Long Island, New York City, Westchester, Saratoga, Tompkins, Niagara, Onondaga, Essex and Warren Counties, bringing the statewide total to 42 known cases. 4. The State extended a partnership with HelloFresh to deliver free meal kits to veterans and military families in New York. Since establishing this partnership in July 2020, HelloFresh has provided more than 200,000 nutritious meals to veterans and military families in New York City who are facing food insecurity due to COVID-19. Now, New York and HelloFresh are extending this collaboration through the second quarter of 2021, ensuring that veterans and military families in New York City will continue to receive these nourishing meals throughout the challenging months ahead. We thank HelloFresh for their partnership. 5. All residents of nursing homes participating in the federal Long Term Care Facility vaccination program have been offered the vaccine. To date, 72 percent of nursing home residents have been vaccinated. By February 7th, all staff at nursing homes will have been offered the vaccine. Nursing home residents who declined the vaccine on the first opportunity—perhaps wanting to wait until others had received the vaccine—will get additional chances to get the vaccine. Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Central Park received an unexpected visitor today—a snowy owl. Spotting this species of owl is an extremely rare event. Snowy owls are common in the Arctic tundra, but not in New York City, and so bird-watchers marveled at the unusual sighting. Snowy owls migrate south in winter. Avid birder David Barrett speculated that this particular snowy owl mistook the park’s baseball field for a sand beach. If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to New York State’s Coronavirus Updates here. Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
HUDSON VALLEY COUNTY EXECUTIVES SAY “PLAY BALL” in all High Risk Low Risk Sports
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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. January 27, 2021
Westchester County Executive George Latimer united with the 6 other County Executives in the Hudson Valley to endorse opening all sports for play in schools effective February 1, saying a written statement:
“Since early March Westchester County has grappled with the realities of COVID-19. While the bodily threats of the virus are clearly documented – the mental impacts of COVID-19 are also equally devastating.
Children in particular have suffered significant mental harms due to the isolation of not being in school consistently, not socializing with friends and family, and not partaking in extracurricular actives.
We know there is not a quick fix, but we also know that science has shown us, time and time again, that certain activities can resume with proper precautions put in place.
Today, I stand with my fellow Hudson Valley County Executives in support of sports resuming in schools.
To be clear, there will be protective protocols in place, and these additional precautions are to protect the athletes. But, I am in favor of providing our children with some normalcy so that they can begin to heal from this horrific pandemic. The resumption of sports will be important for the continued development and mental well-being of our young people – we must never forget them in the decisions we make.”
County Executives from the seven counties of the Hudson Valley have issued the following joint statement:
The Hudson Valley region has reviewed the updated “Interim Guidance for Sports and Recreation during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” dated January 22, 2021 published by New York State. Following discussion with the New York State Association of County Health Officials, regional County Executives, and area public health officials, the Hudson Valley region will authorize “Higher-Risk” sports — both scholastic and non-scholastic — to proceed, effective February 1st, 2021, at the sole discretion of the governing school district or non-scholastic athletic organization.
These activities include, but are not limited to, football, wrestling, ice hockey, rugby, basketball, contact lacrosse, volleyball, martial arts, and competitive cheer/dance. In accordance with the state guidance, county health departments in the region will also monitor whether there has been a more-transmissible variant of COVID-19 identified in the area, as well as the percent of local residents that test positive.
Our region agrees that sports provide many positive impacts for a student’s social, physical, and emotional wellbeing and should be authorized whenever possible.
However, COVID-19 transmission rates around the state and throughout the Hudson Valley region demonstrate the critical nature of proper safety precautions to limit the continued spread of the virus in our communities. The following must be taken into consideration as school districts and athletic organizations in the Hudson Valley region make their individual determinations on how to proceed:
· School districts and non-scholastic organizations that will be organizing sporting activities are responsible for oversight and compliance with all published state guidance, including relevant safety protocols.
All requirements outlined in the January 22, 2021 update to the Interim Guidance for Sports and Recreation must be followed by sports teams, recreation activities, and facilities where games and practices are held. League staff, school athletic directors, sports facility directors, coaches, and parents are strongly encouraged to review this guidance and take steps to make sure current team and league operations align with this updated guidance.
· Parents, coaches, and athletes should be fully informed and affirmatively consent to the participate in these activities understanding the risk of disease transmission.
· Surveillance testing programs may be considered, but are not required as a means to minimize the spread of disease within these activities.
Reluctance of People of Color to get Vaccinated, a problem. Westchester Third in covid Infections in New York State. Infection rate of Persons of Color in December: 29% at Open Door Centers Around County
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WPCNR VACCINATION VIEW. From Open Door January 27, 2021:
According to a December survey by the Pew Research Center, nearly 40 percent of Americans say they will definitely not or probably not get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them.
This is a significant finding, yet it is the overwhelming number of people of color living in underserved communities that most concerns health care providers like Open Door Family Medical Center.
“Communities of color have been hit hardest by the pandemic and are the same communities where vaccine hesitancy is most prevalent,” said Dr. Daren Wu, chief medical officer at Open Door, a Federally Qualified Health Center with sites throughout the Lower Hudson Valley Region. “We tell our patients that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe – and critical for building the herd immunity necessary to end the pandemic.”
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, as many as 80 percent of Americans need to be vaccinated so the virus can’t find enough new hosts.
Mistrust in Communities of Color
According to research conducted this fall by Langer Research Associates, Unidos U.S., the NAACP and the COVID Collaborative, only 14 percent of Black respondents and 34 percent of Latino participants believe in the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine.
A more recent poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Black Americans continue to remain skeptical about the vaccine with only 35 percent saying they definitely or probably would not get vaccinated, citing concerns about side effects and the newness of the vaccine.
“These findings are not surprising, said Dr. Wu. “They are due to a history of racial bias, mistrust of the American health care system, and access inequities. This skepticism certainly seems justified given the exploitation of communities of color by the medical establishment over the years.”
History plays a role in this. Examples include such incidents as the Tuskegee experiment, where black men with syphilis were invited to gain free medical care, but were not treated so medical professionals could study them; and the sterilization of women in Puerto Rico, where as many as one-third of the female population was sterilized by the government with the goal to reduce poverty and unemployment.
In hopes of alleviating this gap, President Joe Biden has made vaccine access for communities of color a key feature of his $1.9 trillion plan to confront the pandemic. The plan calls for creating more vaccination sites, such as mobile clinics, to get vaccine to hard-to-reach, marginalized communities in underserved areas.
Even prior to the pandemic, Open Door has worked closely with local clergy, elected officials and business leaders to improve public health outcomes with safety as a priority.
“We want the community to feel secure knowing that producers of these vaccines have strictly adhered to the necessary research, protocols and testing,” said Dr. Wu. “The vaccines have been brought to market in record time because of massive funding and collaboration across the globe between private and government funders. They have not been rushed to the detriment of their safety or efficacy.”
Decades of work, first years ago on the corresponding HIV spike protein and more recently on its counterparts from other viruses, including SARS, MERS, and seasonal coronaviruses, showed how best to design and produce the SARS-CoV-2 (i.e. Covid-19 version).
Sophisticated methods to image the spike proteins via recent advances in electron microscopy allowed researchers and vaccine makers rapidly to study what they were making and gain assurances they were on the right track.
Dr. Wu stressed the importance of overcoming vaccine hesitancy at a time when a record number of Americans are being hospitalized and dying daily (an average of over 4,000). Westchester County has been hit hard, reporting the third highest rate of coronavirus infections in New York State.
Open Door has seen the surge in infections among its own patients. The positivity rate jumped to 29% in the final weeks of December, and Open Door is currently providing more than 1,000 tests per week.
“The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have gone through all phases of clinical trials,” said Dr. Wu. “This means that they first had to be given to tens of thousands of volunteers during these trials to make sure they were safe. Since receiving the FDA’s EUA (emergency use authorization) a little over a month ago, they have already been given to more than ten million Americans, with excellent safety reported to date.”
Bottom line, he added, “The vaccines are super safe, super effective and the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Open Door Family Medical Center’s mission has remained consistent since 1972: to provide high-quality health care that’s affordable, accessible and efficient.
Today, Open Door cares for more than 1,000 adults and children every day in Westchester, Putnam and Ulster counties – with more than 300,000 patient visits and over 400 babies delivered annually – regardless of one’s ability to pay. In addition to medical, dental, pediatric, women’s, podiatry and behavioral health care offered in its Ossining, Port Chester, Sleepy Hollow, Mount Kisco, Brewster, Mamaroneck sites; seven School-Based Health Centers in the Ossining and Port Chester school districts; a mobile dental; and dental practice in Saugerties, Open Door promotes wellness, good nutrition, stress reduction and physical activity to help families stay healthy. Open Door was recognized as the number one New York State Health Disparity Reducer and a leading Access Enhancer by the Health Resources Service Administration (HRSA).