Graphic courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus response campaign toolkit
To reach more New Yorkers, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday launched a multi-platform awareness campaign to encourage everyone to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. With help from Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, the governor’s new social media push asks New Yorkers to use the hashtag #IStayHomeFor and nominate friends to participate.
Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash
Early data released by New York City this week shows a disparity in deaths caused by coronavirus among people of color. Of those who have died from COVID-19, 34 percent were Hispanic and 28 percent were black, according to preliminary numbers from April 6. Those groups make up 29 percent and 22 percent of the city’s population, respectively.
Bradley Beach, NJ; Photo by Ryan Loughlin on Unsplash
As the number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey continues to climb, state and city officials are furthering social distancing measures by closing public spaces across the state. Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday signed an executive order shuttering all state parks and forests, as well as county parks. A number of Jersey Shore towns have closed beaches and boardwalks, with some even banning short-term rentals to curb visits from out-of-towners. “My focus and our focus, our sole mission right now is the health of every New Jersey family,” Murphy said. “And we must not just flatten this curve, we must crush this curve.” Ahead, find out which public spaces in NJ have been temporarily closed as a result of the pandemic.
Photo by Daniel Lee on Unsplash
Landlords would not be able to evict tenants for any unpaid rent that accumulated during New York’s state of emergency and for six months afterward, under proposed legislation introduced by state lawmakers Tuesday. State Sens. Brad Hoylman and Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz announced the “NYS Tenant Safe Harbor Act” that would strengthen the current 90-day eviction freeze put in place by the state last month.
Photo by Michael Appleton/ Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr
During World War II, 70,000 workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard built and repaired thousands of battleships and sent supplies to troops stationed around the world. Today, the 300-acre waterfront site is returning to its roots, with manufacturing companies coming together to create medical supplies from scratch for healthcare workers in support of the city’s coronavirus pandemic response.
Photo via PxHere
As 6sqft explained earlier, “with car accidents, construction accidents, trauma cases, and crime all down due to Cuomo’s New York State on PAUSE order,” early estimates that temporary overflow hospitals would be needed have been replaced with a critical need for more COVID beds. To meet this demand, last week, the 2,500-bed temporary hospital at the Javits Center was turned into a COVID-only facility, as was the 500-bed USNS Comfort naval hospital ship yesterday. In addition, both the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island and the Brooklyn Center nursing home in Weeksville will open this week specifically to treat COVID-19 patients.
Photo by Kripa Chettiar on Flickr
One of the largest churches in the world will be converted into a field hospital this week. The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood said it will have nine climate-controlled medical tents installed in its 600-foot-long nave and underground crypt by the end of the week, the New York Times first reported. The site is expected to house at least 200 patients, who could start arriving as early as this week.
Photo by Darren McGee for the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
When Governor Cuomo first announced that New York would be receiving hospital assistance in the form of the USNS Comfort naval hospital ship arriving in New York Harbor and the Javits Center being turned into a temporary FEMA hospital, health officials outlined those as overflow facilities. However, as the coronavirus caseload has increased, mainly in New York City, the need for more COVID-only beds has grown imminent. Therefore, last week, the governor announced that the Javits Center was becoming a 2,500-bed COVID-only facility, and yesterday he received approval from Donald Trump to also transition the Comfort “to serve as a relief valve for our stressed hospital system.”
Photo of Central Park on 4.6.20 © 6sqft
With the total number of COVID-19 cases in New York State now at 130,689 and the number of deaths at 4,758, Governor Cuomo announced today that he was extending his executive New York State on PAUSE order through April 29th. However, the reason for this is slightly optimistic; the state is seeing early signs of a possible plateauing in daily new cases, which indicates that social distancing measures are working. But in order for them to continue working, residents in NYC must remain vigilant, which was not the case over the weekend, with parks and public spaces once again becoming overcrowded. Therefore, the governor is increasing the social distancing fine from $500 to $1,000.
Photo of 2019 Summer Streets, courtesy of NYC DOT/Flickr
Pointing to an overuse of NYPD personnel as the main reason, Mayor de Blasio said in his press conference on Sunday that he would not be extending the Safe Streets pilot that he launched 10 days ago. The program closed one six-block stretch of road to vehicles in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx in order to provide more open space for pedestrians. But despite continued overcrowding in parks, the Mayor has decided the resources used to keep the streets open are better allocated elsewhere.
4,000 spots open on waitlist for middle-income units across Bushwick, Bed-Stuy 
Jon Bon Jovi puts waterfront NJ mansion on the market for $20M 
Brooklyn nursing home and Staten Island psychiatric center will open as COVID hospitals this week 
Where to order takeout Easter and Passover meals in NYC 
Tenants would not be evicted for unpaid rent accrued during state of emergency, under proposed law 
New York State launches daily COVID-19 tracker 
Some NYC landlords are waiving rent payments amid the coronavirus pandemic 
$1.67M duplex is a woodsy escape in Brooklyn Heights 