Policy

December 9, 2020

Here’s how many COVID vaccines each New York region will be allocated

If all goes according to plan, Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine will be approved by the FDA tomorrow, at which time the New York State panel will immediately convene to review and approve it. Under those conditions, the state could begin receiving its first vaccine shipments as early as this weekend. In a press conference today, Governor Cuomo further explained the distribution priorities--high-risk hospital workers followed by nursing home residents and staff--and for the first time outlined the estimated number of doses each region will receive based on their populations of these groups.
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December 9, 2020

To help fund MTA, proposed bill calls for $3 fee on packages delivered in NYC

A state lawmaker is calling for a new surcharge on packages delivered in New York City as a way to raise money for the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Assembly Member Robert Carroll revived a bill he first introduced last February that would impose a $3 fee on all online delivery transactions, except for essential medical supplies and food. Facing its worst financial crisis in history because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the MTA has said without the $12 billion in aid from Congress it has requested, subway and bus service could be cut by 40 percent.
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December 4, 2020

New York City will receive 480,000 COVID vaccine doses by early January

On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state of New York expects to receive its first allocation of COVID-19 vaccine doses from the federal government by December 15. If all safety and efficiency approvals are granted, enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be available for 170,000 New Yorkers. Additional vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna are expected to arrive in the state later this month. And of this allotment, New York City expects that it will receive 480,000 doses by early January, mayoral spokesperson Bill Neidhardt told the New York Times.
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December 2, 2020

Fauci says Broadway could return next fall if ‘large proportion’ of nation receives COVID-19 vaccine

Broadway theaters could reopen as soon as late summer or early fall next year, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during an interview on Tuesday. When asked by WNBC anchor David Ushery about the possibility of The Great White Way shining bright again, the nation's top infectious disease expert said it depends "on the uptake of vaccines by the people of the country and specifically the people of New York." All 41 Broadway theaters closed on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic and ticket sales have been suspended until at least next May.
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November 30, 2020

With COVID hospitalizations increasing, New York outlines new plan to avoid overwhelming the system

As of Sunday, November 29, 3,532 New Yorkers were hospitalized for COVID, the highest since May 29. The increase is steep; on October 29, just 1,085 people were hospitalized. In his press conference today, Governor Cuomo referred to this as "a new phase" in "the war on COVID," attributing it to colder weather, increased travel, and small gatherings, which now account for 65 percent of all new cases statewide. With these numbers expected to increase during the holidays, the state is turning its attention to hospitals. To prevent overwhelming the system as we saw in the spring, the governor announced a new five-point plan to slow the spread of the virus.
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November 30, 2020

NYC will reopen some schools for in-person learning next week

New York City pre-kindergarten and elementary public school students can return to in-person instruction starting December 7, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sunday. The news comes just two weeks after the mayor shuttered public school buildings, citing the citywide coronavirus positivity rate of 3 percent on a seven-day average, a metric established as part of the administration's reopening plan. But after criticism over allowing indoor dining and gyms to remain open but not schools, de Blasio said Sunday he would ditch the 3 percent threshold and look at the number of cases at each school instead.
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November 23, 2020

Washington Heights will become first COVID micro-cluster zone in Manhattan

Since last week, many New Yorkers have been anticipating an announcement that the entire city will become an orange zone. This has been avoided at least for another day, but Governor Cuomo did announce that Washington Heights will become a precautionary yellow zone, hitting a 3.30% positivity rate. This is the first micro-cluster zone in Manhattan and the fifth and final borough to join this map. The governor also announced a dire situation on Staten Island in which an emergency overflow facility for COVID patients will open at South Beach.
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November 19, 2020

MTA considers ditching unlimited MetroCards, cutting service amid budget crisis

Subway and bus service could be cut by 40 percent, thousands of workers laid off, unlimited MetroCards eliminated, and fares increased under a budget proposed by the Metropolitan Transportation on Wednesday as the agency faces the worst financial crisis in its history. The grim 2021 budget comes as the MTA faces a tremendous deficit amplified by the coronavirus pandemic, with no federal relief in sight. The agency on Wednesday projected a deficit of $15.9 billion through 2024.
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November 18, 2020

NYC schools will close tomorrow as Cuomo warns of a partial lockdown

In his press conference this afternoon, Governor Cuomo announced that all of New York City would become an orange zone if its city-wide positivity rate hits 3 percent. Under this micro-cluster strategy, indoor dining and high-risk non-essential businesses like gyms and personal care services would close. Schools would also close, but during the governor's press conference, New York City Chancellor Richard A. Carranza sent an email to principals that schools would close and go to virtual learning as of tomorrow, as the New York Times first reported.
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November 17, 2020

Landmarks designates first historic district in East Flatbush

East Flatbush now has its first historic district. The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday voted to landmark a section of the Brooklyn neighborhood on East 25th Street between Clarendon Road and Avenue D, home to 56 cohesive limestone and brownstone properties. As 6sqft previously reported, local residents led the landmarking effort of the block, which has been named the "greenest block in Brooklyn" by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden four times.
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November 13, 2020

NYC releases map of positive COVID cases by ZIP code

New York City's health department this week released real-time data on new coronavirus cases by ZIP code and borough for the first time. An interactive map and a table show the percent of people who tested positive by ZIP code for the most recent seven days of available data and the rate of people tested during the last week. The detailed data comes as the city faces a surge of new cases of the virus in every borough, with an 89 percent increase in cases citywide compared to two weeks prior.
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November 11, 2020

New York will close restaurants and gyms at 10pm, limits gatherings to 10 people

With the COVID positivity rate rising across the state, and with neighboring states of Connecticut and New Jersey seeing major spikes, Governor Cuomo today put in place new restrictions to curb the spread. Restaurants and bars will have to close at 10pm; after that time they can offer curbside takeout and delivery for food only. Gyms will also have to close at 1opm. And both indoor and outdoor gatherings at private residences will be limited to no more than 10 people. These are the three main spreaders that were identified by state contact-tracers. The rules go into effect at 1opm this Friday, November 13th.
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November 10, 2020

Can NYC stave off a second COVID wave? Positivity rate nears 3%

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. For the sixth straight day, New York City's COVID positivity rate has been above 2 percent, today hitting 2.88 percent. Though this is lower than surrounding states (New Jersey has recently hit 8 percent), Mayor de Blasio's education plan has set a threshold of 3 percent for keeping schools open. And according to the city's data, the number of new daily infections has nearly doubled since August from roughly 300 to a whopping 976 last Wednesday. Yesterday, Mayor de Blasio said the city was "getting dangerously close" to a second wave, setting off an alarm among New Yorkers, and today he said, "this is our last chance to stop [it]."
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November 9, 2020

New Jersey adds new COVID restrictions as infection rate climbs

With infection rates throughout the Garden State continuing to climb, Governor Phil Murphy has been hinting for the past week at new restrictions, and today they came. Aside from prohibiting all indoor interstate games for youth and high school sports, the rules focus on indoor dining, including stopping restaurants, bars, and casinos from serving food or drink between 10pm and 5am and prohibiting barside seating. Murphy's announcement came as New Jersey saw its fifth-straight day of 2,000+ cases, with 3,207 cases reported on Saturday, the highest since the height of the pandemic on April 27.
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November 9, 2020

Here’s what New Yorkers can expect from Joe Biden’s COVID-19 plan

Even before he was officially declared President-elect, Joe Biden began briefings about the pandemic, and since Saturday's celebrations, his comprehensive, federally led strategy to combat COVID-19 finally feels within reach. Today, President-elect Biden announced the 13 members of his COVID-19 advisory board, made up of public health experts, scientists, and doctors. This group will help Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and him carry out their plan to not only beat the virus, but to prepare for future global health threats. Ahead, we take a closer look at the intricacies of the strategy and how it will benefit the entire nation, as well as New Yorkers, from a nation-wide mask mandate to an increase in testing centers to the establishment of a Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force.
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November 6, 2020

New York will deploy additional National Guard and NYPD to enforce COVID rules at airports

With the pandemic roaring around the nation and in nearby New Jersey and Connecticut, Governor Cuomo today announced that he'd be deploying additional National Guard and NYPD members to state airports to enforce the state's COVID entry requirements as the holidays approach. In a conference call this morning with reporters, the governor said, "You should not land if you do not have proof of a negative test," referring to the new travel rule that he announced on Monday, which says that most travelers who were in another state for more than 24 hours must obtain a test within three days of departure from that state.
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November 2, 2020

Travelers to New York must test negative for COVID-19 to avoid quarantine

Most travelers to New York must get tested for the coronavirus before and after arriving in the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday. The new rule replaces the travel advisory put in place in June that required a 14-day quarantine for travelers coming to New York from places with significant community spread. Under the new guidelines, which will go into effect on Wednesday, visitors will be able to "test out" of the mandatory quarantine if both COVID-19 tests come back negative.
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October 29, 2020

Face masks, health screenings now required at all NJ workplaces

As New Jersey continues to see an uptick in coronavirus cases across the state, Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday mandated new health and safety rules for all workplaces. Starting November 5, workers at private and public sector companies must wear face masks, maintain at least six feet from one another, and undergo daily health screenings. Murphy's executive order comes as the state continues to fight against the spread of COVID-19. Last Saturday, nearly 2,000 new cases were reported statewide, the most recorded since May.
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October 26, 2020

Newark rolls back reopening after resurgence of COVID-19 cases

Starting Tuesday, New Jersey's largest city will implement new coronavirus restrictions after reporting an uptick in coronavirus cases. Non-essential businesses and indoor dining will now have to close at 8 p.m. and beauty salons and barbershops will be appointment-only, Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced on Monday. The new measures come as Newark reported a test positivity rate of 11.2 percent over three days, compared to New Jersey's statewide rate of 5.28 percent.
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October 21, 2020

Cuomo eases some restrictions in Brooklyn and Queens COVID-19 clusters

The state will loosen some restrictions in coronavirus clusters in parts of Brooklyn and Queens after positive infection rates decreased, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday. As a way to contain the spread of the virus in hot spots across New York, the state earlier this month divided the clusters into three categories depending on positivity rates, with red, orange, and yellow zones determining the level of restrictions. According to Cuomo, all clusters in Queens can exit the red zone and enter yellow, meaning businesses and schools can reopen and houses of worship can increase capacity to 50 percent. But in Brooklyn, the red zone will remain red, with orange and yellow zones now both yellow.
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October 21, 2020

24 percent of NYC subway and bus workers have had COVID-19, survey says

Nearly a quarter of New York City subway and bus workers reported contracting the coronavirus, according to a survey released on Tuesday. Of the roughly 650 Transport Workers Union Local 100 members surveyed as part of a pilot study led by New York University, 24 percent said they had the virus at some point since the start of the pandemic. The new report suggests more transit workers had the virus than previously thought. In May, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said about 14 percent of transit workers tested positive for antibodies.
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October 20, 2020

MTA launches first real-time digital subway map

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Tuesday released a new digital map of the New York City subway system that provides service updates to riders in real-time. As first reported by Curbed, this map uses data from the MTA to update as service changes are happening, allowing users to click on stations and individual train lines to see the actual wait time for the next train. When zoomed in on the map, little gray blocks move along the colored lines, depicting the train's actual movement from station to station. Created by design and technology firm Work & Co., the map modernizes both Massimo Vignelli's iconic 1972 map and the current map designed by Michael Hertz, combining the geometric and graphic design-friendly Vignelli map with the geographical elements of Hertz. The new live map is the first major redesign of the NYC subway map in 40 years.
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October 19, 2020

New York outlines initial strategy for prioritizing COVID vaccine distribution

Given the many unknowns surrounding a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as skepticism that certain vaccine trials could be politically motivated, Governor Cuomo announced last month that the state would put together a Clinical Advisory Task Force to advise New Yorkers on the vaccine's safety and effectiveness. In addition, over the weekend, the NYS Department of Health released a draft COVID-19 Vaccination Administration Program "that serves as an initial framework for ensuring the safe and effective distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in New York." According to the preliminary plan, the vaccine would be distributed in five phases, with high-risk populations and essential workers prioritized. 
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October 19, 2020

Here’s what you need to know about New York’s plastic bag ban

The ban on single-use plastic bags will go into effect on Monday, more than seven months after enforcement was set to begin. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's statewide ban on plastic bags was approved by state lawmakers last year with plans to begin enforcement on March 1, 2020. But a lawsuit from the Bodega and Small Business Association and a delay in a court decision on the lawsuit because of the coronavirus pandemic pushed enforcement of the new law back multiple times until a state judge ruled in August that the ban can begin on October 19. Starting Monday, grocery and retail stores that collect state taxes from customers will no longer be permitted to use plastic bags to contain purchases at checkout. Ahead, learn more about the Bag Waste Reduction Law, the exceptions to the law, and alternatives to single-use plastic.
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October 16, 2020

NYC makes outdoor dining permanent, lifts ban on propane heaters at restaurants

The New York City Council on Thursday voted to make outdoor dining permanent and year-round and lifted the ban on portable propane heaters. The legislation approved by the Council extends the city's current Open Restaurants program, in which more than 10,500 restaurants have enrolled since June, until September 30, 2021, and requires it to be replaced with a permanent program. Under the program, restaurants will also be able to use portable propane heaters, which were previously banned.
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