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Adams encourages in-person work at Queens factory visit
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JAN. 21 - JAN. 27, 2022 17
BY BILL PARRY
Newly elected northeast
Queens Councilwoman Vickie
Paladino walked back an explosive
comment made during
an interview on NY1 about
her refusal to disclose her COVID
19 vaccination status to
City Council officials earlier
this month.
“I don’t need to show my
papers. This is not Nazi Germany,”
Paladino said during that
interview.
On Jan. 11, Paladino said she
made the “ill-considered and inappropriate
comparison” during
an hours-long interview,
and asked that it be struck from
the record, but took “complete
ownership of that mistake.”
“While my intent was to
illustrate that requiring residents
to show medical papers
to earn a living or do everyday
activities is an authoritarian
practice that does not align
with this country’s principles,
it is never OK to compare anything
to the evil of Nazi Germany,”
Paladino said in a statement.
“I apologize to those who
were genuinely offended by my
comment.”
She added that she would
meet with local Jewish officials
and her friends in the Jewish
community in the coming days
to discuss the matter.
The controversy arose nearly
a week after Paladino was refused
entry to the City Council’s
first stated meeting of 2022.
The 67-year-old Republican
refused to disclose her COVID
19 vaccination status and
was told by officials she would
be barred from the chamber
floor on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
There has been no resolution to
the standoff, and Paladino continues
to oppose any effort to
require people to disclose their
vaccination status as a condition
of employment or for any
other reason.
“The idea that we are now
essentially blackmailing people
by threatening their jobs and
their livelihoods is what is eroding
public trust in vaccines,”
said Robert Hornak, a Paladino
spokesman. “People should
be allowed to make their own
decision on their healthcare.
And nobody should be forced to
disclose their personal medical
information to anyone. Everyone
has a right to privacy and
that includes medical privacy.
We will continue to stand up
for that right as long as people
are trying to use heavy-handed
tactics to force their will on others.
”A
fter she was denied entry,
Paladino wrote on Twitter that
she had cast her vote in the race
for Council speaker remotely.
She later spoke with Speaker
Adrienne Adams and explained
that she would not make it an
issue that day.
“I also made it clear that
this courtesy would only be for
today, and that I will fight the
mandates with every resource
available,” Paladino tweeted.
“Not just the Council mandates,
but throughout the city. Going
forward, if anyone has a problem
with me in the chamber,
they will have to remove me.”
Paladino defeated Democrat
Tony Avella last November in
the race to represent District 19,
which encompasses her native
Whitestone, College Point, Bayside,
Little Neck, Douglaston
and parts of North Flushing.
A City Council spokesperson
indicated the rules will remain
the same, and that they
don’t apply just to the Council
chamber.
“In the wake of the order
issued by the city’s health
commissioner requiring city
employees to be vaccinated,
the City Council adopted a
policy in the fall that no one
who works at the Council is
permitted to work at City Hall,
250 Broadway, or any Council
district office unless they have
provided proof of vaccination,”
the spokesperson said. “That
remains the policy of the City
Council. There will be no exceptions
absent a valid request
for a medical or religious accommodation.
The protection
of the health and safety of our
staff and Council members
is the highest priority to the
Council.”
BY MORGAN C. MULLINGS
Mayor Eric Adams visited
the Steinway piano factory in
Queens on Jan. 14 to thank
the workers for their hard
work, and use the opportunity
to highlight the return to inperson
activities in the middle
of a COVID surge. Adams said
he has had an optimistic outlook
on the COVID numbers
recently, hoping the city is approaching
a peak in cases.
“The news seems promising,”
Adams said. “Eric did
not say we peaked and we declined.
So I don’t need that to
be the headline. I say it’s stabilizing.
And based on our optimistic
views, we appear to be
moving in the right direction.”
NYC has gone from 42,641
new cases on Jan. 9, to 33,305
as of Jan. 13. If the numbers
continue to trend downwards,
factories like Steinway have
a chance to stay open. “Steinway
piano factory has been
here for 150 years, a legendary
industry here in New York
City. And COVID can’t stop it,”
the mayor said.
He brought Deputy Mayor
of Health and Human services
Anne Williams-Isom to the
factory to go into more detail
on how the city can keep businesses
open. “It’s going to be
difficult, but there are ways
for us to stay safe and healthy.
You have to get vaccinated. It’s
the best thing that we can do
to keep ourselves safe,” Williams
Isom said.
She also urged the public
to stay home if they feel sick,
which is standard practice, but
comes as a slight contradiction
to the situation at hand. While
Adams has criticized parents
and students for not showing
up to school and urged people
to go back to work, the reality
is that the risk of transmission
is still high, and there are still
not enough resources to make
sure that classrooms and factories
and restaurants don’t
close down.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos
joined the mayor to draw more
attention to this, saying, “A
child in my youngest son’s
class tested positive for coronavirus
and he was sent home
with tests to take — obviously
having to provide a negative
result five days later, but I
quickly learned from other
neighbors that that was not
true for those who are in kindergarten
or pre-K or 3K.”
She added that she is working
with the Adams administration
to make sure that
enough tests are available for
young people who cannot get
the vaccine or booster shot yet.
“So I’m very happy to be
here this morning to call attention
to, yes, the importance
of our economy. But I don’t believe
that we should put profit
over people and we should be
keeping people safe,” Ramos
said.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the Steinway piano factory, Steinway &
Sons, in Astoria on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022.
Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
Councilwoman Vickie Paladino continues to refuse to disclose her
vaccination status nearly a week after she was barred from the
Council chamber. Photo courtesy of Paladino’s campaign
Paladino walks back comment comparing
NYC vaccine mandate with Nazi Germany
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