Cuomo warns of COVID-19 spike after holidays
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has secured
funding for another round of
food relief that will benefit
many families in Queens and
other parts of New York who
are facing food insecurity
amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to Congresswoman
Grace Meng.
Meng led members of New
York’s Congressional Delegation
in a bicameral letter urging
Agriculture Secretary
Sonny Perdue to confirm the
fourth round of funding for
the Coronavirus Food Assistance
Program’s Farmers to
Families Food Box initiative.
“The evidence is clear on
why this program is so critical
and necessary. New York City’s
food pantries have reported a
massive spike in demand compared
to months before the
pandemic,” Meng said.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
and Economic Security
(CARES) Act created CFAP,
a $19 billion program to help
agricultural producers —
who have faced a 5 percent or
greater decline in commodity
prices — access financial relief
during COVID-19.
Under the initiative, the
USDA purchases fresh produce,
dairy and meat products
from American producers to
package into boxes that are
distributed by nonprofits, and
faith-based and community
organizations to Americans
facing food insecurity.
Meng’s letter is urging the
USDA to ensure that vendors
can provide combination boxes
and meat/dairy/produce-only
boxes for pantries and food assistance
groups that service
those who observe kosher and
halal diets.
“For such a diverse city, it
is important that we provide
not only adequate food, but
boxes that kosher and halal
communities can access. I look
forward to the Secretary’s response,”
Meng said.
The correspondence highlighted
the chaos from the
round three funding that resulted
in restrictions for food
vendors to service specific
boroughs and counties which
left food pantries scrambling
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.20 COM | NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020
to find new partnerships with
zero guidance from the USDA,
no overlap in service provisions,
and nowhere to turn to
help, according to Meng.
“I hope the agency has
learned from its previous missteps
in round-three funding,
and will ensure the fourth
round proceeds smoothly so
that families who need this
critical food assistance are not
harmed,” Meng said.
Senator Charles Schumer
said the limitations in the
Farmers to Families Food Box
Program made matters worse,
preventing food banks from
serving communities that rely
on them.
“I, along with Congresswoman
Meng, will hold the
Secretary accountable for resolving
these issues and fulfilling
the requests for food
boxes that meet the dietary
needs of our communities,”
Schumer said.
Meanwhile, Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand, a member
of the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry, said the USDA must
do right by New Yorkers this
time around.
“The USDA must confirm
that vendors will be able to
supply our local food pantries
adequately, and that New Yorkers
who keep kosher and halal
won’t be excluded from having
their nutritional needs met,”
Gillibrand said.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4526.
BY MARK HALLUM
As sure as people will
gain weight during the holidays,
there will be a considerable
spike across the state
in COVID-19 infection rates,
Governor Andrew Cuomo said
during his Sunday press conference.
With New York City coming
in at a current rate of 5.46
percent, the governor believes
that New Yorkers need to carry
a mindfulness about their
community’s infection rate
which will see discernible increases
in the first week of December
after Thanksgiving.
“I think after New Year’s
Eve, Jan. 2, Jan. 10, Jan. 15,
then you’ll see the collective
impact of all 37 days,” Cuomo
said. “The rate goes up, there
are more restrictions to slow
the economy, that’s bad for
business… You overburden
the hospital system… More
people will die the more a rate
goes up. Unless you are extremely
casual about human
life, it matters.”
The vaccine which could
come in December or January
will first go to high risk
communities such as those
in nursing homes and that it
could be six months before the
general population are inoculated
against COVID-19 and
deaths continue to mount.
As of Nov. 21, there were
30 deaths in New York — still
a far cry from the 800 per day
seen in May, but no less tragic.
Upper Manhattan is expected
to become a yellow zone for
the holiday, the governor said.
Parts of Staten Island could
also be declared orange or red
zones if the seven-day average
remains above 3 percent.
There are 420 sites across
the five boroughs, many of
which are CityMD locations
where the volume of patients
can be seen stretching around
blocks at times.
On the matter of reports
that there was a wedding in
New York City over the weekend
with up to 7,000 attendees,
Cuomo said his administration
and the city would not
only investigate, but hold the
organizers accountable.
According to Cuomo, state
leaders had worked to halt a
wedding of similar size held
by members of the Orthodox
Jewish community and said
that if their response was to
hold a “secret” wedding of
similar size, he would feel “deceived”
by Hasidic leaders.
“It was also disrespectful
to the people of New York,”
Cuomo said. “We literally
stopped a wedding a couple of
nights before which was going
to be a very large wedding. If
it turns out that because we
stopped that wedding, the reactions
was ‘well, we’ll have a
secret wedding.’ That would
be really shocking and totally
deceitful of the conversations
that I had, I had personal conversations
with members of
the community. But put that
aside – I’ve been deceived
many times – and the city
should do a robust investigation…
We’ll bring the full
consequence of legal action to
bear.”
In anticipation for a winter
spike in COVID-19, the
governor has ordered that
bars and restaurants can no
longer serve indoors after 10
p.m., with delivery options
allowed. This has come with
the expectation that more closures
will be put in place as
the numbers change.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum
by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4564.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Courtesy of Meng’s office
Meng calls for more funding
for critical food relief program
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