www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY July 26, 2020 2
Bronx Zoo ready for reopening
New Yorkers prepare for a new socially distant zoo experience this week
BY ALEX MITCHELL
As the Bronx Zoo prepares
for a public reopening this Friday
along with the Central Park,
Queens, and Prospect Park zoos,
Wildlife Conservation Society
members who were given early
access were enthusiastic for a
return to the concrete jungle uptown.
But it’s a slightly different
environment than patrons have
been previously used to: strictly
outside exhibits are viewable for
the reduced capacity of guests,
zoo-goers may only enter at 10
a.m., noon, or 2 p.m. in the Bronx,
tickets must be purchased online
for a specifi c date and time slot as
no walk-up or on-site ones will be
sold, face coverings are required
for all visitors aged 3 and up,
along with social distancing and
contactless protocols that have
but put in effect throughout the
wilderness.
Starting next week, traditional
free Wednesdays will also
return but will require advanced
ticketing online while day camps
and education programs will be
remaining digital at this time.
For in-person adventures, the
zoo implemented a plethora of
sanitizing stations throughout
its grounds, many placed near
no-touch admission gates.
It’s those kind of precautions
that encouraged Brooklynite Julia
Kopelson to treat her children
to a sunny, and hot, day at the zoo
earlier this afternoon.
“They’re doing a really good
job,” she said, mentioning that
the Bronx Zoo’s know before you
go webpage was incredibly helpful
for planning what to anticipate
upon arrival.
Kopelson, who is married to
an ER doctor, also expressed a
willingness to continue seeing
the city’s iconic sights as they reopen
in upcoming weeks.
“I think if it’s open then I
feel pretty comfortable to go see
it,” she said while overlooking
giraffes and ostriches with her
family.
For a Long Island father
named Gabriel, he’s been waiting
four months to bring his
children back to the Bronx
Zoo.
He commented on how clean
the park has been kept since its
reopening on Monday, adding
how pleasant it is to be able to
return safely with his children.
“This is a nice feeling, we
are happy that life coming back
to normal,” he said.
Pelhamite Jeanine Mcdermott
also praised the zoo’s efforts
for cleanliness while overlooking
a fl ock a pink fl amingos
with her children Mia and
Liam.
“We were so missing the
Bronx Zoo in the spring… it’s a
shame that some of the things
are not open but we understand
why,” she added.
As for Manhattanites Mark
and Sally Riddles, they fi nally
escaped from their “little apartment”
for a day in nature with
their grandchildren, Ruth and
Eli.
“This is the fi rst activity
we’ve done,” Sally said surrounded
by a herd of American
bison, while Mark noted his
sense of security coming from
the statewide decrease of coronavirus
rates.
For Eli, trips to the zoo are
what he most looks forward too
during a less homebound time.
Gabriel, a Long Island father with his family at the Bronx Zoo
Photo by Alex Mitchell
Espaillat bills to aid in COVID relief
Laws modeled after the 9/11 Victims Compensation fund, will create memorials
BY JASON COHEN
Looking to model on the 9/11
Victims Compensation Fund,
one elected offi cial is hoping
to aid families impacted by
COIVD-19 and create a memorial
in the Bronx for New Yorkers
who died of COVID-19.
On July 17, Congressman
Adriano Espaillat announced
two legislative initiatives to
compensate surviving individuals
and families impacted
by COVID-19 and to establish a
commission for the creation of a
National COVID-19 Memorial in
New York City.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has
devastated the U.S. economy, impacted
every community across
the nation, and wrought unprecedented
fi nancial, emotional
and physical damage on individuals
and families,” Espaillat
said. “We are in the midst
of an invisible war that has so
far taken roughly 140,000 lives
in the United States, far more
than combined loss of American
lives during the Vietnam War,
the 9/11 attacks and the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress
must take action to alleviate
the suffering of those affected
by the COVID-19 pandemic, as
well as properly commemorate
the lives lost, to help our nation
recover. I am calling on my congressional
colleagues to join me
in this effort to help our nation
recover both spiritually and economically
from this crisis.”
The COVID-19 Victims Compensation
Fund Act would create
a fund modeled on the 9/11
Victims Compensation Fund to
provide fi nancial relief to those
who fell ill from or the families
of those lost to COVID-19. The
bill would allow individuals and
families to receive compensation
for both economic costs due
to loss of employment, medical
expenses, and loss of business,
as well as provide for physical
and emotional pain and suffering
infl icted by COVID-19.
The COVID-19 National Memorial
Act would commemorate
victims and help our country
overcome this national tragedy
as a collective. This legislation
would create a commission to
plan, design and raise funds for a
national memorial in the Bronx
that honors those who lost their
lives to the pandemic as well
as the doctors, nurses, fi rst responders
and other heroes who
have selfl essly fought to overcome
this invisible enemy.
Borough President Ruben
Diaz Jr. praised the bills.
“The Bronx has been one
of the hardest hit parts of the
country, emblematic of how
COVID-19 has ravaged our communities
in every imaginable
way,” Diaz said. “COVID-19
has forever changed how we
go about our daily lives, both
literally and fi guratively. I applaud
Congressman Espaillat
for presenting these legislative
initiatives that promise to go a
long way in jump-starting our
collective healing process, not
only by helping our most vulnerable
communities economically,
but also honoring the
memory of all those tragically
lost to COIVD-19 and the heroic
fi rst responders and essential
workers who have bravely
fought this historic pandemic.
I look forward to working with
Congressman Espaillat to fi nd
a fi tting location in the borough
of The Bronx for this important
national memorial.”
Espaillat introduces bills to compensate COVID-19 victims and create a memorial
File photo
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