Manhattan pols seek to close indoor dining,
non-essential offices amid COVID-19 rise
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
With the second wave of COVID
19 yet to fully crest in
New York, several Manhattan
lawmakers renewed calls to have the entire
city declared an “orange zone” that would
necessitate a new round of business closures
to help stem the surge.
City Council Members Mark Levine and
Carlina Rivera, along with state Senator
Gustavo Rivera and Assemblyman Richard
Gottfried, issued a statement on Dec. 6
seeking the designation — pointing to the
upward trend in COVID-19 infections and
related hospitalizations across the city.
Many parts of the city are already
designated yellow or orange zones, such
as the southern part of Staten Island,
which has one of the highest COVID-19
positivity rates in the entire city. The yellow
and orange zones either severely restrict
or completely forbid indoor dining, gym
operations and the opening of non-essential
businesses.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has the authority
through the state Health Department
to declare COVID-19 zones based
on the severity of cases. He has previously
A patient is wheeled into a hospital during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
in Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2020.
expressed hesitance toward declaring entire
regions of the state, such as New York, as
specifi c zones — arguing that a microcluster
approached targeting specifi c communities
within a region would be more
effective at clamping down on infections.
The Manhattan lawmakers, in their
Sunday statement, disagreed.
“Targeted neighborhood measures are
PHOTO BY REUTERS
not suffi cient at this point, because community
spread is now city-wide, and because
New Yorkers are highly mobile, moving
frequently between neighborhoods,” according
to the statement. “The color status
in any single neighborhood impacts the
entire city, therefore at this point the best
strategy is a consistent city-wide standard
of Orange status, which restricts the most
risky and likely points for contracting COVID
19, while allowing for some fl exibility
regarding lower-risk activities.”
On Saturday, Dec. 5, another 9,702 out
of 205,832 tested for COVID-19 came back
with positive results. Nearly a third of the
new positive cases came from New York
City, which had 3,127.
The number of patients hospitalized
statewide rose by another 124, with 4,442
now admitted for COVID-19, according
to Cuomo. The Manhattan lawmakers
claimed that more than 1,300 people in
New York City are currently hospitalized
for COVID-19 — the highest total since
June.
Another 56 New Yorkers died of COVID
19 on Dec. 5, including 15 in New
York City. Ten of those deaths came in
Queens and Staten Island, both of which
had fi ve.
In response to the lawmakers’ statement,
Bill Neidhardt, press secretary for Mayor
Bill de Blasio, stated, “The City is in constant
and active discussions with the State
on their zones and possible restrictions.
Our top priority is the health and safety
of all New Yorkers as we fi ght off a second
wave.”
BY MARK HALLUM
Manhattan state Senator
Brad Hoylman want
to make it even harder
for cars to speed by lowering the
bar for what constitutes as speeding
with a new bill dedicated to
Samuel Cohen Eckstein, 12, who
was killed by a driver on Brooklyn’s
Prospect Park West in 2013.
Known as “Sammy’s Law,”
the legislation introduced in Albany
on Monday would repeal an
earlier law mandating that speed
limits in the fi ve boroughs cannot
be lower than 25 MPH or lower
than 15 MPH in school zones,
according to Hoylman.
Eckstein would have been 20
years old on Tuesday.
“As the New York City body
count from traffi c fatalities grows
to a six-year high, it makes absolutely
no sense that Albany won’t
let the City lower its speed limit,”
Hoylman said. “Sammy’s Law
will give New York City the power
to lower speed limits in a way
that is tailored to neighborhoods’
actual safety needs. Reducing
Hoylman seeks to drop NYC’s
speed limit below 25 mph
traffi c speed is not only critical
due to the rising number of traffi
c fatalities, but also because of
increased car use, bike ridership
and outdoor dining and shopping
during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Eckstein’s grandmother, Joan
Dean, a member of Families for
Safe Streets, believes that even
small differences in the way
people drive could make a difference
in the city where advocates
are looking to the next mayor to
aggressively build on what Mayor
Bill de Blasio set in motion with
Vision Zero in 2013.
“Our family knows all too
well that speed kills. Going just a
little slower can be the difference
between life and death, particularly
for those walking and biking
on our streets,” Dean said. “My
12-year-old grandson Sammy
was killed by a reckless driver
who was rushing to get to work.
Amy Cohen, founder of Families for Safe Streets, participated
in a November 2019 rally seeking to put traffic safety on the
front burner of presidential platforms and on the priority for
the House of Representatives. A photo of her son Sammy Cohen
Eckstein is held by Stephanie Mansfield.
A year later, a 5-year-old boy was
hit crossing the street in the same
exact location. But the other boy
survived because the speed limit
had been lowered by 5 mph.”
FILE PHOTO/TODD MAISEL
According to Hoylman’s offi
ce, authorization by the state
legislature for the city to reduce
speed limits contributed to a
36% decrease in pedestrian
fatalities. An average of about
12% pedestrians struck by
cars going 25 MPH could be
fatal, and for each mile per hour
increase, the likelihood of survival
decreases by about three
percentage points, Hoylman
pointed out in a release.
During a Tuesday transportation
panel on street safety, Transportation
Alternatives Executive
Director Danny Harris said he
believed the speed limit should be
lowered from 25 MPH on many
streets down to 20 MPH, a repeat
of a statement from him regarding
“Sammy’s Law.”
“Sammy’s Law would save
lives on city streets for generations
to come. By allowing lower
speed limits it recognizes that
the safety and wellbeing of New
Yorkers is more important than
anything else.” Harris said in a
statement.
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