Water main breaks latest calamity
on ‘cursed’ East Village street
BY DEAN MOSES
East 7th Street in the East
Village faced yet another
calamity on Monday morning
with a water main break that
gave some residents an early
wake-up call.
The burst pipe was reported at
99 East 7th St. at 5:36 a.m. on Dec.
21. Videos from the Citizen App
showed the streets swamped with
water throughout the early hours.
The NYPD and FDNY arrived
on the scene shortly, thereafter,
creating a perimeter by blocking
off East 8th and 9th Streets between
1st and 2nd Avenues.
Donna, a resident of East 8th
Street, told amNewYork Metro
that fi refi ghters rang her bell at
5:30am, stating they were checking
the area for gas leaks.
“I have to leave for work, but I
am worried about my daughter,”
Donna said.
Residents have begun referring
to the area as cursed earlier this
month after the six-alarm fi re that
ravaged Middle Collegiate Church
on East 7th Street and 2ndAvenue
and other infl ux of incidents that
have occurred within the year.
The water valve was shut off
and the roadway was free of
water by 7:30 a.m. Shortly after,
the FDNY closed operations so
members of the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP)
can investigate and make repairs.
NYPD offi cers were also on
the scene preventing pedestrians
from accessing the area.
amNewYork Metro reached out
to DEP and is awaiting further
details about the incident.
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
DEP operatives at the scene.
Nearly 500K more COVID-19 vaccine
doses arrive in New York City this week
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
As nursing home staffs
and residents across New
York began receiving the
COVID-19 vaccine Monday, Governor
Andrew Cuomo delivered
the news that nearly 500,000
more doses of the Pfi zer and
Moderna inoculations are on the
way to the Empire State.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine
received approval from the FDA
over the weekend. The fi rst of
the 346,200 doses New York is
receiving in the fi rst phase of vaccination
were due to arrive here
Monday, according to Cuomo.
Meanwhile, New York is on the
verge of getting another 120,000
doses of Pfi zer’s vaccine, which
began being administered to
health care workers a week ago.
Thus far, New York leads the
country in doses administered —
38,000 as of Monday.
COVID-19 vaccines are being
administered to people in
two doses, 21 days apart. Staff
members from pharmacies such
as Walgreens and CVS are providing
doses at nursing homes
over a three-day period, with all
residents and a portion of the staff
receiving them on the fi rst two
days, and all of the staff getting
it on the third day.
After the fi rst doses are administered,
pharmacy staff will
return to the nursing homes in
three weeks’ time to provide the
second shots. Cuomo expects that
the fi rst round of nursing home
shots will be completed in about
two weeks.
“We’re now talking about
who’s getting vaccinated, and let
me be clear: there is no politics in
the vaccination process,”Cuomo
said.“We went through this with
COVID testing, with big shots,
celebrities, and affl uent people
getting to the front of the line.
This preferential treatment in
COVID testing undermines our
entire sense of democracy, equality
and a government that works
for all people. And in this time of
COVID where we’ve seen gross
injustices, politics has nothing to
do with it. There’s no governor,
no county executive, and no
mayor who controls the process,
and anyone who says that is not
telling the truth or violating the
law. This is entirely done by
medical professionals and our
hospitals have already vaccinated
more people than any state in the
nation.”
To that end, the governor announced
the launch of the state’s
Vaccine Equity Task Force, which
aims to ensure that the shot is
available to all communities
regardless of status. New York
will also be creating and distributing
community vaccination kits
designed to provide the vaccine
in low-income areas and communities
of color where few health
care facilities or pharmacies are
available.
PHOTO BY REUTERS/YUKI IWAMURA
Stanislawa Cybulski, 82, a patient at The New Jewish Home nursing facility, receives the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) vaccine from Walgreens Pharmacist Jessica Sahni in the Manhattan
borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 21, 2020.
Schneps Media December 24, 2020 3