Some New Yorkers over age 65 to qualify for
transport to get the vaccine this week: de Blasio
BY MARK HALLUM
New Yorkers over the age of 65 who
are unable to arrange their own
transportation to vaccine sites will
be able to do so through the city starting
this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
When scheduling an appointment
to receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,
senior citizens will be prompted as
to whether or not a ride will be needed
for them to arrive on-time as part of the
mayor’s Vaccine for All program designed
to get New Yorkers inoculated in a timely
manner.
“We are moving heaven and earth to get
our senior neighbors vaccinated,” de Blasio
said. “Now,seniorswho need a ride to an
appointment will get one, ensuring our
vaccines go to those who need them most.”
Some options for seniors going in for
the shot will be Access-a-Ride, ambulette
services, cab service via Curb and transportation
from participating senior center
programs, expected to be available in the
coming weeks, the administration said.
The goal will be to arrange up to 10,000
rides per week.
“I would like to thank our network of
senior centers and providers, who have
worked tirelessly during the pandemic
providing critical services to thousands
of older adults, and are ready to mobilize
transportation services and assist them in
getting to their vaccination appointments,”
FILE PHOTO
Department for the Aging Commissioner
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez said.
An outreach plan is currently in the
works for those looking for transportation
to a vaccination site which will come from
an organization known as Vaccine Planning
Workgroup for Older New Yorkers
which will go into communities knocking
on doors, making phone calls, and
robocalls, holding virtual town halls and
delivering fl yers.
According to the city, vaccination clinics
are already available to seniors living
in NYCHA developments such as the Van
Dyke I and II Houses in Brooklyn, Cassidy
Lafayette Houses in Staten Island, and the
Polo Grounds Towers in Manhattan.
This Sunday announcement from Mayor
de Blasio comes as a shortage in the vaccine
become apparent on a nationwide scale,
with some providers having suspended new
appointments to accommodate Americans
scheduled to receive the second dose of
either the Pfi zer, BioNTech or Moderna
version.
“As eligibility increases, you just increase
demand, but we’re not able to increase
supply,” Northwell Health spokesman Joe
Kemp told Reuters.
Kemp added in the report that Northwell
is only taking appointments as they
receive batches of the vaccine, which has
been inconsistent and is only prioritizing
those coming in for the booster three to
four weeks after the fi rst shot.
Mayor releases preliminary NYC budget
of $92.8 billion for fiscal year 2022
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed a
preliminary budget for New York
City of $92.8 billion for fi scal
year 2022 earlier this week in response
to the impact of the novel coronavirus
pandemic.
The mayor updated New York City
residents on the fi nancial toll COVID-19
has taken stating that the crisis has caused
a $10.5 billion budget gap from 2020 to
2022, $1.5 billion more than what he said
the city would lose in revenue over that
same time frame last year.
The bulk of that increase comes from
$2.5 billion lost in property tax revenue, de
Blasio said, explaining that the value of New
York City real estate dropped by 15% last
year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After one of the most challenging years
in New York City history, de Blasio expressed
optimism that the city will receive
additional federal funding breaking news
that Senator Chuck Schumer reached a deal
with the incoming Biden administration
that FEMA reimbursements due to the state
of New York will be paid in full.
PHOTO BY ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York City has had to cover 25%
of all FEMA eligible expenses during the
novel coronavirus pandemic with FEMA
paying for 75% of all other expenses accrued
by the city. The city will gain about
$1 billion after it is reimbursed for its
FEMA expenses retroactively from the start
of the pandemic, de Blasio said.
As a result, the city is canceling $150
million worth of planned cuts to Fair Student
Funding in fi scal year 2022, which
begins July fi rst of this year, and its delay
of expanding its 3K for All program which
would cost $44 million.
De Blasio stressed that the primary goal
of the upcoming budget will be leading the
city to a pandemic recovery by focus “on
people, the disparity presented by COVID
and constantly focusing on what’s it going
to take to get those jobs back.” Unemployment
in the city reached 20% at the height
of the pandemic last year and has stayed at
higher than normal levels throughout the
city’s reopening. At the moment, unemployment
is hovering at around 12% with half a
million New York City residents currently
without work.
Like always, the city outlined a series of
investment pledges in the preliminary budget.
For fi scal year 2022, de Blasio said the
city plans bring summer youth employment
back to where it was before the pandemic
hit by investing $132 million in the program
in order to fi ll 77,000 slots. In addition, the
city wants to spend $35 million on helping
public school students recover from the
trauma of the pandemic regardless if they
are taking classes remotely or in-person.
The city also plans on spending an extra
$3 million next fi scal year to continue
expanding WiFi access to city homeless
shelters, a city effort that repeatedly came
under scrutiny last year after reports
that many public school students living
in shelters were unable to attend remote
classes due to a lack of internet access or
functioning devices.
10 January 21, 2021 Schneps Media