LOCAL NEWS
COVID-19
cases keep
dropping
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Not one area of New
York City registered
more than 70 COVID
19 cases over the past
week as the virus’ spread
continues to plummet, according
to data from the
New York City Department
of Health.
As of Feb. 25, the city’s
7-day positivity rate was
down to 1.8%; just a month
ago, on Jan. 29, that fi gure
was 9.09%, and at the
start of 2022, the positivity
rate was about 20%. The
fi gures refl ect a 90% decline
in COVID-19 cases
since the beginning of the
new year, when the city was
in the midst of the Omicron
variant-fueled wave
of infections.
Hospitalizations and
deaths are also dropping; the
7-day hospitalization rate, as
of Feb. 25, was just 32, and
the number of daily deaths
was down to 21. Vaccinations
have helped prevent
or weaken infections, thus
keeping more New Yorkers
out of the hospital.
Transmission levels for
COVID-19 have plummeted
to 58.23 cases per 100,000
people citywide as of Feb.
22. Manhattan had the highest
borough-wide rate at
82.09 per 100,000.
No New York City neighborhoods
had a 7-day
positivity rate above 4%
between Feb. 16-22.
That was followed by
Auburndale/Murray Hill,
Queens (11358, 3.70%, 28
new cases). Just ten other
communities had positivity
rates of 3% or higher.
Meanwhile, Hell’s Kitchen
and Midtown Manhattan
(10036) registered the
most new COVID-19 infections
in the city between
Feb. 16-22, with just 66.
By contrast, that represents
just 2.9% of the 2,271 cases
recorded in Cypress Hills/
East New York, Brooklyn
(11207) between Dec. 24-
30, 2021, at the peak of the
Omicron wave.
Many in the area feel as though Chinatown is at risk.
A plea for safety
Chinatown calls on mayor for action after another death
BY DEAN MOSES
The Chinatown community
gathered in sorrow
once more Tuesday afternoon,
March 1, to mourn
the loss of another member
of the AAPI community and
to demand Mayor Eric Adams
make changes.
GuiYing Ma, 61, was sweeping
a Jackson Heights, Queens
sidewalk on Nov. 26, 2021,
when Elisaul Perez allegedly
beat the senior with a rock. Ma
slipped into a coma and unfortunately
succumbed to her injuries
on Feb. 28, according to
her family.
Fuming over yet another
tragic loss, community leaders
and concerned residents assembled
just adjacent from the residence
of Christina Yuna Lee,
who was murdered inside her
apartment last month, to pay
their respects to Ma while also
calling out Mayor Adams for
having been “too slow” in combating
anti-Asian hate in the
community. The group charged
that the new mayor claims to be
in conversation with the community,
yet they say if this is
true, they don’t have a seat at
the table.
“I understand Mayor Adams
inherited this problem from
the previous administration.
But we need him to have direct
dialogue with us to discuss the
solution of this insane crime
wave against Asian Americans.
I don’t know whom Mayor Adams
is talking to but he’s not
talking to the residents of Chinatown,”
Jackie Wong said, a
member of the Concerned Citizens
of East Broadway.
Wong clutched an empty photo
frame, stating he did so since
the next victim of anti-Asian
hate could be anyone. Speakers
pointed fi ngers at the homeless
and mentally ill as prime culprits
of committing the violent
crimes while also decrying the
number of homeless shelters in
the neighborhood.
“The mental illness and the
homeless are the main perpetrators
of all these crimes. Anti
Asian hate crime is up 50%
and now we can see around us
that we have quite a few shelters,”
Justin Yu said, Democrat
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
District Leader of 65 AD.
The group said many in the
community are feeling unsafe
when walking the streets and
that four members of the Asian
Americans have been killed in
the past two months. According
to NYPD reports, there has
been a 361% rise in anti-Asian
hate crimes from 2020 to 2021.
In addition, the rise in crime
coupled with the economic
crisis induced by the pandemic
has caused Chinatown
businesses to suffer a lack of
patronage. Residents are calling
upon the mayor’s offi ce
and NYPD to help clean up
the streets.
This reporter reached out to
the mayor’s offi ce for comment
and is awaiting a response.
10 March 3, 2022 Schneps Media