Editorial
Mask up to prevent second virus wave
We shouldn’t be surprised to hear
of spikes in COVID-19 cases in
areas of Brooklyn and Queens
at this point in the pandemic. Yet there is
cause for alarm citywide.
There are three keys toward preventing
a repeat of the horrors New York City
experienced in March and April — when
COVID-19 raged across the city, forced
almost everyone into quarantine and killed
thousands of people.
The fi rst key is urgency, and there’s no
shortage of that. The city and state have
mobilized various resources to the hot spots
in Brooklyn and Queens, including rapid
COVID-19 testing. Businesses and schools
across the city are taking their own precautions
to protect people from potential
infection. That must continue indefi nitely.
The second key is diligence in wearing
masks. Sadly, that’s something in short
supply in New York.
Too many people all across this city —
regardless of age, creed, color or any other
demographic — are walking around without
them. It’s foolish and horrifying all at once.
Scientifi c data has shown that it’s much
more diffi cult for COVID-19 to spread
in the air among people out in the open
than within a closed environment. But that
doesn’t mean there’s zero risk; no one is
completely immune yet.
Wearing a mask reduces the chance of
COVID-19 infection dramatically. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and other medical experts studying
COVID-19 have made that clear. We would
be wise to listen to this advice and follow it.
That leads us to the third key, which is responsibility.
Too many ignorant people have
confl ated mask-wearing and mask mandates
as attacks on personal freedom. Never mind
the fact that over 200,000 Americans have
died from this disease from which there is
yet to be an effective vaccine or treatment.
Wearing masks and mask-wearing mandates
are not subjugating one’s personal
freedom. It’s completely about personal responsibility
both to strangers and the people
you care about. COVID-19 isn’t going
away like magic. It’s not a hoax. It’s here,
and it’s killing people indiscriminately.
And the worst part about it is that you
might have the disease, not know it, and
spread it to people you love or care about
— and put them in danger.
We must be urgent, diligent and responsible
to stop a second massive wave
of COVID-19 in New York City.
And that means wearing our masks.
Op-ed
Help save the
Seaport Museum
BY CAPTAIN JONATHAN
BOULWARE
This pandemic has dealt our beloved
city a terrible blow, the full extent of
which is still unclear. As New Yorkers,
we have faith that the city will rebound
as it has time and again. For a city that
constantly reinvents itself, there must–there
will–be a bright future.
It’s time to rally around the essence of
our city — its rich history, its relentless focus
on the future, the cultural nourishment
that makes it so compelling. One aspect of
this effort must be to save the South Street
Seaport Museum.
Today, we launch a campaign – Our City,
Our Seaport – to engage our friends and
neighbors to save the South Street Seaport
Museum.
To understand the City through its
growth from port outpost to fi nancial
capital of the world, you must visit the
Seaport Museum.
The Museum does this work in ships
and shops, in the 19th-century buildings
that were the fi rst ‘world trade center’, and
on the cobblestone streets of the historic
district. Serving adults, school children,
and visitors, the Seaport Museum is an
irreplaceable jewel in New York’s crown.
This institution is not new to setbacks.
Since its founding in 1967, it has been
knocked back repeatedly. It was closed
for nearly two years following 9/11, hit
early and hard by the 2008 fi nancial crisis,
fl ooded by Sandy, and now closed by the
pandemic. The museum has been battered
to the point of closure practically every
half-decade, and yet it persists. Why?
Two reasons. First, it’s a museum that
represents the essence of our city, and the
people who built it. Second, it has a loyal
group of devotees who passionately defend it.
FILE PHOTO
But this crisis is different. COVID-19
has put many businesses on the ropes: restaurants,
museums, theaters; all are facing
the prospect of a grueling fall and winter
and an uncertain 2021.
Some will not survive. But the loss of
the Seaport Museum would be an inexcusable
tragedy for the City. The landmarked
buildings would be repurposed for retail
or offi ces; the lauded fl eet of historic ships
would be given away, or worse.
New York will have lost its birthplace.
A stabilized Seaport Museum can be
something magnificent, a world-class
maritime and port museum worthy of the
mighty city of New York and refl ective of
its diversity.
It can provide a window for all New Yorkers
to see themselves through, by whatever
means they or their ancestors arrived here.
It can celebrate the meteoric rise of this magnifi
cent city while shining a harsh spotlight
on the slave markets of Wall Street, stolen
labor, and the many injustices that exist in
the very building blocks of the city.
Ours is a sacred charge, but we must act
quickly. At present stripped-down levels
of funding, the Museum will not survive
2021. In a time when the city and state
are strapped for fi nancial resources and
philanthropic dollars are stretched thin,
we must look outside of traditional funding
models to steward the Seaport Museum
into the future.
I ask all those who love New York to
step forward. Join the die-hards who have
kept the Museum alive through myriad
challenges.
The time is now. The threat is real.
Together we must, we will, save the South
Street Seaport Museum.
Captain Jonathan Boulware is the President
and CEO of the South Street Seaport
Museum.
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