Downtown sees thousands cross bridge against vax mandate
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Thousands of municipal employees
and allies marched across the
Brooklyn Bridge into Lower Manhattan
on Monday in protest of the city’s
impending vaccination mandate, scheduled
to take effect on Oct. 29.
Marchers gathered at MetroTech Plaza in
Downtown Brooklyn the morning of Oct.
25 for a rally, where they chanted their
intentions to “hold the line” and not get
vaccinated against the coronavirus even if
that means losing their jobs.
“Today is a day in which we, the workers
of this great city, stand up to unreasonable
mandates,” a worker named Gary told the
crowd at MetroTech. “We, the workers, are
the foundation on which this city stands,
and without that foundation, will crumble.”
The mostly unmasked protesters
marched across the Brooklyn Bridge chanting
“F–k de Blasio,” “f–k Joe Biden,” “we
will not comply,” “my body my choice,” and
“save our children.” Marchers were greeted
by Republican mayoral candidate Curtis
Sliwa at the Manhattan side of the bridge,
before making their way to City Hall.
Most municipal employees have been under
a “vaccine-or-test” mandate since last
month, requiring workers either provide
proof of vaccination or submit to weekly
City workers marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Oct. 25, 2021 in
opposition of the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
COVID tests, but the mayor announced
last week that the entire city workforce
would now be required to get vaccinated,
without a testing carveout, citing success in
previous vaccine-only mandates for teachers
and health care workers.
As of Oct. 19, vaccination rates for employees
at the Department of Education
and Health & Hospitals were 96 percent
and 95 percent, respectively.
The numbers are far lower for employees
of the NYPD, FDNY, EMS, and Sanitation
PHOTO BY LLOYD MITCHELL
Department, who made up a large contingent
of the protest. 70 percent of NYPD
employees, 62 percent of Sanitation workers,
61 percent of EMTs, 60 percent of
FDNY fi refi ghters had gotten the jab as
of last week, according to data provided
by the mayor’s offi ce. Other low-vaxxed
agencies include Homeless Services at 67
percent and NYCHA at 59 percent.
They have until Friday at 5 pm to present
proof of vaccination, or else they will be
put on unpaid leave. The lowest-vaxxed
agency, the Department of Corrections at
51 percent, has until next month to get the
jab due to the ongoing situation at Rikers
Island.
The union representing most NYPD offi
cers, the Police Benevolent Association,
fi led a lawsuit against the city Monday
aiming to stop the mandate; suits to stop
previous mandates for teachers, health care
workers, and to go to restaurants and other
public accommodations have failed thus far.
Asked Monday if the city has contingency
plans in place if thousands of essential
city workers are put on unpaid leave, Mayor
Bill de Blasio said he had been in talks with
agency heads over such plans, which would
include “use of overtime” and “changing
deployments,” but noted that he expects
most workers to prioritize keeping their
job over remaining unvaxxed, as seen at
the Department of Education and Health
and Hospitals.
“I talked to all the relevant commissioners
in the lead up, especially the most
crucial operational agencies. and every one
of them said they were confi dent that it was
the right thing to do,” Hizzoner said at his
Monday press briefi ng. “And obviously,
you know, consistent majorities of their
members of their departments have gotten
vaccinated, but we’ve seen the mandates
move a lot more people to get vaccinated.”
Manhattan areas see rent cuts in third quarter of 2021
BY VILDANA KHAMDULLINA
New York is trying to get back to
what it used to be before the COVID
19 pandemic in terms of real
estate. But according to a recent StreetEasy
Market Report, in the third quarter of 2021
lots of neighborhoods still have great deals
and the median asking rent is still about
$100 less than it used to be.
Manhattan is considered the most expensive
borough to rent an apartment, but
compared to two years ago there is still
some difference. Gramercy Park has a $599
difference in Q3 2021 Median rent than Q3
2019. Greenwich Village still has a difference
of $270. The Median Asking Rent in
2019 in Little Italy used to be $3,300 —
now it is $2,850. The Lower East Side does
not have a big differential; it appeared to be
just $68 and West Harlem is still $200 less
now than it was before Pandemic.
In spite of this, there were still places in
the city which increased in prices, the highest
“jump” appeared to be in the Financial
District. The rise came up to $634. Flatiron
now asks for rent more by $494.
Senior Communications Specialist
Emily McDonald mentioned in the report
that Brooklyn “has been hot all year” which
means that even now prices are lower, but
it won’t stay this way for a long time and
data has shown that some neighborhoods
already have a median price higher than it
was before. Such as Downtown Brooklyn
with a difference of $224; Greenpoint $100
and Williamsburg $85.
Best deals in Brooklyn would be in
PHYOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Boerum Hill with a difference of $538 and
Cobble Hill with $525. Brooklyn Heights
is still cheaper now by $289. And both
Bay Ridge and Prospect Heights have a
differential of $150.
Queens always had very affordable rentals.
The only neighborhood which already
has prices higher than pre-pandemic times
is Long Island City with a median of $70.
The biggest gap in price is in Ridgewood
right now which came to $199. Right after
one of the most famous neighborhoods of
Queens, Astoria with a difference of $132.
The least expensive neighborhood on the
list is Elmhurst which still has lowered its
price by $122, in Q3 2019, Median Rent
was $1,975 and now it is $1,853. And both
Jackson Heights and Sunnyside are cheaper
by a hundred dollars.
It is in benefi t for landlords to use the
market recovery and some already try to
raise their rent when they can. But NYC
still has a huge variety of affordable living.
Even now multiple listings on StreetEasy
are listed lower than they used to be in
2019 or earlier years.
The prices have gone down in New York
and now demand for living space is very
high which leads the real estate market
back up. StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu
said “… with the demand we’re currently
seeing, renters should always assume there
is someone else vying for the same apartment.
Use all the tools at your disposal to
your advantage during the rental search to
help save you time and money.”
To read the full report, visit streeteasy.
com.
2 October 28, 2021 Schneps Media