RECONSTRUCTION: The city will begin distributing masks in the southern
half of the borough, after snubbing the area with the program’s initial
rollout. Photo by Todd Maisel
COURIER LIFE, MAY 8-14, 2020 3
BY JESSICA PARKS
After initially launching
without any outreach to southern
Brooklyn, Mayor Bill de
Blasio announced on Monday
that the city’s face mask distribution
program will be expanded
to include sites in the
previously-snubbed areas of the
borough.
“We are now going to ramp
up a plan and it will take effect
starting immediately to distribute
7.5 million face coverings,
meaning, wherever you turn,
you’re going to be offered a face
covering,” de Blasio said during
his May 4 briefi ng. “And it’s
going to be on an ongoing basis
for weeks to come to make sure
that everyone has what they
need.”
The move comes after
southern Brooklyn lawmakers
blasted the mayor last week
for excluding their neighborhoods
from the initial effort to
hand out 100,000 face masks at
dozens of parks throughout the
city at scheduled times through
May 5.
“Yet again, City Hall forgets
that southern Brooklyn exists,”
state Sen. Andrew Gounardes
told Brooklyn Paper. “With so
much open space in southern
Brooklyn, including the largest
park in all of Brooklyn — Marine
Park — it’s outrageous to
be shut out of City Hall’s mask
distribution program.”
Following the program’s
debut, Gounardes organized a
letter signed by 16 fellow pols
calling on Hizzoner to provide
masks to more than one million
residents in the southern half of
the borough, where many of the
city’s essential workers and underserved
populations reside.
“This glaring omission
leaves out more than a million
southern Brooklynites — including
many essential workers,
senior citizens, non-English
speakers, individuals with
high-health risks, and NYCHA
residents — without access to a
protective face covering,” read
the letter, delivered to de Blasio
on Thursday and later obtained
by Brooklyn Paper.
Days later, de Blasio announced
that volunteers, who
will continue to hand out complimentary
face coverings at
city parks, will broaden distribution
to include NYCHA
buildings, Department of Education
sanctioned “grab-andgo”
meal hubs, citywide ferry
terminals, grocery stores, and
Mitchell-Lama buildings.
Southern Brooklyn Councilman
Mark Treyger commended
the expansion — especially
the addition of DOE meal
sites — but lamented that his
constituents have claimed the
added Coney Island locations
are not yet equipped with the
handouts.
“They went to some of the
schools in Coney Island and
no one had the masks,” Treyger
told Brooklyn Paper, adding
also that DOE staffers
were unaware of the mayor’s
announcement. “That really
speaks to a level of disconnect
between City Hall and their
staff.”
The councilman said he’s
reached out to City Hall, and
that they are “working to rectify
the situation.” He also hopes
the city will consider distributing
masks on the Coney Island
Boardwalk, and within other
public spaces in his district that
tend to draw crowds, instead of
concentrating resources in the
city’s wealthier zip codes.
Gone south
Mask distribution program expands
into southern Brooklyn after backlash