New Yorkers with developmental
disabilities adapt to life at home
BY BEN VERDE
Children and adults with developmental
disabilities have
found their routines thrown
off dramatically by the coronavirus
pandemic, leaving those
who care for them struggling
to fi ll the gaps in their days at
home.
For Suffolk County motherof
three Chrissy Young, New
York’s stay-at-home order has
meant the end of the predictability
that her sons Nicholas
and Michael, who both have
level-three Autism, rely on.
“You and I can say ‘Oh, we’ll
go with the fl ow,'” said Young.
“But when you’re dealing with
people with disabilities, that’s
not in their playbook.”
Nicholas and Michael, 10,
and 8 respectively, now center
their days around Zoom calls
with their school — the Elija
School in Levittown. While
having something structured
to anchor them has been a lifesaver,
Young said, human contact
COURIER L 4 IFE, MAY 15-21, 2020
from teachers and classmates
has been impossible to
replicate.
“Nothing is like seeing people,
and holding people, and
hugging people,” Young said.
“But we’re doing the best we
can.”
Compounding the issue, her
sons have had to go without seeing
the people they formed connections
with at school — and
with little to no explanation.
“One day they saw them
and one day they didn’t,” Young
said. “I cannot imagine, for my
boys, what that was like.”
Young resists the idea that
her sons are getting “used to”
the new normal, but admits
that there is far less trepidation
now than when their routine
was fi rst interrupted roughly
six weeks ago.
To keep her kids — who
are both non-verbal — occupied
without having anywhere
to go, Young and her husband
have taken them on drives
through Suffolk County, and
opened up their backyard pool
for them to play in after remote
learning, but there’s only so
much they can do while hunkered
down.
“My husband and I have
learned we’re really not that exciting,”
she said.
Young attributes what success
her sons have had during
the pandemic to the Elija
School, which has not only
given students structure during
the weekdays, but has provided
parents with training too.
While Michael and Nicholas
have virtual learning to anchor
their days, structure has been
harder to maintain for adults
with developmental disabilities
who are not in a school program,
according to Lynne Koufakis,
who chairs the board of
Life’s Worc, a network of group
homes in New York City and
Long Island.
Many parents have had to
rely on technology to help get
them through these uncertain
— and unstructured — times.
“The computer is great, and a
curse at the same time,” said
Koufakis, whose children are
stuck spending much of their
time in front of a screen. “They
get addicted.”
The Young family has had to adapt to life at home during the coronavirus
pandemic. Chrissy Young
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Talk about a seamless transition!
Longtime East Williamsburg
suit makers Martin
Greenfi eld Clothiers have
pivoted from sewing business
apparel to face masks
and medical gowns to help
the neighborhood’s vulnerable
populations and the city’s
frontline workers, according
to the company’s manager.
“It’s a breakeven at best,
but we’re doing a lot of good
for the local neighborhood
here and essential workers,”
said Tod Greenfi eld, a secondgeneration
head of the family
business.
His father Martin Greenfi
eld, a 91-year-old holocaust
survivor, took over the Varet
Street factory in 1977 and the
outfi tters have suited up a host
of famous clients like presidents
Bill Clinton and Barack
Obama, as well as stars in TV
shows and movies, including
Leonardo DiCaprio in both
the Great Gatsby and the Wolf
of Wall Street.
But after Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s order closing all nonessential
business to stem the
spread of the novel coronavirus
in March, the custom
clothiers had to halt their sewing
machines and furlough
their workforce.
Inspired by an online video
tutorial of a woman showing
how to sew face masks, Greenfi
eld and his brother Jay decided
to resume operations at
the end of March, but instead
of bespoke sports jackets, they
started making facial coverings
using the same materials
— complete with pinstripe and
houndstooth patterns.
“I thought if she can make
masks we could do it too,” said
Greenfi eld.
The company brought 25
workers back to the factory
and has since sold about 6,000
of the masks and donated another
1,000. They also set up
mobile mask carts for about
half a dozen elderly employees
to work from home, so
that they didn’t have to expose
themselves to the highly-contagious
bug.
The tailors make the masks
with a 100 percent densely-woven
cotton shell and lining,
along with a polyester inside
layer for extra fi ltration and
a solid wire at the nose for a
better fi t and seal. But they
Williamsburg suit makers Martin Greenfi eld Clothiers have started making
medical masks. LouLou D’vil
emphasize on their website
that they have yet to get certifi
cation for how effective they
are for protecting against the
pathogen.
The masks cost $18 apiece
and the company matches
each purchase with a donation
of a mask to frontline workers
and local do-gooders like the
community development nonprofi
t St. Nicks Alliance, according
to Greenfi eld.
They’ve also partnered
with Brooklyn Navy Yard
tactical gear manufacturers
Crye Precision to sew medical
gowns, as part of Mayor Bill
de Blasio’s plans to increase
homegrown production of
medical protective equipment
in the fi ve boroughs.
STRONG SUIT
East Williamsburg clothier pivots from
suits to face masks, medical gowns