FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 20, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
Adams encourages in-person work at Queens factory visit
BY MORGAN C. MULLINGS
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Mayor Eric Adams visited the Steinway
piano factory in Queens on Jan. 14 to thank
the workers for their hard work, and use
the opportunity to highlight the return
to in-person activities in the middle of a
COVID surge. Adams said he has had an
optimistic outlook on the COVID numbers
recently, hoping the city is approaching a
peak in cases.
“Th e news seems promising,” Adams
said. “Eric did not say we peaked and we
declined. So I don’t need that to be the
headline. I say it’s stabilizing. And based
on our optimistic views, we appear to be
moving in the right direction.”
NYC has gone from 42,641 new cases on
Jan. 9, to 33,305 as of Jan. 13. If the numbers
continue to trend downwards, factories
like Steinway have a chance to stay open.
“Steinway piano factory has been here for
150 years, a legendary industry here in New
York City. And COVID can’t stop it,” the
mayor said.
He brought Deputy Mayor of Health and
Human services Anne Williams-Isom to
the factory to go into more detail on how
the city can keep businesses open. “It’s
going to be diffi cult, but there are ways for
us to stay safe and healthy. You have to get
vaccinated. It’s the best thing that we can
do to keep ourselves safe,” Williams-Isom
said.
She also urged the public to stay home
if they feel sick, which is standard practice,
but comes as a slight contradiction to the
situation at hand. While Adams has criticized
parents and students for not showing
up to school and urged people to go back
to work, the reality is that the risk of transmission
is still high, and there are still not
enough resources to make sure that classrooms
and factories and restaurants don’t
close down.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos joined the mayor
to draw more attention to this, saying,
“A child in my youngest son’s class tested
positive for coronavirus and he was sent
home with tests to take — obviously having
to provide a negative result fi ve days later,
but I quickly learned from other neighbors
that that was not true for those who are in
kindergarten or pre-K or 3K.”
She added that she is working with the
Adams administration to make sure that
enough tests are available for young people
who cannot get the vaccine or booster shot
yet.
“So I’m very happy to be here this morning
to call attention to, yes, the importance
of our economy. But I don’t believe that
we should put profi t over people and we
should be keeping people safe,” Ramos said.
Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
Mayor Eric Adams visited the Steinway & Sons piano factory in Astoria on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022.
Paladino walks back comment comparing vaccine mandate with Nazi Germany
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Newly elected northeast Queens
Councilwoman Vickie Paladino walked
back an explosive comment made during
an interview on NY1 about her refusal to
disclose her COVID-19 vaccination status
to City Council offi cials earlier this month.
“I don’t need to show my papers. Th is is
not Nazi Germany,” Paladino said during
that interview.
On Jan. 11, Paladino said she made the
“ill-considered and inappropriate comparison”
during an hours-long interview, and
asked that it be struck from the record, but
took “complete ownership of that mistake.”
“While my intent was to illustrate that
requiring residents to show medical papers
to earn a living or do everyday activities
is an authoritarian practice that does not
align with this country’s principles, it is
never OK to compare anything to the
evil of Nazi Germany,” Paladino said in a
statement. “I apologize to those who were
genuinely off ended by my comment.”
She added that she would meet with local
Jewish offi cials and her friends in the
Jewish community in the coming days to
discuss the matter.
Th e controversy arose nearly a week
aft er Paladino was refused entry to the
City Council’s fi rst stated meeting of the
new year.
Th e 67-year-old Republican refused to
disclose her COVID-19 vaccination status
and was told by offi cials she would be
barred from the chamber fl oor on Wednesday,
Jan. 5. Th ere has been no resolution to
the standoff , and Paladino continues to oppose
any eff ort to require people to disclose
their vaccination status as a condition of
employment or for any other reason.
“Th e idea that we are now essentially
blackmailing people by threatening their
jobs and their livelihoods is what is eroding
public trust in vaccines,” said Robert Hornak,
a Paladino spokesman. “People should be
allowed to make their own decision on their
healthcare. And nobody should be forced to
disclose their personal medical information
to anyone. Everyone has a right to privacy
and that includes medical privacy. We will
continue to stand up for that right as long as
people are trying to use heavy-handed tactics
to force their will on others.”
Aft er she was denied entry, Paladino
wrote on Twitter that she had cast her vote
in the race for Council speaker remotely.
She later spoke with Speaker Adrienne
Adams and explained that she would not
make it an issue that day.
“I also made it clear that this courtesy
would only be for today, and that I will fi ght
the mandates with every resource available,”
Paladino tweeted. “Not just the Council
mandates, but throughout the city. Going
forward, if anyone has a problem with me
in the chamber, they will have to remove me.”
Councilwoman Vickie Paladino continues to refuse to disclose her vaccination status nearly a week
after she was barred from the Council chamber.
Paladino defeated Democrat Tony Avella
last November in the race to represent
District 19, which encompasses her native
Whitestone, College Point, Bayside,
Little Neck, Douglaston and parts of North
Flushing. Her standoff with the City Council
will likely continue until the next stated
meeting later this month.
A City Council spokesperson indicated
the rules will remain the same, and that
they don’t apply just to the Council
chamber.
“In the wake of the order issued by the
city’s health commissioner requiring
Photo courtesy of Paladino’s campaign
city employees to be vaccinated, the
City Council adopted a policy in the
fall that no one who works at the Council
is permitted to work at City Hall,
250 Broadway, or any Council district
office unless they have provided proof
of vaccination,” the spokesperson said.
“That remains the policy of the City
Council. There will be no exceptions
absent a valid request for a medical or
religious accommodation. The protection
of the health and safety of our staff
and Council members is the highest
priority to the Council.”
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