FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 23, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
сoronavirus
Queens lawmaker introduces
new legislation seeking to
cancel rent and mortgage
payments nationwide
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
As millions of tenants were unable to pay rent on
April 1, and with no clear end to the COVID-19 crisis
in sight, a Queens lawmaker is helping to introduce
a new legislation to cancel rent and mortgage
payments nationwide.
Congresswoman Grace Meng on April 20
announced the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act,
which would constitute a full forgiveness of payment,
with no accumulation of debt for renters or homeowners
and no negative impact on their credit rating
or rental history.
Th e bill would also create a relief fund for landlords
and mortgage holders to cover losses from the
canceled payments provided certain fair housing and
rent requirements are met.
Lastly, it would establish an optional fund to fully
fi nance the purchase of private rental properties by
non-profi ts, public housing authorities, cooperatives,
community land trusts, and states or local governments
— in order to increase the availability of
aff ordable housing during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Over 22 million Americans — including approximately
1.2 million New Yorkers — have fi led for
unemployment benefi ts and that number will
increase as we continue our eff orts to combat the
coronavirus pandemic,” Meng said. “Th ese numbers
are sobering and refl ect a hard truth that many
Americans, including my neighbors and community
members in Queens, are struggling.” “For Queens
residents, and all New Yorkers, we are living in the
nexus of this health crisis. Combatting this pandemic
will take each and every one of us to do our part
– but we have to ensure people are not fi ghting two
wars: one to stay healthy, and the other against housing
instability. If people lose their homes, then our
ability to combat this virus becomes impossible,”
Meng added.
Th e cancellation measure would be retroactive
to cover April 2020 payments, and would extend
one calendar month aft er the national emergency is
lift ed.
Photo by Todd Maisel
COVID-19 budget cuts force suspensions of NYC compost, e-waste collection programs
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@QNS
With New York City facing a budget
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
squeeze related to the coronavirus
pandemic, the Sanitation Department
announced two specialized curbside collection
programs are being halted.
Th e DSNY is suspending its curbside
compost and food waste collection
program through June 30, 2021. As of
Monday, May 4, food and yard waste must
be thrown out with regular trash going
forward. Additionally, the Sanitation
Department pulled the plug on its electronics
collection program.
Th e initiative, in which Sanitation
crews would pick up discarded e-waste
by appointment, had been suspended
previously due to the pandemic.
No other changes are
being made to Sanitation
Department programs,
including trash and mandatory
recycling, which
remain on schedule.
“Th ese are painful cuts to
make, and we do not take these
changes lightly,” said Sanitation
Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.
“Th e city is facing an unprecedented
crisis and these service
reductions will allow
the city to maintain emergency
services and its core municipal
services.”
At this point, the Sanitation Department
described the suspension
of its compost and
food waste collection program
as temporary. As
it phased the program
across parts of the city, the
Sanitation Department distributed
brown bins for residents
to use specifi cally for
food and yard waste.
Th e Sanitation Department
advised residents to clean the
brown bins and keep them in
storage aft er May 4 until the
composting collection program
resumes. Th e department
recommends that residents who
have the space for it make compost on
their own in their backyards. Information
on making compost can be found at nyc.
gov/recyclingmaterials.
Th e Sanitation Department says it
will determine at a later date whether to
reopen designated Food Scrap Drop-Off
Sites across New York City. Th ese sites
were closed as social distancing measures
took eff ect in March. As for e-waste disposal,
items such as computers, printers
and televisions — which contain heavy
metals and chemicals — must not be discarded
with regular trash, in accordance
with state law.
New Yorkers are advised to get rid of
their e-waste through private means, such
as designated drop-off points around the
fi ve boroughs.
Visit nyc.gov/electronics for further
information.
MTA dismisses Holden's call to shut down mass transit
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A letter to Governor Andrew
Cuomo to shut down the city’s subways
and buses as a measure against
the spread of COVID-19 was not
met with agreement by the parties
involved on Sunday morning.
Councilman Robert Holden’s offi ce
penned the letter that Holden and
three other City Council members
signed — Eric Ulrich and Peter Koo
of Queens, and Mark Gjonaj of the
Bronx. Th e lawmakers said that the
striking number of transit worker
deaths, as well as the prolifi c spread of
the disease being something unique
to New York City, should be considered.
Th ey also called on the city to
suspend all parking regulations.
Holden’s offi ce did not immediately
respond when asked for a copy
of the letter, but posted the letter to
Facebook aft er our deadline for this
story. Th e MTA said on Sunday that
the request was a non-starter.
“What these council members don’t
realize is that shutting down mass
transit during this unprecedented crisis
would be dangerous and could
lead to even more deaths,” an MTA
statement said. “Even with subway
ridership down more than 90 percent,
we are making it possible for doctors,
nurses, fi rst responders, grocery and
pharmacy workers, and other essential
personnel, to get to work and save
lives. Th e MTA has led the nation in
its eff orts to protect its employees
and customers, disinfecting its stations
and rolling stock daily and even
breaking away from federal guidance
and providing hundreds of thousands
of masks to our heroic workforce
before the CDC recommended it.”
While one of the prominent arguments
for Holden’s letter was in
defense of transit workers who have
suff ered unlike other frontline workers
with 68 deaths as of Saturday,
the union representing the men and
women of the MTA did not agree.
Transport Workers Union President
John Samuelsen, during a WOR-AM
radio appearance on April 14, rejected
the notion of shutting down the
transit system, recognizing that their
members are concerned but understand
what’s at stake. Going a step
further, Samuelsen said the crisis
would be much worse if the transit
system had completely shut down.
“But nonetheless, we see ourselves
as this vital cog in the societal fi ght
back against COVID-19. We are as
as you said, we are the system that
gets the blue-collar responders to the
frontlines with this battle — nurses,
home aides, food service workers
— if it weren’t for this system, there
would be no battle against COVID-
19 in New York and across the country,”
Samuelsen said. “New York
would not have been able to get fi rst
responders to the front lines. We
wouldn’t have food in some cases. We
wouldn’t have food workers at work.
We wouldn’t have nurses at hospitals.
We wouldn’t have home aides taking
care of our elderly, in houses, but not
for the public transit system.”
Although those statements came
days before Holden’s letter, a TWU
spokesman said on Sunday these
sentiments on shutting
down service still
applies.
Th e letter cited a
paper from MIT that
said the spread of
coronavirus moved
in correlation with
the transit system.
Critics dismissed that
paper as being nonpeer
reviewed nor
published. Holden’s
letter additionally
claimed homeless
New Yorkers on the
subways were a major
factor in spread.
“Taking this all into account, we
believe that the New York City transit
system is a primary contributor to the
spread of COVID-19,” the letter said.
“During that time, the city and state
should partner with for-hire vehicle
services to provide rides to essential
workers. All tolls and parking for
restrictions, except for no standing,
should also be lift ed during the shutdown
to allow essential workers to
drive and park their personal vehicles
to work.”
Reps for Ulrich and Gjonaj did not
respond when contacted.
Th e ride-share aspect of the letter
is not something that has been
deployed on a large scale in cities
like New York, but Jersey City
Mayor Steven Fulop has taken time
to fi ll transit gaps by partnering
with Via.
Subsidized by 100,000 rides per
month under Jersey City’s contract
with Via and providing 700 rides per
day in early March when the mayor
spoke about the program, Fulop said
the program was designed to off -
set the gaps left by NJ Transit services,
which he said have been left
underfunded. At its height, the subways
were moving about 5 million
per day, and ridership had dropped
by 90 percent.
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