32 MARCH 11, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Mayor salutes community’s COVID-19 pandemic response
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the
Queens Museum in Flushing
Meadows Corona Park this
week to celebrate the community
initiatives implemented to support
the growth and recovery of art and
cultural institutions across the city
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mayor praised numerous
programs taking place at the Queens
Museum. For example, the cultural
food pantry La Jornada has distributed
19,000 meals in the last year at
the Queens Museum. Plus, the Hecho
Local Product Development Workshop
creates a space where immigrant
women can learn new skills to create
businesses and support their families.
This program works in partnership
with the museum’s gift shop, The August
Tree, and uses sewing machines
donated by Materials for the Arts in
Long Island City.
“This is an example of supporting
our immigrant brothers and
sisters, of making sure that we are
supporting people’s livelihoods. It
doesn’t happen in the middle of a
pandemic, unless there’s a helping
hand for so many people,” de Blasio
said. “This is an example of giving
opportunity, creating that one door
that opens and for these women will
keep opening because of their talent
and their energy. And this specifi c
idea, this initiative, Hecho Local, to
bring out the expertise and talent of
Mayor Bill de Blasio praises COVID-19 recovery initiatives at the Queens Museum.
Photo courtesy of the mayor’s offi ce
the community and bring it to bigger
attention is something really wonderful.
So, I wanted to see this for myself.
I am so happy to see — this is part of
how we recover.”
Councilman Francisco Moya, who
represents neighborhoods that were
ravaged by COVID-19 including Jackson
Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona,
where he is a lifelong resident,
hailed the programs for supporting
local artists and for pushing the
area’s economy forward.
“Let’s continue to support institutions
like the Queens Museum and
create job opportunities for our
communities so Queens and all of
New York City come back stronger,”
he said.
State Senator Jessica Ramos and
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards also joined the mayor at the
event.
“I really want to thank the elected offi
cials who I know every day are fi ghting
for that recovery for all of us. And
want equity and fairness in where the
resources go. They want to make sure
that resources go to Queens. This we
know,” de Blasio said. “But they also
want to make sure that every community
is a part of this recovery. We are
going to create something diff erent
in New York City. We do not want to
go to the status quo before the pandemic.
I want to be really clear. We
do not just want to recreate what was
there before the pandemic, because it
wasn’t good enough.”
Maloney, AOC urge call for COVID-19 vax sites at Queens HANAC facilities
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
joined forces with Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Costez in
calling on New York City to bring the
COVID-19 vaccine sites to where seniors
live in several Queens locations.
In a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio,
the two representatives urged him
“Vaccine distribution should be easy,
accessible, and free for all,” they wrote.
“That is why we ask that you give full
and fair consideration to adding on-site
vaccination sites at each of the HANAC
senior aff ordable housing residences.
Enabling vaccine access for these
senior living communities is vital to
an equitable roll out of the COVID-19
vaccine.”
HANAC is a citywide social service
organization that, in addition to
off ering services and programs for
more than 30,000 seniors in the city,
owns and operates 650 senior aff ordable
housing units in fi ve separate
residential buildings across Queens.
The two leaders requested that the
de Blasio administration consider establishing
vaccine distribution hubs
at HANAC locations such as One
Flushing, HANAC Corona Senior Residence,
HANAC PCA Senior Residence,
the George T. Douris Tower, and the
Archbishop Iakovos Senior Residence.
“HANAC’s senior residences service
primarily low-income elderly and disables
residents,” Maloney and Ocasio-
Cortez wrote. “These residents, our
constituents, are part of the high-risk
demographic for severe outcomes
should they contract COVID-19, yet
currently they do not have access to a
convenient vaccination site. Not only
are they in the highest priority group
for receiving COVID-19 vaccines, but
a large portion of these residents also
have mental and physical disabilities
that will make it exceptionally diffi
cult for them to travel to the nearest
vaccination site. Furthermore, many
of these residents do not have the
technological literacy necessary to
reserve vaccination appointments
for themselves online, despite their
eligibility.”
They believe that off ering on-site
vaccination services at the senior affordable
housing residences would
largely eliminate barriers to access by
providing residents with both physical
proximity to a vaccination site and the
opportunity for assistance with vaccine
registration.
Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Carolyn Maloney wrote to
Mayor Bill de Blasio urging him to consider placing vaccination sites at
HANAC senior residences. QNS fi le photos
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