FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 16, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
oped letters & comments
We’re all in this together
BY FRANCISCO MOYA
The ambulance
sirens
never stop in
Corona.
A month
ago, our streets
were fi lled with
the sound of
soccer games
playing in
Latin American restaurants and bachata
music coming from Dominican barber
shops. Now it’s the whine of emergency
sirens that hangs in the air.
It’s inescapable. You hear them getting
louder as ambulances race through
the neighborhood, and then soft ening
as COVID-19 patients are carried
away, down the street to Elmhurst
Hospital.
Some people have asked how to keep
from getting numb to the “staggering”
number of cases. Indeed, the numbers
are stunning. As of Monday morning
UPDATE BEFORE PRINT, Queens
had more than 33,468 positive cases
and nearly 2,000 deaths. If the borough
were its own state, it would have
the third most cases and deaths in
the country behind only New York
and New Jersey. Th e death rate in the
“World’s Borough” matches the global
mortality rate of 6 percent — higher
than both the U.S. and New York rates.
Yes, the fi gures are staggering, but
nobody in my community is numb to
them. Each siren is for a neighbor, a
friend, a family member.
Early on, aft er we knew the pandemic
would come to New York City but
before we could appreciate the ferocity
with which it would spread, the disease
was talked about as an equalizer. It
didn’t respect our borders or your station
in life. Nobody was immune and
everyone needed to take it seriously.
Th at’s about when we saw the exodus
of wealthy residents from the city to
their second homes outside the epicenter.
Most of us stayed here and worked
from home. But those who couldn’t do
either — the frontline workers who
stock grocery stores and warehouses,
deliver food and supplies, the healthcare
support staff and building maintenance
employees — they kept working.
And they kept getting sick.
Th is is why COVID-19 hit low-income
neighborhoods like mine
the hardest. It’s true that nobody is
immune but the idea that we’re all just
as vulnerable as each other is a lie. Th is
is an equal opportunity disease that
unequally aff ects those with the fewest
opportunities.
Why? It’s about the jobs people in
our community work. Latino and black
Americans are more likely to work in
the service or hospitality industry —
jobs that can’t be done remotely. Th ese
jobs are typically low-paid (despite
their essential nature) and come with a
higher risk of exposure.
It’s about access to health care.
Between 2010 and 2018, Hispanics and
blacks were 2.5 and 1.5 times, respectively,
more likely to be uninsured than
whites, according to a Kaiser Family
Foundation study published last
month.
It’s about our neighborhoods. We
live in dense communities and multigenerational
family households. If
one resident gets infected, the disease
roars through home attacking, partners,
kids, parents or siblings.
It’s also cultural. Latinos can’t say no
to a family gathering. We say hello with
a hug and a kiss and crowd around a
dinner table. What makes us vibrant
also made us vulnerable.
Th ese dynamics are apparent in the
data, now confi rming what some of us
saw coming back in March — that the
pandemic is disproportionately killing
Latino and black New Yorkers.
Many undocumented immigrants
face an additional tragic reality. One
of the most devastating issues that
I’m hearing about from constituents is
undocumented New Yorkers who have
lost loved ones to the disease but can’t
aff ord to make fi nal arrangements.
For other low-income New Yorkers,
the New York City Human Resources
Administration off ers burial assistance
up to $900. To qualify, however, the
applicant must provide social security
numbers for themselves and the
deceased, eff ectively barring undocumented
immigrants from eligibility.
Th at’s why I’m working with Speaker
Corey Johnson to create an emergency
fund to help these families put
their loved ones to rest. We’re determined
to make sure we’re there for all
New Yorkers in need during this time,
regardless of their immigration status.
Th is crisis isn’t forever. Th e good
news is that the number of cases and
the rate of hospitalizations are starting
to fall. We’ll get through this nightmare
and when we do, we’ll have health care
professionals and working-class heroes
defending the frontline to thank. I’m
humbled and inspired by the selfl essness
and bravery they’ve displayed
since day one of the outbreak.
I can’t wait for Queens to sound like
home again — when FC Barcelona
games and Latin music replace the
sirens. Th ey will, though. Until then,
we all have a part to play in realizing
that future. Th at means staying home
and away from others if we can and
making sure that those who can’t have
the protections they need to keep this
city on life support. And if and when
the worst happens, we have to live up
to the standard we’ve set: We’re all in
this together.
Council Member Francisco Moya
represents the 21st District in Queens,
encompassing East Elmhurst, LeFrak
City, a section of Jackson Heights and
Corona, where he was born, raised and
lives today.
A WORLD UNIFIED WITH
ACTS OF KINDNESS
Easter has passed, now let’s pray to
God that the COVID-19 pandemic will
pass as well.
Th is was a very strange Easter. While one
could not attend our houses of worship, it
was possible to “attend” services on TV and
on our computers due to the shut down.
According to us Christians, as Jesus rose
from the grave, hopefully our world will rise
from the eff ects of this pandemic. Our world
has changed and with this has come much
death, fear and loss of what many of us hold
most dear. And yet because of this pandemic,
many of us have come forward with helping
hands and with love for those in much need.
Our fi rst responders, doctors, nurses and
medical personnel have done what has to
be done to save lives and continue to do so,
risking their own lives in the process. Our
world has truly changed, but hopefully for
the better.
For a brief period we have forgotten politics
and sought to care and help men,
women and children who are sick, hurting
and hungry. Our world has become unifi ed
for the common good of our brothers and
sisters in this world.
As Grand Knight of St. Anastasia Knights
of Columbus in Douglaston, I pray for our
good neighbors and the help we give will
never fade away.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village
ADDRESSING QUALITY
OF CARE ISSUES
Th e New York State Long Term Care
Ombudsman Program is a resident-centered
and resident-directed advocacy program
available to anyone residing in a nursing
home, adult care facility or family-type
home across the state.
Th e Center for Independence of the
Disabled, NY (CIDNY) is a sponsor of Th e
Long Term Care Ombudsman Program in
New York City. We know fi rsthand how
crucial the Ombudsmen are in advocating
for residents, addressing quality-of-life and
quality-of-care issues along with residents’
rights concerns. Th ey are important not
only to the residents, but also to their families,
friends and the staff of the facilities.
Visitation to facilities has been restricted
and we are under an edict of no in-person
visitation. But make no mistake, we remain
here for you. You are not forgotten and
you are not alone. We are ready and eagerly
awaiting to hear when we may resume
our in-person visitations. Th e Long Term
Care Ombudsman Program remains available
to receive phone calls regarding any
concerns or questions you may have about
care. Please call 212-812-2901 to contact us.
At a time such as this, a truly unprecedented
time, residents are in much need of
an advocacy program. Once social distancing
protocols are lift ed, we will begin new
training, at which time we will be seeking
new volunteers to become Ombudsmen
and join us in advocating on behalf of our
long-term care residents.
Deirdre Garrett-Scott, Long Term Care
Ombudsman Program Coordinator
ALL RENT MUST BE REDUCED
Th e following is an open letter to
Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In view of the present COVID-19 pandemic
and the dire fi nancial straits of renters
across New York state, I propose that all
rents (controlled and market) be reduced
to 50 percent of their present lease amount
and frozen for all residential renters.
Additionally, all current non-payment and
holdover legal actions of landlords in Civil
Housing Courts should be administratively
dismissed and all current eviction orders
should be vacated by Executive Order of the
State of New York.
All rent arrears should be declared null
and void as well. If residential renters do not
get such relief, then we should organize a
statewide boycott of all rent payments as of
June 1, 2020. We shall fi nancially paralyze
the landlords and administratively overwhelm
the courts through expected landlord
legal actions.
Massive evictions by the legal machinery
of the government shall elicit a movement
of civil disobedience toward the goal
of social justice for oppressed renters. We
shall fi ght for reform and dismantle a judicial
system of housing courts which is a
criminal shakedown of renters by judges
and law enforcement.
My Father in Heaven shall hear our
prayers for authentic justice, and negate the
bogus deference “In God We Trust” emblazoned
on courtroom walls. Th ere is neither
mercy nor justice in evictions of the poor in
these civil courts.
Joseph N. Manago, Briarwood
Story: Should New York eye a return to normal life soon? Not so fast, Cuomo says
Summary: The governor said schools in the region, as well as businesses, should
reopen at the same time. Cuomo also expressed hope New York would do so in
concert with New Jersey and Connecticut, leading to a resumption of the entire
tri-state economy.
Reach: 5,522 (as of 4/14/20)
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