FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 16, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
De Blasio closes schools through June, Cuomo says that’s only ‘opinion’
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
adomenech@qns.com
@QNS
Two hours aft er Mayor Bill de Blasio
said New York City public schools would
remain closed for the rest of the school
year due to the coronavirus pandemic,
Governor Andrew Cuomo undermined
the mayor’s decision, stating that no decision
on schools has been made.
During his daily coronavirus pandemic
briefi ng in Albany, Cuomo said that
de Blasio does not have the authority to
close New York City schools and called it
his “opinion.” Th e governor said that that
call would not be made within the next
few days and that he wanted to coordinate
school reopenings with Long Island
and Westchester County schools and, ideally,
New Jersey and Connecticut.
“It is my legal authority in this situation,”
said Cuomo on Saturday. “Th at’s
why when I closed them we closed them
statewide.”
Th e mayor’s press secretary, Freddi
Goldstein, took to Twitter to refute the
notion. “Th e Governor’s reaction to us
keeping schools closed is reminiscent of
how he reacted when the Mayor called for
a shelter in place,” Goldstein wrote in a
tweet. “We were right then and we’re right
now. Schools will remain closed, just like
how we eventually-days later-moved to a
shelter in place model.”
According to NY1’s Jillian Jorgenson,
the mayor spoke with the governor’s offi ce
before making his decision on schools.
Th e mayor’s offi ce confi rmed that report
to amNewYork Metro. At 9:30 a.m.
Saturday morning, de Blasio announced
that New York City public schools would
remain closed for the rest of the 2019-
2020 school year. De Blasio, who initially
resisted closing schools as the pandemic
broke out, fi rst made the decision to shutter
the more than 1,800 public schools
across the fi ve boroughs on March 15 aft er
mounting pressure from parents, instructors
and lawmakers.
Shortly before de Blasio’s March 15
announcement, Governor Andrew
Cuomo said that all schools would be
closed during an interview on CNN. At
the time, de Blasio called the closure (then
scheduled through at least April 20) temporary,
and said the city would reassess
when to reopen.
But as the number of coronavirus cases
in the city rose, de Blasio said Saturday,
it quickly became clear that reopening in
April was impossible. With the closure
now extended through the end of the current
school year, in late June, teachers will
continue to instruct students remotely
with online classes in order to prevent the
further spread of the novel coronavirus.
Th e decision to keep New York City
schools closed came fi ve days aft er
Governor Andrew Cuomo extended the
New York state PAUSE order until April
29.
сoronavirus
Three masked attackers attempt
to rob Queens pol in Flushing
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A Queens lawmaker who was assaulted
and mugged by three masked assailants
is off ering his gratitude to local authorities
for taking swift action in arresting the
individuals.
On Th ursday, April 9, as he was returning
to his Downtown Flushing home from
a walk, Councilman Peter Koo was confronted
by the three attackers
in the lobby of his building.
As words were
exchanged and Koo
attempted to call 911,
the assailants tried to
steal his phone, according
to the councilman.
Koo held on to his phone
and continued to
scream at the muggers,
at which point
they ran off .
Aft er contacting
Photo by Carlotta
Mohamed
City Councilman
Peter Koo
the 109th Precinct, offi cers later arrested
two of the assailants shortly aft er they
robbed another person several blocks away.
Describing it as a “frightening encounter,”
Koo said he maintained his composure
to the best of his ability and contacted
the police immediately with the
descriptions and the direction they were
heading.
“For this reason, authorities were able
to track them down in a short time,”
Koo said. “I remind our community that
during these uncertain times, we must all
continue to stay aware of our surroundings
and take precautions against those
who are looking to take advantage of
our incapacitated society.”
“While I do not believe this attack was
racially motivated, Asian communities
in New York City have experienced
a signifi cant uptick in racist
attacks since the outbreak
of COVID-19,
and it is important
that our law enforcement
continues to
receive support so
that they have the
resources they
need to protect
our communities,”
Koo added.
Photo by Todd Maisel
Queens lawmaker urges residents to
stay alert of coronavirus scammers
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens residents are being warned
of scammers who are seeking to take
advantage of consumers during the
coronavirus outbreak.
According to Congresswoman
Grace Meng, the scams include
everything from bogus vaccination
and home test kits
to robocalls off ering
insurance and workat
home schemes.
“It is unconscionable
that in the middle
of a public health crisis,
there are those who prey on
unsuspecting individuals, and
attempt to steal the money they
need during this pandemic,” Meng
said.
Meng is urging all New Yorkers, particularly
seniors, immigrant communities
and vulnerable populations to be
on alert.
“If you receive a call regarding your
economic impact payment, hang up.
If you receive an email or text, do not
reply, and do not click on attachments
and links. Report it to law enforcement
and the IRS,” Meng said. “Th e IRS will
never contact you asking for any kind of
personal information.”
Among the most noted scams to be on
the lookout for are those in which criminals
attempt to steal people’s COVID-
19 relief payments, the funds consisting
of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per
child that the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) is in the process of sending out to
taxpayers.
Th e agency will in most cases deposit
relief payments into the direct deposit
account that taxpayers previously provided
on their tax returns, according to
the IRS.
Taxpayers who have previously fi led
but did not provide direct deposit information
to the IRS will be able to provide
their banking information online to a
newly designed secure portal on IRS.
gov in mid-April. If the IRS does not
have a taxpayer’s direct deposit information,
a check will be mailed to the
address on fi le.
Taxpayers should not provide their
direct deposit or other banking information
for others to input on their
behalf into the secure portal. For retirees
(Social Security recipients) who
don’t normally have a requirement
to fi le a tax return, no action on
their part is needed to receive
their payment.
Th e IRS has also provided
the following
tips to help consumers
to be on alert for
fraudsters seeking to
steal their relief payments.
When contacting taxpayers,
scammers may:
Emphasize the words “Stimulus
Check” or “Stimulus Payment.” Th e
offi cial term is economic impact payment.
Ask the taxpayer to sign over their economic
impact payment check to them.
Ask by phone, email, text or social
media for verifi cation of personal and/
or banking information saying that the
information is needed to receive or
speed up their economic impact payment.
Suggest that they can get a tax refund
or economic impact payment faster
by working on the taxpayer’s behalf.
Th is scam could be conducted by social
media or even in person.
Lastly, mail the taxpayer a bogus
check, perhaps in an odd amount, then
tell the taxpayer to call a number or verify
information online in order to cash it.
Th ose who receive unsolicited emails,
text messages or social media attempts to
gather information that appear to be from
either the IRS or an organization closely
linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic
Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS),
should forward it to phishing@irs.gov.
The economic impact payments
are being made available under the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security (CARES) Act, which was
recently passed by Congress and signed
into law by the president.
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
