February 2021 - ciaooo!

This article originally accompanied a live info session with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. You can view the recording here. Our host Aaron Frager of BBBS NY gave a wonderful rundown – be sure to rewatch or share with anyone who may be interested.

DO THE RIGHT THING…BECOME A MENTOR

You know how the story goes. Someone is lost on the subway, and instantly, five strangers come together to give directions and make sure they get off the right stop. It’s part of the New York DNA to help each other.

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WHAT CAN WE DO?

That’s why we’re partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC to find mentors to make the next generation of New Yorkers, great!

What is the application process like?

APPLY: Use the form here.
BACKGROUND CHECK: They will pay for this, though if you want to donate, you are able to pay for this yourself). This process can take 2+ months.
TRAINING: If selected, you are given two 90 minute trainings (virtually) about working with the littles.
MATCH: Based on your requests, BBBS will match you with a little (these can be age, demographic, interests, etc)

How long is the time commitment?

Once selected, “Bigs” are expected to sign on for a minimum of a year. While that sounds long, lots of “Bigs” end up establishing a great relationship and wind up mentoring for years, and keep in touch even after the program is over!

Once selected, Bigs and Littles meet approx. 4 hours every other weekend. Due to Covid, everything is virtual, but once appropriate – you can explore the city, go to museums, attend Big Brothers Big Sisters sponsored events & hang out.

Do I have what it takes to be a mentor?

If you are a good person, which I imagine you are, then YES. You are not expected to be their parent, or teacher, just a consistent adult presence in their life that they can turn to. You remember when you were a teen right? Sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone else., ya feel me? Plus you can talk about your career path, school + other life experiences.

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This article first appeared in our super dope WTF IS HAPPENING IN NYC newsletter that simplifies the news for New Yorkers. We cover the Coronavirus, local news, and all things New York City in one quick 5-minute email. Sign up here!

Since 2011, 33 year old Svante Myrick has been the Mayor of Ithaca, New York. Voted into office at the ripe age of 24, he was Ithaca’s first Black mayor and the youngest mayor in New York State HISTORY.

Yesterday, he announced an ambitious campaign to abolish the entire city’s police department and replacing it with a reimagined city agency, much of which is attributed to the “DEFUND THE POLICE” protests of the past year.

AND THEY SAID MILLENNIALS WERE LAZY…

Mayor Svante Myrick will propose replacing the city’s current 63-officer, $12.5 million a year department with a “Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety” which would include armed “public safety workers” and unarmed “community solution workers,” all of whom will report to a civilian director of public safety instead of a police chief. Under the proposal, all current officers would have to re-apply for a position with the new department. – GQ

In its most simplistic form, the new proposal would separate responsibilities so that armed officers can handle traditional crimes and criminals (like shootings & robberies, for example) and have unarmed professionals handle situations like a car crash, rescue the kitty in the tree, or noise complaints from that annoying neighbor of yours.

“This plan would abolish the police department while not abolishing policing” – Mayor Myrick

The plan is definitely controversial. The very statement “Defund the Police” has a divisive nature, and already naysayers in Ithaca (think police unions) are against the whole concept but the idea for this was made with input from community groups, focus groups and the police themselves!

One of the major tenets we found of the new arrangement would be the creation of a Community Justice Center where, “The work associated with each recommendation will be trackable through an online tool that allows community members to provide input and sign up for process updates”.

Instead of having no outlet to voice your frustrations, or attending a hard-to-find community meeting, you could simply…sign up on a website to see what was happening and submit your needs? Minds are BLOWN.

MILLENNIAL MAYORS SHOULD BE A THING…

Ithaca itself has only a population of 30,000, and while the proposal still has to pass City Council, Governor and the public…it’s still an interesting first step to see what and how police reform can look like. We think it’s refreshing to see younger faces in politics. A few fun facts about Mayor Myrick:

• He ran and won to serve another four year term as Mayor of the City of Ithaca, leading with a commanding 89% of the vote in 2015.

• In February 2016 he released the Ithaca Plan: a Public Health and Safety Approach to Drugs and Drug Policy that garnered international attention for its forward thinking

•His first budget included a radical overhaul of City government that merged departments, streamlined processes, and was able to successfully close a $3 million deficit- all while delivering the lowest tax increase in the City of Ithaca since the year 2000.

Read the full proposal below…it’s pretty interesting and well worth a read.

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Oh here’s to a hot and long long looooooooong summer!

President Biden announced in a town hall on Tuesday that every single American adult who wants a vaccine will be able to receive one by the end of this Summer!

Before even stepping FOOT into office, you may recall that President Biden was already working with Dr. Fauci and experts on an ambitious plan to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. Currently, we’re at approx. 56 million vaccinated and nearly halfway through Biden’s 100 days. We’re actually kinda on track…that’s nice for once!

Last week, President Biden finalized plans to purchase over 200 million vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which in addition to our current dosages would account for 300 million vaccinations across the US.

BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR NEW YORKERS?

Let’s look at some stats first…is New York capable of handling the distribution?

•At our current pace, NYC is averaging about 300,000 doses per day. Mayor de Blasio thinks we could be hitting 500,000 doses per day with adequate supply.

•New sites are being built all across the city including Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, York College in Queens, and 35pop up centers across public housing, churches and community centers.

•New York City updated its vaccine scheduler in10 different languages including Bengali, Chinese, Spanish, Polish and Russian.

•Once the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved, NYC will deliver single dosages to homebound seniors.

•NYC received $50 billion in Stimulus relief aid of which $1.6 Billion will be used for vaccine, testing, tracing, and flexible local health funding ($810M for NYS and $810M for NYC).

In our optimistic minds, we think that we just may make it happen after all! It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the doom and gloom in the news but look at all the small wins that are happening!

WILL VACCINES MEAN WE ARE ALL GOOD?

We still have to continue to wear masks and keep our distance post-vaccination though, medical researchers don’t know for sure whether people who have had the vaccine can still transmit it to others (ie. whether they prevent asymptomatic spread). That testing is still taking place.

In the meantime, we’ll be daydreaming about sunset drinking at Dumbo House (with our masks on, obviously).

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One year ago today, former President Trump said, “We have it very much under control in this country”.

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It’s wild to think that one year later and we are still in the mix of the COVID-19 hellscape. While we’ve guilty of doom scrolling through the news ourselves, there are a lot of important dates that you need to know coming up, and should most likely share with a neighbor, friend, or family member.

SHARE THESE DATES

FEB 26th

•The Eviction Moratorium was extended until May 1, 2021, meaning tenants are not allowed to be evicted due to Covid. BUT tenants are ONLY protected by the eviction moratorium if they fill out a declaration of hardship form by February 26th. Don’t procrastinate!!

•Indoor Dining Will Increase to 35 Percent Capacity

MARCH 5

•Billiard Halls Can Re-Open Statewide; Movie Theaters in New York City to Also Re-Open. Who’s got AMC stock?

MARCH 15

•Weddings and Catered Events Can Resume Statewide. No word on whether dance-offs will have to resume in bubble pods.

MARCH 31

•Governor Cuomo Announces Open Enrollment for Uninsured New Yorkers Extended Through March 31.

Enroll by February 15: Coverage starts March 1
Enroll March 15: Coverage starts April 1
Enroll by March 31: Coverage starts May 1

END OF MARCH

• Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it will have 20 million of the country’s first COVID-19 single-dose vaccines available by the end of March — leading New York City to vow door-to-door service soon for shut-ins. – NY Post

IN THE MEANTIME:

Keep double masking. The NYC Health Dept announced for first time that the new UK variant now makes up 6.2% of all new cases, up from 2.7% in January.

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NEWS VARIANCE IN COVID-VARIANTS

As of last night, more than2.5 million New Yorkers have received a first vaccine dose—about 12.8 percent of the state’s population and 7% of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated.

With numbers going steadily down, and the weather starting to warm up, it feels like hope is on the horizon! While we’re excited, best believe we’ll still be double masking, social distancing, and microwaving our takeout.

BUT HOLY SH, WHAT ABOUT THESE NEW COVID VARIANTS?!!!!**

First off, daddy, chill.

The New York Timesreported on a new variant this week – B.1.256 that was unleashing a deadly grasp amongst New York City. The article alludes to new variants making up 25% of cases and cites two studies byCaltechand Columbia.

But…there was a very noticeable line that stood out in the article:

“Neither study has been vetted by peer review nor published in a scientific journal. But the consistent results suggest that the variant’s spread is real, experts said.” – NYT

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BRUH…WHAT?

How is one of the leading journalism sites sourcing an unproven, unvetted survey as a source? It’s the equivalent of your mom sharing those Facebook or WeChat articles about how aiming a hot blow dryer at your mouth will kill the CoronaVirus. Kind of. Ha.

The study is a preprint – which reports new medical research that hasn’t been approved or peer reviewed by the Scientific community or the health department yet. The scientific community has called it “pandemic porn” and fear-mongering.

“Why are academic groups forwarding “preprints” that are not posted directly to the media without the biomedical community having a chance to review? Isn’t a preprint enough? is this a new pre-pre-print trend? Concerning”

— Dr Eric Topol (renowned doctor and scientist)

The media as a whole has a responsibility to provide YOU with the most trusted resources – not force you to doom scroll for clicks. On average, we research over 30 different sources for each newsletter, so we’ll always do our best to double and triple check for ya. We try to be discerning about the news, not everything is real or fake, we just triple check as best we can.

IN THE MEANTIME, HERE’S WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE NEW VARIANTS

Double mask. Get tested. Social distance. Meditate. Eat healthy. Get some sleep. Be nice to yourself. Don’t kiss strangers.

Plus if you’re eligible for the vaccine – more appointments are available:

• More overnight shifts at Brooklyn Army Terminal, Bathgate and Citi Field

• Doubling appointments at Teachers Prep and Martin Van Buren

• Pop-up sites in East Harlem and Mill Basin

Here’s some more resources from our Corona series:

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DO THE RIGHT THING…BECOME A MENTOR

WHAT CAN WE DO?

What is the application process like?

How long is the time commitment?

Do I have what it takes to be a mentor?

AND THEY SAID MILLENNIALS WERE LAZY…

MILLENNIAL MAYORS SHOULD BE A THING…

BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR NEW YORKERS?

WILL VACCINES MEAN WE ARE ALL GOOD?

SHARE THESE DATES

FEB 26th

MARCH 5

MARCH 15

MARCH 31

END OF MARCH

IN THE MEANTIME:

NEWS VARIANCE IN COVID-VARIANTS

BUT HOLY SH**, WHAT ABOUT THESE NEW COVID VARIANTS?!!!!

BRUH…WHAT?

IN THE MEANTIME, HERE’S WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE NEW VARIANTS

BUT HOLY SH, WHAT ABOUT THESE NEW COVID VARIANTS?!!!!**