Johnson, Reynoso Announce Outdoor Dining Legislation
Yesterday, Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D) and Councilmember Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn, Queens) announced legislation to require opening spaces for outdoor dining during the pandemic.
The bill would require the City to identify outdoor spaces where restaurants can safely serve customers while still respecting social distancing guidelines.
“As we continue to address the struggles due to COVID-19 and try to move forward, supporting New York City’s restaurants, bars and dining establishments is essential as they have been especially hard hit by this crisis,” said Johnson. “Expanding outdoor dining space will not only help these restaurants thrive financially but give our City a sense of normalcy. The restaurant industry is a huge part of New York City. No matter where you live, you love your local restaurants. This legislation will help give all New Yorkers better access to enjoy and support their local restaurants.”
Rodriguez Introduces Bill to Create Office of Sports and Recreation
Yesterday, Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Washington Heights, Inwood) introduced a bill to create a citywide Office of Sports and Recreation.
In New York, communities of color suffer disproportionate rates of heart disease, asthma and other chronic illnesses. Furthermore, low income neighborhoods often lack access to quality food programs and free recreational spaces.
Rodriguez hopes to rectify that with the introduction of the new office. The office would ensure access to sports-related opportunities for students, promote a strong sports recreation program, and coordinate sports initiatives with other city agencies, among other roles.
“This is about bringing equity into sports for all underserved, Latino, black and Asian communities,” said Rodriguez. “This office will develop strategies and provide access to sports-related programs that will help create a pipeline for disadvantaged athletes into professional sports programs.”
De Blasio Announces “Take Care” Initiative to Help New Yorkers Safely Separate
Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced the launch of the Test & Trace Corps’ “Take Care Initiative”.
The initiative will provide free hotel rooms to COVID-19 patients who cannot social distance in their own homes. Test & Trace Corps workers will check in daily with text messages and phone calls to monitor the patients’ health.
“Helping New Yorkers safely separate is, along with testing and tracing, the key to safely reopening our city,” said de Blasio. “Separating will help keep you and your loved ones safe—but it isn’t always easy. From providing free hotel rooms to delivering meals, your City is here to bridge the gap, and has your back each and every step of the way as you recover.”
Chin Calls on City to Postpone Home Delivered Meals RFP
Yesterday, Councilmember Margaret Chin (D-Battery Park City, Chinatown) released a statement, renewing her call to extend the home delivered meals (HDM) Request for Proposals (RFP) application deadline.
Right now, the deadline is set at June 1, although contracts aren’t slated to begin until Jan. 21, 2021. While HDM providers have been directed to stop enrollments, potential clients have had to rely on Get Food NYC, which does not have as high standards for nutrition or food quality.
“The Home Delivered Meals program has a strong track record of delivering reliable culturally-sensitive meals to homebound seniors while prioritizing community-based partnerships and incorporating case management into its delivery services,” said Chin. “If we want to give food insecure seniors a fighting chance to survive this crisis, the City needs to support the providers who are tirelessly working to feed them, not stunt their capacity and growth. Due to underfunding, providers were already losing thousands of dollars to sustain this work before the pandemic. Now, not only are they forced to respond to an ill-timed and underfunded RFP that procures services that don’t match the spike in demand we have been seeing, they are being asked to stop new enrollments entirely. That is unacceptable. The City needs to get this right and heed our call to delay the RFP until after this state of emergency ends.”
