Daily News Summary
DECISION 2021: TransAlt's '25 by 25′ Proposal Shakes Up Mayoral Race
Streetsblog
Mar. 2, 2021
Transportation Alternatives's bold plan to claw back a quarter of the city's public space from the domain of automobiles is already making waves in the mayoral race, with five top progressive candidates backing the safety and quality-of-life initiative. Others reacted tepidly or not did not return responses.
Called "NYC 25 by 25," the plan asks mayoral candidates to commit to dedicating 25 percent of the space now designated for vehicles — including 19,000 miles of roads and three million on-street parking spaces — as space for people by 2025 so that New Yorkers might have room to recover from (and thrive after) the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the city's lack of equity when it comes to active transportation and green space.
The fullest-throated support for the proposal came from Comptroller Scott Stringer, who has injected a raft of pro-street-safety policy ideas into the contest, such as one to create 75 miles of bike lanes around 50 high schools.
"This is a worthy challenge from Transportation Alternatives that I'll gladly take on as mayor," Stringer said in a statement to Streetsblog. "Reclaiming our streets for people is key to bringing our city forward from this pandemic, building healthier communities and taking on climate change. I've laid out a transportation plan that would transform our streets, and includes massive expansions of public space, huge investments in our bus and bike infrastructure, long-overdue parking, sanitation, and delivery reforms, and scales back our superhighways."
Council Member Carlos Menchaca, who fielded a proposal to rid the city of a million of its three million parking spots, said that "25 by 25″ is "the kind of vision we need right now to curb our private car enthusiasm."
"[TA's] '25 by 25′ can happen with political courage and expanding our engagement to communities who have seen the benefits of getting on their bike, and soon will be back on public transportation," he added.
Menchaca also said that delivery workers and day laborers should be brought into the conversation about "25 by 25." "There's a larger engagement conversation with low-income workers that has to be had," he told Streetsblog. "It has to saturate every corner of the city, including immigrant New Yorkers, who must be at the table as we achieve this vision."
Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia's spokeswoman Annika Reno said that her candidate "supports the TransAlt proposal," which is supported by more than 80 organizations, including the 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition, 89th Street Tenants Unidos Association in Jackson Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Families for Safe Streets, La Colmena, Pakistani-American Youth Society, the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, Tri-State Transportation Committee, and Bike NY.
Garcia, Reno said, "is the only candidate that can achieve something like this on the timeline that is proposed because she understands how government and procurement works. It's an ambitious goal, and to get there we will need to accelerate street and sidewalk construction by reinstating a fast capital project program at DOT and ensuring the agency has blanket [capital project] approvals for bread-and-butter projects."
Meanwhile, Julia Savel, a spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio's former counsel, Maya Wiley, said that the TransAlt plan "is big and bold."
"Our team is studying it closely since it aligns directly with Maya's goal of creating more public spaces with a priority on high need areas," Savel said. "Public space is a climate justice and racial equity issue, which is why Maya's 'New Deal New York' invests to create protected bus lanes and bike lanes so that people can move around the city in cleaner, safer ways and we look forward to working with Transportation Alternatives to make it a reality."
Others generally supported the plan, but less effusively. Jeremy Edwards, a spokesman for Shaun Donovan, who led the city and federal housing departments as well as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, said, "Shaun believes that the roadway is a public space and the way it is designed and used reflects the city's priorities. As such, he is generally supportive of any policies that better utilize public spaces and resources to make the city more accessible to all New Yorkers."
The mayoral campaign of entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Yang called the plan "admirable" and said that the candidate was "looking forward to digging into the details."
Say one thing for Transportation Alternatives — its proposal finally got the campaign of Wall Streeter Ray McGuire to respond to questions from Streetsblog (though his answer was non-committal).
"Ray is committed to converting more of our streets to shared spaces," said Lupe Todd-Medina, the spokesperson for the McGuire campaign. "We would need to take a close look at the Transportation Alternatives proposal before making a decision as to whether the exact numbers and timeline are feasible."
Loree Sutton, a psychiatrist and brigadier general who formerly headed the city's Department for Veterans Services, was the only candidate to defiantly oppose the TransAlt approach, though she claimed to support its goals.
"Loree does not support … being forced to supply a yes or no answer, or commit to one narrow solution, on important and complex issues," Robin Wallace, a press aide for Sutton, said in a statement. But she continued:
Loree supports policies and approaches that would reduce the carbon footprint and private automobile use in NYC, and supports maintaining and making permanent many of the adaptations that provided for more outdoor space and use of the streets for businesses and the public during the pandemic. The priority of a Sutton administration would be economic and public-health pandemic recovery; businesses need access to those outdoor spaces to continue to do business outdoors, and the people need those spaces for their mental and physical health.
Mayor de Blasio generally lauded the proposal, but said he hadn't had a chance to read it. In any event, he took credit for leading the city in the direction where TransAlt was pointing.
"This is all moving in the right direction," de Blasio said during his morning press availability yesterday, "a direction that we need to lean more and more into — opening up public spaces, getting out of our cars, focusing more on public transportation. This is the way of the future, unquestionably."
The campaigns of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, reformist lawyer Isaac Wright, and not-for-profit executive Dianne Morales did not return messages.
Eric Adams to unveil tax credit plan aimed at relieving cash-strapped New Yorkers
Mar. 2, 2021
Transportation Alternatives's bold plan to claw back a quarter of the city's public space from the domain of automobiles is already making waves in the mayoral race, with five top progressive candidates backing the safety and quality-of-life initiative. Others reacted tepidly or not did not return responses.
Called "NYC 25 by 25," the plan asks mayoral candidates to commit to dedicating 25 percent of the space now designated for vehicles — including 19,000 miles of roads and three million on-street parking spaces — as space for people by 2025 so that New Yorkers might have room to recover from (and thrive after) the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the city's lack of equity when it comes to active transportation and green space.
The fullest-throated support for the proposal came from Comptroller Scott Stringer, who has injected a raft of pro-street-safety policy ideas into the contest, such as one to create 75 miles of bike lanes around 50 high schools.
"This is a worthy challenge from Transportation Alternatives that I'll gladly take on as mayor," Stringer said in a statement to Streetsblog. "Reclaiming our streets for people is key to bringing our city forward from this pandemic, building healthier communities and taking on climate change. I've laid out a transportation plan that would transform our streets, and includes massive expansions of public space, huge investments in our bus and bike infrastructure, long-overdue parking, sanitation, and delivery reforms, and scales back our superhighways."
Council Member Carlos Menchaca, who fielded a proposal to rid the city of a million of its three million parking spots, said that "25 by 25″ is "the kind of vision we need right now to curb our private car enthusiasm."
"[TA's] '25 by 25′ can happen with political courage and expanding our engagement to communities who have seen the benefits of getting on their bike, and soon will be back on public transportation," he added.
Menchaca also said that delivery workers and day laborers should be brought into the conversation about "25 by 25." "There's a larger engagement conversation with low-income workers that has to be had," he told Streetsblog. "It has to saturate every corner of the city, including immigrant New Yorkers, who must be at the table as we achieve this vision."
Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia's spokeswoman Annika Reno said that her candidate "supports the TransAlt proposal," which is supported by more than 80 organizations, including the 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition, 89th Street Tenants Unidos Association in Jackson Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Families for Safe Streets, La Colmena, Pakistani-American Youth Society, the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, Tri-State Transportation Committee, and Bike NY.
Garcia, Reno said, "is the only candidate that can achieve something like this on the timeline that is proposed because she understands how government and procurement works. It's an ambitious goal, and to get there we will need to accelerate street and sidewalk construction by reinstating a fast capital project program at DOT and ensuring the agency has blanket [capital project] approvals for bread-and-butter projects."
Meanwhile, Julia Savel, a spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio's former counsel, Maya Wiley, said that the TransAlt plan "is big and bold."
"Our team is studying it closely since it aligns directly with Maya's goal of creating more public spaces with a priority on high need areas," Savel said. "Public space is a climate justice and racial equity issue, which is why Maya's 'New Deal New York' invests to create protected bus lanes and bike lanes so that people can move around the city in cleaner, safer ways and we look forward to working with Transportation Alternatives to make it a reality."
Others generally supported the plan, but less effusively. Jeremy Edwards, a spokesman for Shaun Donovan, who led the city and federal housing departments as well as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, said, "Shaun believes that the roadway is a public space and the way it is designed and used reflects the city's priorities. As such, he is generally supportive of any policies that better utilize public spaces and resources to make the city more accessible to all New Yorkers."
The mayoral campaign of entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Yang called the plan "admirable" and said that the candidate was "looking forward to digging into the details."
Say one thing for Transportation Alternatives — its proposal finally got the campaign of Wall Streeter Ray McGuire to respond to questions from Streetsblog (though his answer was non-committal).
"Ray is committed to converting more of our streets to shared spaces," said Lupe Todd-Medina, the spokesperson for the McGuire campaign. "We would need to take a close look at the Transportation Alternatives proposal before making a decision as to whether the exact numbers and timeline are feasible."
Loree Sutton, a psychiatrist and brigadier general who formerly headed the city's Department for Veterans Services, was the only candidate to defiantly oppose the TransAlt approach, though she claimed to support its goals.
"Loree does not support … being forced to supply a yes or no answer, or commit to one narrow solution, on important and complex issues," Robin Wallace, a press aide for Sutton, said in a statement. But she continued:
Loree supports policies and approaches that would reduce the carbon footprint and private automobile use in NYC, and supports maintaining and making permanent many of the adaptations that provided for more outdoor space and use of the streets for businesses and the public during the pandemic. The priority of a Sutton administration would be economic and public-health pandemic recovery; businesses need access to those outdoor spaces to continue to do business outdoors, and the people need those spaces for their mental and physical health.
Mayor de Blasio generally lauded the proposal, but said he hadn't had a chance to read it. In any event, he took credit for leading the city in the direction where TransAlt was pointing.
"This is all moving in the right direction," de Blasio said during his morning press availability yesterday, "a direction that we need to lean more and more into — opening up public spaces, getting out of our cars, focusing more on public transportation. This is the way of the future, unquestionably."
The campaigns of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, reformist lawyer Isaac Wright, and not-for-profit executive Dianne Morales did not return messages.
Eric Adams to unveil tax credit plan aimed at relieving cash-strapped New Yorkers
NY Daily News
Feb. 28, 2021
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on Monday will unveil a plan to provide cash-strapped New Yorkers with relief through a program that would pay out tax credit benefits monthly and in advance.
The plan, which Adams' has dubbed NYC Advanced Income Deployment, or NYC AID, aims to boost the earned income tax credits poor families receive by more than 10 times. Adams estimates it would cost the city $1 billion annually.
Such credits are usually paid out at the end of the year in a lump sum, but according to a policy paper from Team Adams shared exclusively with the Daily News, the cash total would be expanded and paid out in advance.
"A New York City family with two children on the edge of poverty earning $30,000 a year would receive approximately $3,000 annually, or about $250 a month from a boosted city EITC program," the policy paper states. "Credits would be paid out monthly as an advance by the city on qualifying New Yorkers' past annual earnings."
Adams is running for mayor in a crowded Democratic primary field that includes Andrew Yang, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Mayor de Blasio's former legal counsel, Maya Wiley. Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former Citibank executive Ray McGuire are also in the running.
Yang, who ran for president last year, is perhaps best known for his support of universal basic income.
Adams' plan would provide something similar in that it would put cash in the pockets of needy New Yorkers, but it differs in that it would rely on increasing the amount paid out for already existing tax credits.
Adams' spokesman Evan Thies said the BP's tax credit plan has been in the works since June of last year when he proposed a similar EITC increase for frontline workers.
As it now stands, people who qualify for the earned income tax credit with the federal government receive the benefit from the feds. New Yorkers also receive from the city a matching credit of 5% of what they receive from the feds. Under Adams' plan the city's matching benefit would increase significantly.
If elected, Adams plans to increase the earned-income tax credit the city pays out to 60% — up from 5% — for households earning $30,000 or less, and to 30% for households that bring in between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policies at the New School's Center for New York City Affairs, reviewed Adams' proposal and described it as representing "a pretty significant commitment of tax resources to low-income households."
"It could probably bear some tweaking here and there before it's finalized," he said, adding that such adjustments could include increased benefits for households with out-of-work adults and childless households.
"The city could do that," he said.
Adams' plan would also seek to assist recently unemployed New Yorkers whose prior year's income may look substantial on paper — and would disqualify them for a tax credit — by making them eligible for the credits also.
"This would allow AID to cover nearly 900,000 New Yorkers," the policy paper states. "The total amount advanced per household would reach up to $4,000 over 12 months for lower-income families with children."
Payments to eligible households would be made through direct deposit or prepaid debit cards to bypass check-cashing joints and predatory lenders — a move Adams plans to support through working with banks to set up free checking accounts to city residents who don't have them.
Those enrolled in the AID program would be connected with city welfare case workers as well to connect them to other city, state and federal services that they may qualify for, such as food stamps and housing assistance.
To pay the estimated $1 billion bill for the plan, Adams would institute cuts of 3% to 5% across all city agencies, through staff attrition and by pushing for a "modest increase to the city income tax on ultra-millionaires."
"Combined, those actions are projected to save or create $5 billion to $6.5 billion in the first year, increasing year over year as headcount drops and further agency savings are found," the policy paper states.
Vaccinating by age groups is unfair, particularly to minorities, advisory panel tells CDC
Feb. 28, 2021
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on Monday will unveil a plan to provide cash-strapped New Yorkers with relief through a program that would pay out tax credit benefits monthly and in advance.
The plan, which Adams' has dubbed NYC Advanced Income Deployment, or NYC AID, aims to boost the earned income tax credits poor families receive by more than 10 times. Adams estimates it would cost the city $1 billion annually.
Such credits are usually paid out at the end of the year in a lump sum, but according to a policy paper from Team Adams shared exclusively with the Daily News, the cash total would be expanded and paid out in advance.
"A New York City family with two children on the edge of poverty earning $30,000 a year would receive approximately $3,000 annually, or about $250 a month from a boosted city EITC program," the policy paper states. "Credits would be paid out monthly as an advance by the city on qualifying New Yorkers' past annual earnings."
Adams is running for mayor in a crowded Democratic primary field that includes Andrew Yang, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Mayor de Blasio's former legal counsel, Maya Wiley. Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former Citibank executive Ray McGuire are also in the running.
Yang, who ran for president last year, is perhaps best known for his support of universal basic income.
Adams' plan would provide something similar in that it would put cash in the pockets of needy New Yorkers, but it differs in that it would rely on increasing the amount paid out for already existing tax credits.
Adams' spokesman Evan Thies said the BP's tax credit plan has been in the works since June of last year when he proposed a similar EITC increase for frontline workers.
As it now stands, people who qualify for the earned income tax credit with the federal government receive the benefit from the feds. New Yorkers also receive from the city a matching credit of 5% of what they receive from the feds. Under Adams' plan the city's matching benefit would increase significantly.
If elected, Adams plans to increase the earned-income tax credit the city pays out to 60% — up from 5% — for households earning $30,000 or less, and to 30% for households that bring in between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policies at the New School's Center for New York City Affairs, reviewed Adams' proposal and described it as representing "a pretty significant commitment of tax resources to low-income households."
"It could probably bear some tweaking here and there before it's finalized," he said, adding that such adjustments could include increased benefits for households with out-of-work adults and childless households.
"The city could do that," he said.
Adams' plan would also seek to assist recently unemployed New Yorkers whose prior year's income may look substantial on paper — and would disqualify them for a tax credit — by making them eligible for the credits also.
"This would allow AID to cover nearly 900,000 New Yorkers," the policy paper states. "The total amount advanced per household would reach up to $4,000 over 12 months for lower-income families with children."
Payments to eligible households would be made through direct deposit or prepaid debit cards to bypass check-cashing joints and predatory lenders — a move Adams plans to support through working with banks to set up free checking accounts to city residents who don't have them.
Those enrolled in the AID program would be connected with city welfare case workers as well to connect them to other city, state and federal services that they may qualify for, such as food stamps and housing assistance.
To pay the estimated $1 billion bill for the plan, Adams would institute cuts of 3% to 5% across all city agencies, through staff attrition and by pushing for a "modest increase to the city income tax on ultra-millionaires."
"Combined, those actions are projected to save or create $5 billion to $6.5 billion in the first year, increasing year over year as headcount drops and further agency savings are found," the policy paper states.
Vaccinating by age groups is unfair, particularly to minorities, advisory panel tells CDC
USA Today
Mar. 1, 2021
Many states prioritized COVID-19 vaccines for people over 75, then moved to those over 65, but they shouldn't keep stepping down by age, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
The approach is inherently unfair to minorities, committee members said, because they have a lower life-expectancy and because people of color are dying of COVID-19 at younger ages than white Americans – even in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
"I'm not in favor of any part of an age eligibility bracket under 65," said Dr. José Romero, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and chairman of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The committee disagreed with plans in some states to require people to show proof that they have two medical conditions on a pre-specified list before being allowed to be vaccinated.
People with two medical conditions that are well-controlled might be at lower risk of serious COVID-19 than those with one out-of-control condition or with a less common disease that wasn't frequent enough make the list.
For example, although Type 2 diabetes is considered a highest-risk condition, Type 1 isn't always, even though people with this less common, autoimmune version are at the same risk, noted Dr. Katherine Poehling, a professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Yes, there will be some people who lie about their medical conditions, admitted Dr. Helen Talbot, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. "There's always someone who finds a way to cheat."
But it's better to let in a few cheaters than to deny vaccine to people who really need it, she said.
The other category of people who should be prioritized, committee members said, are those who care for others who may not be able to be vaccinated.
Dr. Grace Lee, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, cited the parents of children who received stem cell transplants.
"Being able to protect those individuals in the absence of any high-risk medical condition, I think in and of itself, is important, in part because we can't vaccinate young kids at this time," she said.
Every state makes its own vaccination allotment plan, so there's a lot of mixed messages about who should be prioritized in the next few months as vaccine supply remains tight, committee members said.
For that reason, committee members said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, authorized over the weekend, should be added to the general pool of available vaccines, rather than targeted to any particular group or population.
They reemphasized their commitment to equitable distribution of vaccines, even as they are distributed to as many people as possible.
"I feel very challenged by ensuring that we continue to keep equity as a focus for implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program," Lee said.
Many vaccine distribution facilities are so worried about getting precisely the right people vaccinated that they're turning too many away, she continued.
"Since our intent is to vaccinate everyone anyway, other than the most egregious of situations, whether or not I get high-risk condition A versus B correct, I think, is less important than just making sure that we are providing access," she said.
About 50 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. By the end of this month, Pfizer-BioNTech will have provided a total of 120 million doses of its vaccine, enough to vaccinate 60 million people; Moderna will have provided 100 million doses to vaccinate 50 million people; and J&J will provide 20 million doses of its single-shot vaccine. That's enough to cover more than half of the 210 million adults in the USA.
In its second four-hour meeting in two days, the committee considered whether to extend the recommended period between the two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
Some suggested a delay would allow more vaccine to be distributed, but committee members said they did not feel there was enough data to justify delaying the second dose of either vaccine.
There were more mixed opinions on whether people who had symptomatic COVID-19 would need both doses of the two-dose vaccines.
Basic immunology suggests that the illness would act as a primary dose and the first shot as a booster, Talbot said. "I don't need any more data. We've all taken immunology," she said.
Others raised questions about whether the risks of vaccination for people who have had COVID-19 would outweigh the benefits, particularly of a second shot. CDC officials said there is not enough information to answer that question.
Implementing such a policy would be challenging, because it's not clear how long protection lasts and how sick someone has to be to develop adequate natural protection.
Meet the New Yorkers Who Say They've Given Up on the Subways
Mar. 1, 2021
Many states prioritized COVID-19 vaccines for people over 75, then moved to those over 65, but they shouldn't keep stepping down by age, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
The approach is inherently unfair to minorities, committee members said, because they have a lower life-expectancy and because people of color are dying of COVID-19 at younger ages than white Americans – even in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
"I'm not in favor of any part of an age eligibility bracket under 65," said Dr. José Romero, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and chairman of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The committee disagreed with plans in some states to require people to show proof that they have two medical conditions on a pre-specified list before being allowed to be vaccinated.
People with two medical conditions that are well-controlled might be at lower risk of serious COVID-19 than those with one out-of-control condition or with a less common disease that wasn't frequent enough make the list.
For example, although Type 2 diabetes is considered a highest-risk condition, Type 1 isn't always, even though people with this less common, autoimmune version are at the same risk, noted Dr. Katherine Poehling, a professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Yes, there will be some people who lie about their medical conditions, admitted Dr. Helen Talbot, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. "There's always someone who finds a way to cheat."
But it's better to let in a few cheaters than to deny vaccine to people who really need it, she said.
The other category of people who should be prioritized, committee members said, are those who care for others who may not be able to be vaccinated.
Dr. Grace Lee, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, cited the parents of children who received stem cell transplants.
"Being able to protect those individuals in the absence of any high-risk medical condition, I think in and of itself, is important, in part because we can't vaccinate young kids at this time," she said.
Every state makes its own vaccination allotment plan, so there's a lot of mixed messages about who should be prioritized in the next few months as vaccine supply remains tight, committee members said.
For that reason, committee members said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, authorized over the weekend, should be added to the general pool of available vaccines, rather than targeted to any particular group or population.
They reemphasized their commitment to equitable distribution of vaccines, even as they are distributed to as many people as possible.
"I feel very challenged by ensuring that we continue to keep equity as a focus for implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program," Lee said.
Many vaccine distribution facilities are so worried about getting precisely the right people vaccinated that they're turning too many away, she continued.
"Since our intent is to vaccinate everyone anyway, other than the most egregious of situations, whether or not I get high-risk condition A versus B correct, I think, is less important than just making sure that we are providing access," she said.
About 50 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. By the end of this month, Pfizer-BioNTech will have provided a total of 120 million doses of its vaccine, enough to vaccinate 60 million people; Moderna will have provided 100 million doses to vaccinate 50 million people; and J&J will provide 20 million doses of its single-shot vaccine. That's enough to cover more than half of the 210 million adults in the USA.
In its second four-hour meeting in two days, the committee considered whether to extend the recommended period between the two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
Some suggested a delay would allow more vaccine to be distributed, but committee members said they did not feel there was enough data to justify delaying the second dose of either vaccine.
There were more mixed opinions on whether people who had symptomatic COVID-19 would need both doses of the two-dose vaccines.
Basic immunology suggests that the illness would act as a primary dose and the first shot as a booster, Talbot said. "I don't need any more data. We've all taken immunology," she said.
Others raised questions about whether the risks of vaccination for people who have had COVID-19 would outweigh the benefits, particularly of a second shot. CDC officials said there is not enough information to answer that question.
Implementing such a policy would be challenging, because it's not clear how long protection lasts and how sick someone has to be to develop adequate natural protection.
Meet the New Yorkers Who Say They've Given Up on the Subways
The City
Mar. 1, 2021
Florin Petrisor swapped the No. 7 train for an electric scooter and never looked back.
Claire McLeveighn started walking to work and hasn't been on the subway since last March.
Isaac Himmelman began the pandemic without a bike or a car but now he's "the proud owner of both."
They are among the millions of New Yorkers who once rode the subway daily, but who, one year into the pandemic, have found other ways to get around — while largely staying away from the transit system.
"It's the freedom of riding the scooter wherever I want, at any time and it's much more reliable." said Petrisor, 40, a dog walker who commutes between Queens and Manhattan on an electric scooter he bought last March for $1,200. "This is how I look at it: I used to buy the unlimited MetroCard every month, but with this scooter, I have gotten my money's worth and then some in 10 months."
MTA data shows subway ridership stayed north of five million on weekdays throughout the first week of March 2020 as COVID-19 began to climb. As late as March 6 — five days after the first confirmed coronavirus case in the city emerged — there were 5.2 million daily trips.
But it marked a fleeting ridership peak that, within weeks, would crumble by more than 90% as the pandemic took hold and the subway system turned into what one commuter described last April as "an underground ghost town."
While ridership has rebounded to nearly 1.8 million trips a day — or about 30% of what it was prior to the pandemic — the MTA is still trying to win back straphangers who have continued to stay away from the subway in large numbers.
The collapse in ridership has also forced the transit agency to repeatedly seek billions of dollars in emergency federal aid as officials call for more police amid a disturbing spate of crimes in a less-trafficked system.
Business leaders say the return of safe and efficient subways is crucial to the city's economic recovery, and hailed the recent restoration of overnight service to all but two hours daily as a good sign.
Meanwhile, some transportation advocates say there's a bigger opportunity to transform how New Yorkers get around: On Monday, Transportation Alternatives released a report calling for 25% of city streets to be dedicated to bicycles by 2025.
'Everything Changed'
Asked last week how the subway can regain riders, MTA Chair Patrick Foye pointed to cleaning and anti-crime efforts.
"Here's what we can do: make sure the system is disinfected and clean," Foye said. "It's incumbent upon us… we have an obligation to provide a safe and secure environment."
But the MTA must contend with riders reluctant to return not only because of safety concerns, but who have moved on to other ways of getting around.
"It was my sole method of transportation before, but once the pandemic started, everything changed," said Meghan Addison, 31, who used to get to work by subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan. "I just don't foresee myself using transit unless it's in the winter or for longer distances."
Addison, who is now working remotely for her job at a tech company, travels almost entirely by bicycle and said that's unlikely to change even after COVID-19 is under control.
"There are just so many things you can't prepare for or predict in New York," she said. "There is something really liberating about not having to rely on a subway."
McLeveighn, who previously commuted on the No. 4 train from The Bronx to Lower Manhattan, now treks more than a mile from her home in Kingsbridge to an office in Morris Park on days when she isn't working remotely.
"It's a good [long] walk," she said. "But after having been in a lockdown, it's kind of enjoyable to walk to the office."
'People Aren't Rushing Back'
Edgardo Rivera, 42, has relied on his yearly Citi Bike membership to commute from Bushwick to his job in DUMBO, Brooklyn, saying the 25-minute ride is "for my health" and tops what would be a 45-minute trip by subway.
"We're a city of commuters and people aren't rushing back," he said. "There is a big mental hurdle and you're talking to a native New Yorker who's not afraid of the train system, like someone from out of town might be."
The number of bicycle trips across East River bridges has gone up, according to city Department of Transportation data, along with usage of Citi Bike, the bike-sharing network.
More New Yorkers are buying automobiles, too, as THE CITY reported last summer. In four of the boroughs, the number of vehicle registrations increased by nearly 40 percent between August and October.
Beatrice Lors-Rousseau, 33, of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, said she has not been on the subway since going on maternity leave in December 2019, choosing instead to travel by car.
"We're thinking about our exposure to others," said Lors-Rousseau, 33, whose parents live with her family.
Rivera said elected officials, the MTA and employers need to "be on the same page" about encouraging people to eventually return to the subway.
"They've got to do something about saving mass transit," he said. "New York is a city that relies on mass transit whether there is a pandemic or not."
De Blasio Blasts Cuomo's Response To 2nd Sexual Harassment Allegation: 'That's Not An Apology'
Mar. 1, 2021
Florin Petrisor swapped the No. 7 train for an electric scooter and never looked back.
Claire McLeveighn started walking to work and hasn't been on the subway since last March.
Isaac Himmelman began the pandemic without a bike or a car but now he's "the proud owner of both."
They are among the millions of New Yorkers who once rode the subway daily, but who, one year into the pandemic, have found other ways to get around — while largely staying away from the transit system.
"It's the freedom of riding the scooter wherever I want, at any time and it's much more reliable." said Petrisor, 40, a dog walker who commutes between Queens and Manhattan on an electric scooter he bought last March for $1,200. "This is how I look at it: I used to buy the unlimited MetroCard every month, but with this scooter, I have gotten my money's worth and then some in 10 months."
MTA data shows subway ridership stayed north of five million on weekdays throughout the first week of March 2020 as COVID-19 began to climb. As late as March 6 — five days after the first confirmed coronavirus case in the city emerged — there were 5.2 million daily trips.
But it marked a fleeting ridership peak that, within weeks, would crumble by more than 90% as the pandemic took hold and the subway system turned into what one commuter described last April as "an underground ghost town."
While ridership has rebounded to nearly 1.8 million trips a day — or about 30% of what it was prior to the pandemic — the MTA is still trying to win back straphangers who have continued to stay away from the subway in large numbers.
The collapse in ridership has also forced the transit agency to repeatedly seek billions of dollars in emergency federal aid as officials call for more police amid a disturbing spate of crimes in a less-trafficked system.
Business leaders say the return of safe and efficient subways is crucial to the city's economic recovery, and hailed the recent restoration of overnight service to all but two hours daily as a good sign.
Meanwhile, some transportation advocates say there's a bigger opportunity to transform how New Yorkers get around: On Monday, Transportation Alternatives released a report calling for 25% of city streets to be dedicated to bicycles by 2025.
'Everything Changed'
Asked last week how the subway can regain riders, MTA Chair Patrick Foye pointed to cleaning and anti-crime efforts.
"Here's what we can do: make sure the system is disinfected and clean," Foye said. "It's incumbent upon us… we have an obligation to provide a safe and secure environment."
But the MTA must contend with riders reluctant to return not only because of safety concerns, but who have moved on to other ways of getting around.
"It was my sole method of transportation before, but once the pandemic started, everything changed," said Meghan Addison, 31, who used to get to work by subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan. "I just don't foresee myself using transit unless it's in the winter or for longer distances."
Addison, who is now working remotely for her job at a tech company, travels almost entirely by bicycle and said that's unlikely to change even after COVID-19 is under control.
"There are just so many things you can't prepare for or predict in New York," she said. "There is something really liberating about not having to rely on a subway."
McLeveighn, who previously commuted on the No. 4 train from The Bronx to Lower Manhattan, now treks more than a mile from her home in Kingsbridge to an office in Morris Park on days when she isn't working remotely.
"It's a good [long] walk," she said. "But after having been in a lockdown, it's kind of enjoyable to walk to the office."
'People Aren't Rushing Back'
Edgardo Rivera, 42, has relied on his yearly Citi Bike membership to commute from Bushwick to his job in DUMBO, Brooklyn, saying the 25-minute ride is "for my health" and tops what would be a 45-minute trip by subway.
"We're a city of commuters and people aren't rushing back," he said. "There is a big mental hurdle and you're talking to a native New Yorker who's not afraid of the train system, like someone from out of town might be."
The number of bicycle trips across East River bridges has gone up, according to city Department of Transportation data, along with usage of Citi Bike, the bike-sharing network.
More New Yorkers are buying automobiles, too, as THE CITY reported last summer. In four of the boroughs, the number of vehicle registrations increased by nearly 40 percent between August and October.
Beatrice Lors-Rousseau, 33, of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, said she has not been on the subway since going on maternity leave in December 2019, choosing instead to travel by car.
"We're thinking about our exposure to others," said Lors-Rousseau, 33, whose parents live with her family.
Rivera said elected officials, the MTA and employers need to "be on the same page" about encouraging people to eventually return to the subway.
"They've got to do something about saving mass transit," he said. "New York is a city that relies on mass transit whether there is a pandemic or not."
De Blasio Blasts Cuomo's Response To 2nd Sexual Harassment Allegation: 'That's Not An Apology'
NY1
Mar. 1, 2021
Mayor Bill de Blasio continued his criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday, saying that the governor's statement on a new allegation of sexual harassment did not serve as an adequate apology.
"He just clearly was letting himself off the hook from something that the women involved said sounded pretty terrifying," de Blasio said.
On Saturday, a second female former staffer for Cuomo alleged that he sexually harassed her, including asking whether she had sex with older men, which the former staffer, Charlotte Bennett, 25, took as an entreaty to have sex with the him.
In a statement released Sunday, Cuomo said: "I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that."
"That's not an apology," de Blasio said Monday. "He seemed to be saying, 'oh I was just kidding around.' Sexual harassment isn't funny."
De Blasio called for a full investigation into the allegations and any others that may arise, as well as an investigation into the Cuomo administration's handling of counting deaths of people living in nursing homes. On Sunday, Cuomo agreed to let Letitia James, the state's attorney general, have full control over who will conduct an investigation into the sexual harassment allegations, after first trying to split the decision between James and a state judge with connections to a longtime adviser to Cuomo.
The mayor suggested that the investigation into the nursing home deaths should include looking at campaign contributions to Cuomo from the nursing home industry. Cuomo's administration undercounted deaths from patients in nursing homes by 15,000, instead labeling those deaths as unrelated hospital deaths.
De Blasio did not directly call for Cuomo to resign, but suggested that Cuomo should step down if the allegations are substantiated.
"If someone purposefully tried to use their power to try to force a woman to have sex with him, of course, that person should no longer be in public service," de Blasio said.
In response to a question from NY1, de Blasio, who has had a difficult relationship with the governor, suggested that more people may come forward with stories of antagonistic behavior from Cuomo, referencing state Assemblyman Ron Kim's account of a phone conversation with Cuomo in which Cuomo told Kim he would "destroy" him.
NY attorney general receives authority to launch independent Cuomo investigation
Mar. 1, 2021
Mayor Bill de Blasio continued his criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday, saying that the governor's statement on a new allegation of sexual harassment did not serve as an adequate apology.
"He just clearly was letting himself off the hook from something that the women involved said sounded pretty terrifying," de Blasio said.
On Saturday, a second female former staffer for Cuomo alleged that he sexually harassed her, including asking whether she had sex with older men, which the former staffer, Charlotte Bennett, 25, took as an entreaty to have sex with the him.
In a statement released Sunday, Cuomo said: "I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that."
"That's not an apology," de Blasio said Monday. "He seemed to be saying, 'oh I was just kidding around.' Sexual harassment isn't funny."
De Blasio called for a full investigation into the allegations and any others that may arise, as well as an investigation into the Cuomo administration's handling of counting deaths of people living in nursing homes. On Sunday, Cuomo agreed to let Letitia James, the state's attorney general, have full control over who will conduct an investigation into the sexual harassment allegations, after first trying to split the decision between James and a state judge with connections to a longtime adviser to Cuomo.
The mayor suggested that the investigation into the nursing home deaths should include looking at campaign contributions to Cuomo from the nursing home industry. Cuomo's administration undercounted deaths from patients in nursing homes by 15,000, instead labeling those deaths as unrelated hospital deaths.
De Blasio did not directly call for Cuomo to resign, but suggested that Cuomo should step down if the allegations are substantiated.
"If someone purposefully tried to use their power to try to force a woman to have sex with him, of course, that person should no longer be in public service," de Blasio said.
In response to a question from NY1, de Blasio, who has had a difficult relationship with the governor, suggested that more people may come forward with stories of antagonistic behavior from Cuomo, referencing state Assemblyman Ron Kim's account of a phone conversation with Cuomo in which Cuomo told Kim he would "destroy" him.
NY attorney general receives authority to launch independent Cuomo investigation
News 12
Mar. 1, 2021
Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Albany are taking aim at Cuomo, who is fresh off the criticism of his handling of COVID-related nursing home deaths.
The harassment claims come from two former female staffers. In the latest, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett told the New York Times that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions and said it was clear to her that he wanted to sleep with her.
The New York Times also reported Monday that a third woman came forward and accused Cuomo of an unwanted advance at a 2019 wedding reception.
Cuomo issued a statement late Sunday that said, "I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal … I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation."
Cuomo also faces criticism for not immediately allowing James to launch an investigation. Instead, he initially recommended certain people to look into the claims of his former staffers.
State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D - Long Beach) is proposing changes to a decades-old state law that requires the state attorney general to, in a sense, get permission from the governor to investigate the governor.
"When the person being investigated is the governor, it's definitely awkward if not illogical to have a bill that requires you to ask the governor for that referral," says Sen. Kaminsky. "So what my law would do is just say, just like any local DA, the AG's office can bring a criminal case where there's evidence to do so."
While stopping short of calling on Cuomo to step aside, Assemblyman Ed Ra (R -Franklin Square) says it remains to be seen whether Cuomo survives this episode politically.
"It feels a little bit like when Speaker Silver was on his last legs, the canceling of session, the not knowing what to do," says Ra. "I don't necessarily feel like a resignation is imminent or something like that, but the governor is very much on the ropes."
Proposed Tweet:
We need an independent investigation into the accusations against the Governor, but here's the bottom line: New York is still in crisis and has a long recovery ahead. We need to change course and bring on new leadership so we can keep our focus on fighting this pandemic and bringing our economy back. Cuomo must resign.
'The Governor must resign': Democratic congresswoman joins calls for Cuomo to step down
Mar. 1, 2021
Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Albany are taking aim at Cuomo, who is fresh off the criticism of his handling of COVID-related nursing home deaths.
The harassment claims come from two former female staffers. In the latest, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett told the New York Times that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions and said it was clear to her that he wanted to sleep with her.
The New York Times also reported Monday that a third woman came forward and accused Cuomo of an unwanted advance at a 2019 wedding reception.
Cuomo issued a statement late Sunday that said, "I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal … I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation."
Cuomo also faces criticism for not immediately allowing James to launch an investigation. Instead, he initially recommended certain people to look into the claims of his former staffers.
State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D - Long Beach) is proposing changes to a decades-old state law that requires the state attorney general to, in a sense, get permission from the governor to investigate the governor.
"When the person being investigated is the governor, it's definitely awkward if not illogical to have a bill that requires you to ask the governor for that referral," says Sen. Kaminsky. "So what my law would do is just say, just like any local DA, the AG's office can bring a criminal case where there's evidence to do so."
While stopping short of calling on Cuomo to step aside, Assemblyman Ed Ra (R -Franklin Square) says it remains to be seen whether Cuomo survives this episode politically.
"It feels a little bit like when Speaker Silver was on his last legs, the canceling of session, the not knowing what to do," says Ra. "I don't necessarily feel like a resignation is imminent or something like that, but the governor is very much on the ropes."
Proposed Tweet:
We need an independent investigation into the accusations against the Governor, but here's the bottom line: New York is still in crisis and has a long recovery ahead. We need to change course and bring on new leadership so we can keep our focus on fighting this pandemic and bringing our economy back. Cuomo must resign.
'The Governor must resign': Democratic congresswoman joins calls for Cuomo to step down
NY Post
Mar. 1, 2021
Rep. Kathleen Rice has become the first Democratic member of Congress to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after a third woman came forward with accusations of inappropriate behavior.
"The time has come. The Governor must resign," Rice, who represents parts of Long Island, wrote on Twitter in response to a new accusation that he made unwanted advances toward a woman at a 2019 wedding.
Other state Democratic lawmakers — including state Sens. Gustavo Rivera, Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas — also joined in on their calls for Cuomo to step down after Anna Ruch, 33, told the New York Times that the governor made the advances toward her and kissed her on the cheek at a New York City wedding reception.
While not expliciting calling for Cuomo's resignation, state Sen. John Liu responded on Twitter: "A person who treats women this way is not fit to govern."
And Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Tarrytown) said: "Stick a fork in him — he's done. Three strikes and you are out."
Within moments of being introduced at the crowded affair, Ruch claims the governor put his hand on the small of her lower back, which was exposed in an open-back dress.
"I promptly removed his hand with my hand, which I would have thought was a clear enough indicator that I was not wanting him to touch me," she told the Times.
But Cuomo did not let up, according to Ruch.
He allegedly noted that Ruch seemed "aggressive" — and then placed his hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her.
Ruch said she was so shocked, she had to ask a friend whether the gov's lips had actually touched her face as she was pulling away. She was told that he kissed her cheek.
The interaction was captured in a series of photographs snapped by Ruch's friend. One provided to the Times that shows Cuomo holding Ruch's face.
Ruch's allegation comes after two former Cuomo staffers — Charlotte Bennett, 25, and Lindsey Boylan, 36 — accused him of sexual harassment in the span of less than a week.
Cuomo on Sunday apologized for what he characterized as "jokes" that he said could have been construed as "unwanted flirtation," while denying that he intended to harass anyone and maintaining he never engaged in inappropriate physical contact, as alleged by Boylan.
Available Manhattan office space hits record high once again
Mar. 1, 2021
Rep. Kathleen Rice has become the first Democratic member of Congress to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after a third woman came forward with accusations of inappropriate behavior.
"The time has come. The Governor must resign," Rice, who represents parts of Long Island, wrote on Twitter in response to a new accusation that he made unwanted advances toward a woman at a 2019 wedding.
Other state Democratic lawmakers — including state Sens. Gustavo Rivera, Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas — also joined in on their calls for Cuomo to step down after Anna Ruch, 33, told the New York Times that the governor made the advances toward her and kissed her on the cheek at a New York City wedding reception.
While not expliciting calling for Cuomo's resignation, state Sen. John Liu responded on Twitter: "A person who treats women this way is not fit to govern."
And Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Tarrytown) said: "Stick a fork in him — he's done. Three strikes and you are out."
Within moments of being introduced at the crowded affair, Ruch claims the governor put his hand on the small of her lower back, which was exposed in an open-back dress.
"I promptly removed his hand with my hand, which I would have thought was a clear enough indicator that I was not wanting him to touch me," she told the Times.
But Cuomo did not let up, according to Ruch.
He allegedly noted that Ruch seemed "aggressive" — and then placed his hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her.
Ruch said she was so shocked, she had to ask a friend whether the gov's lips had actually touched her face as she was pulling away. She was told that he kissed her cheek.
The interaction was captured in a series of photographs snapped by Ruch's friend. One provided to the Times that shows Cuomo holding Ruch's face.
Ruch's allegation comes after two former Cuomo staffers — Charlotte Bennett, 25, and Lindsey Boylan, 36 — accused him of sexual harassment in the span of less than a week.
Cuomo on Sunday apologized for what he characterized as "jokes" that he said could have been construed as "unwanted flirtation," while denying that he intended to harass anyone and maintaining he never engaged in inappropriate physical contact, as alleged by Boylan.
Available Manhattan office space hits record high once again
Crain's
Mar. 1, 2021
The pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc on Manhattan's office market, with availability rates in the borough for February hitting yet another record high.
The availability rate in the borough increased for the ninth month in a row to hit a record high of 15.5%, according to the latest monthly report from Colliers. This is up from 14.9% in January and 9.9% in February 2020. Companies leased about 900,000 square feet of space last month, a 50.8% decline compared to January and a 42.8% drop from the average monthly volume last year of about 1.6 million square feet.
Downtown Manhattan's availability rate, at 15.6% reached its highest mark since 2013. Midtown and Midtown South both hit record-high availability rates of 16.2% and 14.6%, respectively. Average asking rent in the borough dropped for the eighth month in a row to hit $73.12 per square foot, a 0.7% decline from January and the lowest average since March 2018.
The biggest lease last month was the law firm Seyfarth Shaw's renewal of about 130,000 square feet at 620 Eighth Ave. in Midtown, followed by the financial firm Jennison Associates' new lease for about 121,000 square feet at 55 E. 52nd St. in Midtown. Those were the only two leases for February to top 100,000 square feet.
Although more clarity on issues such as vaccine distribution and infection rates should prove beneficial to Manhattan's office market in the long run, the borough's availability rate is likely to keep increasing at least through the end of the first quarter, said Fred Wallach, Colliers' senior managing director.
"So far, there has not been a sign that leasing activity would go back to the 3.5 million square feet that we saw on a monthly average," he said. "I still see supply outpacing demand. That's really because of the already scheduled blocks of space that we had been previously expecting to come on the market."
Colliers released a pair of reports on Manhattan leasing activity last year for law firms and tech companies. Law firms leased about 2.1 million square feet in 2020, a 34.2% drop compared to the year before. Despite this decline, law firms still made up 11% of leasing in Manhattan last year, higher than the 7% the industry made up in 2019 and 2018.
There were six law firm deals for more than 100,000 square feet last year, the largest of which was Debevoise & Plimpton's taking of 531,000 square feet at 66 Hudson Blvd., the Spiral, in Hudson Yards.
Firms leased space at an average price of $83.13 per square foot, a 3.3% drop compared to 2019 but still 5.8% higher than the 2020 average for Manhattan across all industries. New leases-expansions drove less than half of law firm activity in 2020, and the industry's leases were split between about 48% in Midtown, 37% in Midtown South and 15% Downtown.
Tech leases declined in Manhattan in 2020 as well, despite Facebook's marquee deal for 730,000 square feet at Vornado's Farley Building by Penn Station–the largest tech lease of the year. Overall, leasing dropped by 63.3% from 2019 to about 2.8 million square feet, the lowest volume since 2015 for the sector. Tech firms made up 15% of leasing in Manhattan in 2020, down slightly from 18% in 2019.
Other large tech leases in 2020 included JustWorks' renewal of 270,000 square feet at 55 Water St., TikTok's leasing of 232,000 square feet at 151 W. 42nd St. and Apple's leasing of 337,000 square feet in two deals at Penn 11.
Tech firms leased space at an average price of $86.75 per square foot, a 4% drop from 2019 but still 10.4% higher than the overall average rent in Manhattan. The industry's deals were split; about 65% were in Midtown South, 21% in Midtown and 14% in Downtown.
Proposed Tweet:
Office workers in Manhattan will return, but it will be some time until demand bounces back to where it was. Let's use some of this unused space to create truly affordable housing for New Yorkers who need it.
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/commercial-real-estate/available-manhattan-office-space-hits-record-high-once-again
Mar. 1, 2021
The pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc on Manhattan's office market, with availability rates in the borough for February hitting yet another record high.
The availability rate in the borough increased for the ninth month in a row to hit a record high of 15.5%, according to the latest monthly report from Colliers. This is up from 14.9% in January and 9.9% in February 2020. Companies leased about 900,000 square feet of space last month, a 50.8% decline compared to January and a 42.8% drop from the average monthly volume last year of about 1.6 million square feet.
Downtown Manhattan's availability rate, at 15.6% reached its highest mark since 2013. Midtown and Midtown South both hit record-high availability rates of 16.2% and 14.6%, respectively. Average asking rent in the borough dropped for the eighth month in a row to hit $73.12 per square foot, a 0.7% decline from January and the lowest average since March 2018.
The biggest lease last month was the law firm Seyfarth Shaw's renewal of about 130,000 square feet at 620 Eighth Ave. in Midtown, followed by the financial firm Jennison Associates' new lease for about 121,000 square feet at 55 E. 52nd St. in Midtown. Those were the only two leases for February to top 100,000 square feet.
Although more clarity on issues such as vaccine distribution and infection rates should prove beneficial to Manhattan's office market in the long run, the borough's availability rate is likely to keep increasing at least through the end of the first quarter, said Fred Wallach, Colliers' senior managing director.
"So far, there has not been a sign that leasing activity would go back to the 3.5 million square feet that we saw on a monthly average," he said. "I still see supply outpacing demand. That's really because of the already scheduled blocks of space that we had been previously expecting to come on the market."
Colliers released a pair of reports on Manhattan leasing activity last year for law firms and tech companies. Law firms leased about 2.1 million square feet in 2020, a 34.2% drop compared to the year before. Despite this decline, law firms still made up 11% of leasing in Manhattan last year, higher than the 7% the industry made up in 2019 and 2018.
There were six law firm deals for more than 100,000 square feet last year, the largest of which was Debevoise & Plimpton's taking of 531,000 square feet at 66 Hudson Blvd., the Spiral, in Hudson Yards.
Firms leased space at an average price of $83.13 per square foot, a 3.3% drop compared to 2019 but still 5.8% higher than the 2020 average for Manhattan across all industries. New leases-expansions drove less than half of law firm activity in 2020, and the industry's leases were split between about 48% in Midtown, 37% in Midtown South and 15% Downtown.
Tech leases declined in Manhattan in 2020 as well, despite Facebook's marquee deal for 730,000 square feet at Vornado's Farley Building by Penn Station–the largest tech lease of the year. Overall, leasing dropped by 63.3% from 2019 to about 2.8 million square feet, the lowest volume since 2015 for the sector. Tech firms made up 15% of leasing in Manhattan in 2020, down slightly from 18% in 2019.
Other large tech leases in 2020 included JustWorks' renewal of 270,000 square feet at 55 Water St., TikTok's leasing of 232,000 square feet at 151 W. 42nd St. and Apple's leasing of 337,000 square feet in two deals at Penn 11.
Tech firms leased space at an average price of $86.75 per square foot, a 4% drop from 2019 but still 10.4% higher than the overall average rent in Manhattan. The industry's deals were split; about 65% were in Midtown South, 21% in Midtown and 14% in Downtown.
Proposed Tweet:
Office workers in Manhattan will return, but it will be some time until demand bounces back to where it was. Let's use some of this unused space to create truly affordable housing for New Yorkers who need it.
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/commercial-real-estate/available-manhattan-office-space-hits-record-high-once-again
Crain's
Mar. 1, 2021
Families in every neighborhood of the five boroughs behind on their rent payments should circle Sept. 30 on their calendars. That's the day the U.S. Department of the Treasury will take back New York's unused $1.3 billion in federal rent relief funds and reallocate that money to other states.
What a loss it would be if every dollar of this second round of rent relief from Washington doesn't make its way into the hands of tenants and landlords who are desperate for a financial lifeline. The state came under fire at the end of last year when approximately $60 million from the Cares Act was still sitting on the shelf, with a Dec. 31 spending deadline jeopardizing the money. Fortunately, the federal government extended the deadline. The state may not be as lucky this time, and that situation certainly can't be allowed to happen again, not with $1.3 billion at stake.
Although it seems a long way off, Sept. 30 is closer than you think, particularly since the application process for this second round of rent relief, far more complex than the first, hasn't even opened yet. Renters will be required to prove that their household income is at or below 80% of the AMI, the combined average median income for New York.
But qualifying won't be the problem; it's the time that the vetting process will consume—and with the rent arrears crisis already at epic proportions, waiting four or five months down the road to start the application process will push families and the landlords that house them off the cliff.
Thousands of renters are already months—even close to a full year—behind in their rent payments. Landlords are behind in their city property taxes—with another tax bill coming due in June—and have fallen behind in repairs and maintenance because their only source of revenue—the rent—has plummeted. This catch-22 can be resolved, but it will take a team effort and swift action by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature.
The state knew weeks ago that the $1.3 billion was on its way from the U.S. Treasury Department, but Albany lawmakers have seemed content to wait until the April 1 state budget is in place before setting the wheels in motion for the application and distribution process. While legislation tied to the state budget is well intentioned—seeking to provide guidance that ensures federal dollars reaching renters most in need—federal guidance, which includes the income means test for applicants, already guarantees that will happen.
Legislation is not needed, and linking it to the state budget bill is adding unnecessary layers to an application and distribution process that families and building owners can't afford to have delayed any longer.
Time is not on our side. Waiting until April 1 for the state budget to be in place— assuming Albany delivers a budget on time—conceivably delays the start of the application process until May or June, which means families won't see rent relief dollars until the summer months, with that Sept. 30 use-it-or-lose-it deadline looming.
According to the federal act deploying rent relief funding across the country, the U.S. Treasury plans to take back a state's unused funds and reallocate them to others states and localities that have obligated at least 65% of their original allocation. In other words, if New York state isn't able to get $845 million out the door by the federally established Sept. 30 deadline, it would lose millions in undistributed rent relief funds.
Albany lawmakers must detach from the state budget bill the distribution of this $1.3 billion in federal rent relief. The state's executive and legislative branches should be working in harmony to speed the process—not delay it, as making it part of the budget bill is doing. They can easily jump-start the process.
The governor could provide the Legislature with a message of necessity, and the Legislature, in turn, would be able to immediately pass an appropriation bill so that the agencies charged with the distribution of these federal relief funds can begin the application process and dole out the money. It's that simple–and starting now will provide the time to work out any wrinkles in the process.
Last year Albany was able to distribute federal relief funds for unemployment and food insecurity with lightning speed. The governor and lawmakers can duplicate that same effort for rent arrears relief and give New Yorkers one less thing to worry about. State agencies such as the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, among others, have the infrastructure in place and are prepared to assist renters and owners in all stages of application, review and distribution. Landlords have been working with tenants to keep them in their homes throughout the pandemic; now they are ready to help them apply for the funds.
Distributing this $1.3 billion with greater urgency means lifting a financial burden from families, enabling them to pay months of back rent. It would also give landlords the ability to pay their property taxes and water bills—pumping much-needed revenue into the city treasury—and they would be able to perform repairs, maintenance and upgrades in their buildings, which would translate into jobs and revenue for every neighborhood in the five boroughs.
And that would put the city on the road to economic recovery.
Joe Strasburg is president of the Rent Stabilization Association, representing 25,000 diverse landlords of more than 1 million apartments in virtually all neighborhoods of the five boroughs.
Pandemic-Scarred Restaurants And Gig Workers Fight Back Against The Delivery Apps
Mar. 1, 2021
Families in every neighborhood of the five boroughs behind on their rent payments should circle Sept. 30 on their calendars. That's the day the U.S. Department of the Treasury will take back New York's unused $1.3 billion in federal rent relief funds and reallocate that money to other states.
What a loss it would be if every dollar of this second round of rent relief from Washington doesn't make its way into the hands of tenants and landlords who are desperate for a financial lifeline. The state came under fire at the end of last year when approximately $60 million from the Cares Act was still sitting on the shelf, with a Dec. 31 spending deadline jeopardizing the money. Fortunately, the federal government extended the deadline. The state may not be as lucky this time, and that situation certainly can't be allowed to happen again, not with $1.3 billion at stake.
Although it seems a long way off, Sept. 30 is closer than you think, particularly since the application process for this second round of rent relief, far more complex than the first, hasn't even opened yet. Renters will be required to prove that their household income is at or below 80% of the AMI, the combined average median income for New York.
But qualifying won't be the problem; it's the time that the vetting process will consume—and with the rent arrears crisis already at epic proportions, waiting four or five months down the road to start the application process will push families and the landlords that house them off the cliff.
Thousands of renters are already months—even close to a full year—behind in their rent payments. Landlords are behind in their city property taxes—with another tax bill coming due in June—and have fallen behind in repairs and maintenance because their only source of revenue—the rent—has plummeted. This catch-22 can be resolved, but it will take a team effort and swift action by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature.
The state knew weeks ago that the $1.3 billion was on its way from the U.S. Treasury Department, but Albany lawmakers have seemed content to wait until the April 1 state budget is in place before setting the wheels in motion for the application and distribution process. While legislation tied to the state budget is well intentioned—seeking to provide guidance that ensures federal dollars reaching renters most in need—federal guidance, which includes the income means test for applicants, already guarantees that will happen.
Legislation is not needed, and linking it to the state budget bill is adding unnecessary layers to an application and distribution process that families and building owners can't afford to have delayed any longer.
Time is not on our side. Waiting until April 1 for the state budget to be in place— assuming Albany delivers a budget on time—conceivably delays the start of the application process until May or June, which means families won't see rent relief dollars until the summer months, with that Sept. 30 use-it-or-lose-it deadline looming.
According to the federal act deploying rent relief funding across the country, the U.S. Treasury plans to take back a state's unused funds and reallocate them to others states and localities that have obligated at least 65% of their original allocation. In other words, if New York state isn't able to get $845 million out the door by the federally established Sept. 30 deadline, it would lose millions in undistributed rent relief funds.
Albany lawmakers must detach from the state budget bill the distribution of this $1.3 billion in federal rent relief. The state's executive and legislative branches should be working in harmony to speed the process—not delay it, as making it part of the budget bill is doing. They can easily jump-start the process.
The governor could provide the Legislature with a message of necessity, and the Legislature, in turn, would be able to immediately pass an appropriation bill so that the agencies charged with the distribution of these federal relief funds can begin the application process and dole out the money. It's that simple–and starting now will provide the time to work out any wrinkles in the process.
Last year Albany was able to distribute federal relief funds for unemployment and food insecurity with lightning speed. The governor and lawmakers can duplicate that same effort for rent arrears relief and give New Yorkers one less thing to worry about. State agencies such as the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, among others, have the infrastructure in place and are prepared to assist renters and owners in all stages of application, review and distribution. Landlords have been working with tenants to keep them in their homes throughout the pandemic; now they are ready to help them apply for the funds.
Distributing this $1.3 billion with greater urgency means lifting a financial burden from families, enabling them to pay months of back rent. It would also give landlords the ability to pay their property taxes and water bills—pumping much-needed revenue into the city treasury—and they would be able to perform repairs, maintenance and upgrades in their buildings, which would translate into jobs and revenue for every neighborhood in the five boroughs.
And that would put the city on the road to economic recovery.
Joe Strasburg is president of the Rent Stabilization Association, representing 25,000 diverse landlords of more than 1 million apartments in virtually all neighborhoods of the five boroughs.
Pandemic-Scarred Restaurants And Gig Workers Fight Back Against The Delivery Apps
Gothamist
Mar. 1, 2021
When James Freeman opened his American comfort and Creole restaurant in Bushwick about a decade ago, he called it Sweet Science. The term refers to the art of boxing. Not surprisingly, Freeman's ready with a boxing metaphor to describe the hit his restaurant took the past year of COVID-19.
"Man, it took an uppercut, a rope-a -dope, you know, some jabs to the side," he says, his voice rising in excitement. "It's like, "Jimmy, Jimmy, how's your ribs? Don't touch your ribs!'"
The shutdown last March was especially painful because Sweet Science had never done any deliveries. It has a large, open dining space for more than 100 people and a horseshoe-shaped bar designed to encourage long nights hanging out with friends and neighbors.
Like many restaurants fighting to save their businesses, Freeman signed up on Grubhub, DoorDash and other third-party delivery apps. But they ate into his revenue. They were charging up to 30 percent in commission until May, when the City Council capped their fees to 20 percent during the pandemic.
Freeman said that measure helped, along with outdoor dining and limited indoor dining. But by year's end, he had run out of government aid from the Paycheck Protection Program and was not able to pay rent. He even closed down for January. Using delivery apps could only help so much.
"Did it give me enough time to kind of to kick the can down the road? Yes," he said. But it didn't turn things around. "I'm actually waiting for spring, still," he said, "so I can physically have people in here and physically have people outside."
In the year since the COVID-19 pandemic struck New York, the restaurant industry has taken one of the biggest hits, next to arts and entertainment. An estimated 40% of all restaurant jobs disappeared last year, or about 130,000, according to a report by the New School's Center for New York City Affairs. Restaurants that survived were heavily dependent on delivery services, one of the few sectors that saw a growth in jobs. Now, both restaurant owners and delivery workers say that growth came at a great cost and they are fighting back.
At Sweet Science, general manager Nicole Anna Dowling said losing a few dollars on every $9 burger meant less money to pay for labor and other expenses. She said the third-party platforms are taking advantage of her desperate industry.
"These are huge, faceless corporations that seem to be the only ones that have come out of this pandemic, like, with billions of dollars," she said. "I just don't think that they need to hurt the little guy like this. Like, what would be wrong with 10%?"
While third-party apps still are not profitable, business did surge last year for DoorDash, Postmates, and Uber Eats. Grubhub alone posted revenues of half a billion dollars in the final quarter of 2020, an increase of almost 50 percent versus the same period in 2019.
The city's restaurant industry is now pushing for a lower, permanent cap on the third-party app fees statewide. But Grubhub spokesman Grant Klinzman said fee caps all around the country cost the company a total of $50 million in the final quarter of 2020.
"Caps limit how restaurants, and especially small and independent establishments, can effectively market themselves to drive demand and therefore severely limit how many customers and orders we can bring to these restaurants," he said.
Limiting Reliance on Apps
At the Handpulled Noodle, a tiny eatery in Harlem, owner Andrew Ding said most of his business always came from takeout and deliveries because there is so little space to sit. He specializes in homemade noodles and dumplings with flavors from northwest China.
Ding has used Grubhub, Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash and Seamless. A couple of years ago, he got tired of the platforms' high fees, and customers sounding off about meals being late.
"I was desperate to switch," he said. "We were the front person for all of the complaints."
Ding signed up with a delivery-only service called Relay that can operate with the apps. For example, on an order placed with Grubhub, he pays only the 5 percent marketing fee and then pays Relay 10 percent plus $3, which he can pass along to the customer. Ding estimates this cost him 35 percent less during the pandemic than GrubHub's delivery service.
"I think I was just lucky that I found Relay before the pandemic," he said.
Ding likes that Relay lets him track the driver on his phone or tablet, enabling him to answer questions from customers wondering when their food is coming. He cannot do that on the third- party apps. He also included leaflets with each delivery urging customers to help him save money by ordering meals directly from his website, which doubled his business there.
Overall, he said the Handpulled Noodle not only survived 2020 but made about 5 percent more money than in 2019. His sitdown restaurant, Expat, lost money. But he does not believe he can abandon third-party apps completely.
"You would be turning the lights off on a big portion of your customer base that's out there that have become very dependent on these platforms," he said.
Instead, Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said the pandemic pushed restaurant owners to figure out ways to become less reliant on the apps.
"Restaurateurs have been looking at ways to help reduce their costs, streamline their delivery, and ensure that as many orders are going through their own channels as possible to reduce the additional fees and also to ensure that they have ownership of the customer data," he said.
The apps are responding to this pressure from restaurants. DoorDash offers delivery-only now plus other services for restaurants looking to reduce their fees. Grubhub started a $100 million pandemic relief program to lower restaurants' commissions, but it was criticized for locking them into contracts. Uber Eats allows restaurants to use their own staffers for deliveries.
The number of city eateries using Relay jumped 70 percent last year, according to Alex Blum, CEO and founder of the New York-based company.
"We had record numbers of restaurants signing up," he said. However, he said a lot were "restaurants that typically have never done delivery."
These new clients did not do a lot of volume, and he said orders from Manhattan office workers dried up. As a result, Blum said Relay's revenues declined by 20 percent last year.
More Jobs and More Demands by Workers
The delivery sector is one of very few city industries that hired more people during the pandemic. According to the New York State Department of Labor, there were 21,900 delivery and courier jobs in New York City in 2020, an increase of 8.4 percent from 2019 and the largest jump since 1990.
But those are only payroll jobs. They don't include the gig workers at third-party apps, who are classified as independent contractors and were in great demand.
"It would not be unthinkable that the total numbers now are around 80,000," said Maria Figueroa, director of labor and policy research at the Worker Institute at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Figueroa bases that on the number of commercial cyclists who were registered before the pandemic, plus an estimated increase.
Like the restaurants, these workers needed the apps to survive. Also like the restaurants, they felt exploited. They include many low income immigrants and people of color at the greatest risk of contracting COVID.
Lucina Villano said she bought her own delivery bag, helmet and specialized winter clothes to ride around on her e-bike. The 31 year-old Mexican immigrant lives in Washington Heights and used to work in a restaurant. A couple of years ago, Villano switched to delivering for DoorDash and Relay because she has a young child and wanted more flexible hours. But the work got harder in the pandemic.
"They no longer allow you to use the restrooms," she said, in Spanish. "You have to take your breaks outside, even if it is cold."
She also complained that she rides long distances because Relay doesn't let her see where she is taking a delivery in advance, only the restaurant's location. If she opts out she risks losing more jobs.
Villano is in a group called Los Deliveristas Unidos. It was organized last fall by the Worker's Justice Project, which is lobbying the City Council for a law requiring bathroom breaks, sick pay, personal protective equipment, hazard pay, and the right to access full receipts to prevent tip theft by the apps. (Some third-party apps are now providing free and reduced-cost safety equipment for workers and bathroom access.)
Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker's Justice Project, said real independent contractors set their own rates but gig workers cannot. She calls the apps "disruptors."
"They're not really paying minimum wage, which is in New York, $15 an hour," she explained. "What they're offering is opportunities to work without a wage and without essential rights."
DoorDash, Grubhub and the others typically pay for each delivery item, plus tips. Drivers said they can make $20 an hour or more when they are busy but there is no guarantee. Relay is unique in paying a fixed hourly wage of $12.50, plus tips. Blum said this hourly wage is one reason his workers do not get to choose which destinations they can deliver to in advance.
Several delivery companies have been accused of stealing workers' tips, and Relay settled a lawsuit after being accused of not paying overtime.
A national debate is underway about whether gig workers should be independent contractors or employees. California passed a law requiring them to be paid healthcare, unemployment, and other benefits. But that law was overturned by the ballot initiative Proposition 22 in November with backing from Uber, Lyft and DoorDash.
Those tech companies are now gearing up for similar battles in New York and other states. DoorDash, Uber and Lyft have joined local business groups, plus Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in a group called the New York Coalition for Independent Work. They are lobbying for gig workers to remain independent contractors. They argue most do not want to go full-time and that the industry can help them in other ways.
"This includes supporting modern legislative solutions that protect worker independence while extending benefits and protections," the coalition said in a statement. It has not provided any specifics, though, about which benefits or how they would be funded.
Relay's Blum, who is not part of the coalition, said he sympathizes with the workers. "I think what's happening is you have a small minority that do see this as kind of like their full-time thing that want to, essentially, push a change onto everyone else," he explained.
However, since his delivery company and the third-party apps have yet to turn any profits, he said it is impossible to expect them to hire the drivers as full-time employees.
Figueroa, who is on the board of the Worker's Justice Project, said there are other ways to help workers besides reclassifying them. New York City has a minimum pay standard for Lyft and Uber now. Those drivers are independent contractors, just like restaurant delivery workers.
"It is possible to accommodate a certain level of protections," she said. "And the way those are funded are really by increasing the fees that are charged for each delivery.
But those added fees would have to be paid by someone, at a time when the restaurant industry is hurting. As lawmakers in New York City and Albany consider changes, in the wake of the pandemic, restaurants, gig workers, and the apps are all fighting to shape the jobs of the future.
Campaign Finance Board Details Ranked-Choice Voting Education Efforts
Mar. 1, 2021
When James Freeman opened his American comfort and Creole restaurant in Bushwick about a decade ago, he called it Sweet Science. The term refers to the art of boxing. Not surprisingly, Freeman's ready with a boxing metaphor to describe the hit his restaurant took the past year of COVID-19.
"Man, it took an uppercut, a rope-a -dope, you know, some jabs to the side," he says, his voice rising in excitement. "It's like, "Jimmy, Jimmy, how's your ribs? Don't touch your ribs!'"
The shutdown last March was especially painful because Sweet Science had never done any deliveries. It has a large, open dining space for more than 100 people and a horseshoe-shaped bar designed to encourage long nights hanging out with friends and neighbors.
Like many restaurants fighting to save their businesses, Freeman signed up on Grubhub, DoorDash and other third-party delivery apps. But they ate into his revenue. They were charging up to 30 percent in commission until May, when the City Council capped their fees to 20 percent during the pandemic.
Freeman said that measure helped, along with outdoor dining and limited indoor dining. But by year's end, he had run out of government aid from the Paycheck Protection Program and was not able to pay rent. He even closed down for January. Using delivery apps could only help so much.
"Did it give me enough time to kind of to kick the can down the road? Yes," he said. But it didn't turn things around. "I'm actually waiting for spring, still," he said, "so I can physically have people in here and physically have people outside."
In the year since the COVID-19 pandemic struck New York, the restaurant industry has taken one of the biggest hits, next to arts and entertainment. An estimated 40% of all restaurant jobs disappeared last year, or about 130,000, according to a report by the New School's Center for New York City Affairs. Restaurants that survived were heavily dependent on delivery services, one of the few sectors that saw a growth in jobs. Now, both restaurant owners and delivery workers say that growth came at a great cost and they are fighting back.
At Sweet Science, general manager Nicole Anna Dowling said losing a few dollars on every $9 burger meant less money to pay for labor and other expenses. She said the third-party platforms are taking advantage of her desperate industry.
"These are huge, faceless corporations that seem to be the only ones that have come out of this pandemic, like, with billions of dollars," she said. "I just don't think that they need to hurt the little guy like this. Like, what would be wrong with 10%?"
While third-party apps still are not profitable, business did surge last year for DoorDash, Postmates, and Uber Eats. Grubhub alone posted revenues of half a billion dollars in the final quarter of 2020, an increase of almost 50 percent versus the same period in 2019.
The city's restaurant industry is now pushing for a lower, permanent cap on the third-party app fees statewide. But Grubhub spokesman Grant Klinzman said fee caps all around the country cost the company a total of $50 million in the final quarter of 2020.
"Caps limit how restaurants, and especially small and independent establishments, can effectively market themselves to drive demand and therefore severely limit how many customers and orders we can bring to these restaurants," he said.
Limiting Reliance on Apps
At the Handpulled Noodle, a tiny eatery in Harlem, owner Andrew Ding said most of his business always came from takeout and deliveries because there is so little space to sit. He specializes in homemade noodles and dumplings with flavors from northwest China.
Ding has used Grubhub, Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash and Seamless. A couple of years ago, he got tired of the platforms' high fees, and customers sounding off about meals being late.
"I was desperate to switch," he said. "We were the front person for all of the complaints."
Ding signed up with a delivery-only service called Relay that can operate with the apps. For example, on an order placed with Grubhub, he pays only the 5 percent marketing fee and then pays Relay 10 percent plus $3, which he can pass along to the customer. Ding estimates this cost him 35 percent less during the pandemic than GrubHub's delivery service.
"I think I was just lucky that I found Relay before the pandemic," he said.
Ding likes that Relay lets him track the driver on his phone or tablet, enabling him to answer questions from customers wondering when their food is coming. He cannot do that on the third- party apps. He also included leaflets with each delivery urging customers to help him save money by ordering meals directly from his website, which doubled his business there.
Overall, he said the Handpulled Noodle not only survived 2020 but made about 5 percent more money than in 2019. His sitdown restaurant, Expat, lost money. But he does not believe he can abandon third-party apps completely.
"You would be turning the lights off on a big portion of your customer base that's out there that have become very dependent on these platforms," he said.
Instead, Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said the pandemic pushed restaurant owners to figure out ways to become less reliant on the apps.
"Restaurateurs have been looking at ways to help reduce their costs, streamline their delivery, and ensure that as many orders are going through their own channels as possible to reduce the additional fees and also to ensure that they have ownership of the customer data," he said.
The apps are responding to this pressure from restaurants. DoorDash offers delivery-only now plus other services for restaurants looking to reduce their fees. Grubhub started a $100 million pandemic relief program to lower restaurants' commissions, but it was criticized for locking them into contracts. Uber Eats allows restaurants to use their own staffers for deliveries.
The number of city eateries using Relay jumped 70 percent last year, according to Alex Blum, CEO and founder of the New York-based company.
"We had record numbers of restaurants signing up," he said. However, he said a lot were "restaurants that typically have never done delivery."
These new clients did not do a lot of volume, and he said orders from Manhattan office workers dried up. As a result, Blum said Relay's revenues declined by 20 percent last year.
More Jobs and More Demands by Workers
The delivery sector is one of very few city industries that hired more people during the pandemic. According to the New York State Department of Labor, there were 21,900 delivery and courier jobs in New York City in 2020, an increase of 8.4 percent from 2019 and the largest jump since 1990.
But those are only payroll jobs. They don't include the gig workers at third-party apps, who are classified as independent contractors and were in great demand.
"It would not be unthinkable that the total numbers now are around 80,000," said Maria Figueroa, director of labor and policy research at the Worker Institute at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Figueroa bases that on the number of commercial cyclists who were registered before the pandemic, plus an estimated increase.
Like the restaurants, these workers needed the apps to survive. Also like the restaurants, they felt exploited. They include many low income immigrants and people of color at the greatest risk of contracting COVID.
Lucina Villano said she bought her own delivery bag, helmet and specialized winter clothes to ride around on her e-bike. The 31 year-old Mexican immigrant lives in Washington Heights and used to work in a restaurant. A couple of years ago, Villano switched to delivering for DoorDash and Relay because she has a young child and wanted more flexible hours. But the work got harder in the pandemic.
"They no longer allow you to use the restrooms," she said, in Spanish. "You have to take your breaks outside, even if it is cold."
She also complained that she rides long distances because Relay doesn't let her see where she is taking a delivery in advance, only the restaurant's location. If she opts out she risks losing more jobs.
Villano is in a group called Los Deliveristas Unidos. It was organized last fall by the Worker's Justice Project, which is lobbying the City Council for a law requiring bathroom breaks, sick pay, personal protective equipment, hazard pay, and the right to access full receipts to prevent tip theft by the apps. (Some third-party apps are now providing free and reduced-cost safety equipment for workers and bathroom access.)
Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker's Justice Project, said real independent contractors set their own rates but gig workers cannot. She calls the apps "disruptors."
"They're not really paying minimum wage, which is in New York, $15 an hour," she explained. "What they're offering is opportunities to work without a wage and without essential rights."
DoorDash, Grubhub and the others typically pay for each delivery item, plus tips. Drivers said they can make $20 an hour or more when they are busy but there is no guarantee. Relay is unique in paying a fixed hourly wage of $12.50, plus tips. Blum said this hourly wage is one reason his workers do not get to choose which destinations they can deliver to in advance.
Several delivery companies have been accused of stealing workers' tips, and Relay settled a lawsuit after being accused of not paying overtime.
A national debate is underway about whether gig workers should be independent contractors or employees. California passed a law requiring them to be paid healthcare, unemployment, and other benefits. But that law was overturned by the ballot initiative Proposition 22 in November with backing from Uber, Lyft and DoorDash.
Those tech companies are now gearing up for similar battles in New York and other states. DoorDash, Uber and Lyft have joined local business groups, plus Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in a group called the New York Coalition for Independent Work. They are lobbying for gig workers to remain independent contractors. They argue most do not want to go full-time and that the industry can help them in other ways.
"This includes supporting modern legislative solutions that protect worker independence while extending benefits and protections," the coalition said in a statement. It has not provided any specifics, though, about which benefits or how they would be funded.
Relay's Blum, who is not part of the coalition, said he sympathizes with the workers. "I think what's happening is you have a small minority that do see this as kind of like their full-time thing that want to, essentially, push a change onto everyone else," he explained.
However, since his delivery company and the third-party apps have yet to turn any profits, he said it is impossible to expect them to hire the drivers as full-time employees.
Figueroa, who is on the board of the Worker's Justice Project, said there are other ways to help workers besides reclassifying them. New York City has a minimum pay standard for Lyft and Uber now. Those drivers are independent contractors, just like restaurant delivery workers.
"It is possible to accommodate a certain level of protections," she said. "And the way those are funded are really by increasing the fees that are charged for each delivery.
But those added fees would have to be paid by someone, at a time when the restaurant industry is hurting. As lawmakers in New York City and Albany consider changes, in the wake of the pandemic, restaurants, gig workers, and the apps are all fighting to shape the jobs of the future.
Campaign Finance Board Details Ranked-Choice Voting Education Efforts
Gotham Gazette
Mar. 2, 2021
The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) held a public meeting of its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC) last week to discuss the ongoing process of ranked-choice voting outreach and education. The CFB is tasked with those efforts by the recent city Charter change approved by voters in 2019 that is ushering ranked-choice voting into effect for party primary and special elections for city government positions, with the first implementation happening this year. There are several special elections happening in the months leading up to the June party primaries, which will feature a full slate of elections for citywide, borough-wide, and City Council seats.
CFB Assistant Executive Director for Public Affairs Eric Friedman hosted, and was joined by VAAC members Daniele Gerard and Mazeda Uddin, along with other officials from the Campaign Finance Board and DemocracyNYC, which is directly part of the mayor's office.
Xamayla Rose, deputy public advocate for civic and community empowerment, represented the office of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (who is an ex officio member of VAAC), while Perry Grossman of the NYCLU also participated.
Allie Swatek, director of policy and research at the CFB, gave a presentation describing the group's efforts to educate voters about the new voting system, which allows voters to rank up to five candidates for each seat by order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated and that candidate's voters are redistributed based on their second choices. The process continues until a winner with a majority is declared.
The CFB's voter education and outreach has been organized under five "buckets," Swatek said, "train-the-trainer," voter trainings, panels and events, media coverage, and direct outreach.
The first, "train-the-trainer," is "targeted to community organizations to prepare them to be a ranked-choice voting resource." The trainings are about an hour long, and designed to educate community organizations on ranked-choice voting and how to best communicate ranked-choice voting with the populations that those organizations work with. According to Swatek, the first CFB "train-the-trainer" event on ranked-choice voting was held on January 6 and, as of February 24, the CFB had hosted 25 events with 427 attendees.
Swatek touted the success of partnering with elected officials to host "train-the-trainer" events, citing the first two training sessions, which were held on January 6 and 7 in Queens City Council District 24. The district was the first to use ranked-choice voting for a special election that culminated February 2 in order to fill a vacant Council seat. The events, which brought a total of 150 attendees, were held with the office of Assemblymember Nily Rozic, and with local organizations Chayya, India Home, the South Asian Council for Social Services, and Women for Afghan Women.
Another priority of the train-the-trainer events, aside from the ranked-choice voting special elections (there are several taking place in February and March), has been focusing on a specific audience and partnering with organizations like the Hispanic Federation and Disability Rights New York. The Disability Rights New York session, hosted January 21, had 40 attendees and its YouTube recording has had over 90 watches. Future train-the-trainer events will be held with the Hispanic Federation's partner organizations and Faith in New York Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
Swatek also mentioned the CFB's new train-the-trainer events for youth, the first of which launched February 23 with 25 attendees, describing them as "kind of incredible because most of these young people can't even vote, they just want to learn about it so that they can tell their parents and their siblings that can vote." The CFB intends to hold one youth train-the trainer event every month.
On voter training Swatek said that the CFB has hosted a total of 43 events with 2,400 attendees. At the trainings, voters are directly given information on what ranked-choice voting is and how to fill out a ranked-choice voting ballot.
A youth focused event with a combined 436 attendees and viewers was held on January 13 on Facebook Livestream, in partnership with the YVote and the Department of Youth and Community Development. On January 19 and 26, the CFB partnered with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, the city's Civic Engagement Commission, and DemocracyNYC to host two voter training events, which drew around 300 attendees. Two more voter training sessions were held on Facebook Live on February 10 and 17. The first was co-hosted with Bronx City Council Member Vanessa Gibson (who is running for borough president) and the Stonewall Community Development Corporation and had 406 attendees or followers, while the second was with Queens Assemblymember Alica Hyndman and had 398 attendees or followers. "We've found out that using Facebook Live is a really good way of reaching a bunch of voters at once," Swatek said, "...the cool thing about it is that the video stays on the person's site."
On March 9 and 11, the CFB will host voter trainiings with the Office of the Bronx Borough President, and on March 16 and 18 Spanish-language events with them, as well as Dominicanos USA and NALEO.
With panels and events, Swastika cited their ability to get leads for voter training events, saying of such appearances, "They're a little bit different than trainings because we get to deliver a really short bit of information about ranking-choice voting...once people know we can give trainings...we frequently get emails or interest and invitations to other events."
In late January, the CFB joined three panels to discuss ranked-choice voting with the civic organization Association for a Better New York (ABNY), news publication City & State, and the Staten Island North Shore Democrats. Future panels and events will be with the Bronx Chapter of Jack and Jill, Fund for the City of New York, APA VOICE, and others.
Swatek mentioned the NYC Elections Consortium RCV Working Group, which is composed of government officials and advocacy and community groups. It has met every two weeks since December, focusing on outreach, communications, and policy ideas for implementing ranked-choice voting. "We're really proud of the work we're doing here and think it's a really important resource," Swatek said of the working group.
Swatek highlighted the CFB public relations team's efforts to have information about ranked-choice voting and the CFB training offerings included at various New York City media outlets.
Swatek concluded by speaking about the CFB's direct outreach efforts through their over 40 volunteers. In anticipation of the Queens special elections in February, the CFB reached using text message around 24,000 voters in District 24 and 3,000 voters in District 31, which just finished its own special election. For the upcoming Bronx special elections, in Council Districts 11 and 15, the CFB has been reaching out via text to around 60,000 voters.
On communications strategies, Mitchell Cohen, content strategy manager at the CFB, outlined the organization's communications strategy for educating voters on ranked-choice voting. Working with the Center for Civic Design and drawing upon communication styles used in other municipalities such as San Francisco and Minneapolis, the CFB is using what they call the "bite, snack, meal approach." This strategy provides voters with materials on ranked-choice voting that can either be quickly consumed and digested (bite), moderately in-depth (snack), or fully in-depth (meal). The goal is that voters can choose the style and amount of information that works for them with "multiple points of entry."
Under the "bite" approach, the CFB mailed out postcards on ranked-choice voting to all 342,978 voters in Queens who could participate in the February ranked-choice special elections, and to those in the Bronx who will be eligible to vote in March. Findings from the Center of Civic Design, which tested "certain materials with New York City voters," established that successful RCV postcards had a clear "visual example of a correct ballot," "clear step-by-step instructions," and "provide context about how to get more information." According to Cohen, around half of voters who were tested with the Center for Civic Design postcards felt they were comfortable going to vote in a ranked-choice voting election.
The CFB has also been using social media posts and videos. They worked with DemocracyNYC and the Mayor's Public Engagement Unit to create a social media toolkit, translated into 12 languages. An animated video describing ranked-choice voting will be released on an unspecified date.
The RCV home page and FAQs page can qualify as an RCV "snack" or "meal," and include information on the reasoning behind ranked-choice voting and how to fill out a ballot. The FAQ page answers various specific questions such as about how writing in candidates works under ranked-choice voting and when results from elections will be delivered. Both are translated into Bengali, Chinese (Traditional), Korean, and Spanish.
Eve Grassfield, a policy advisor at DemocracyNYC, spoke about the city's work with ranked-choice voting. DemocracyNYC is a citywide initiative created in 2018 by Mayor de Blasio to expand voting access and engagement. Greenfield said that DemocracyNYC has "hit the ground running educating voters on this new system" by hosting workshops, posting on social media, and phone-banking. Workshops are hosted in multiple languages such as Spanish and Urdu, and also amplify other city resources such as COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. Grassfield said that DemocracyNYC has been working "collaboratively" with other city entities such as the CFB, the Civic Engagement Commission, and the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs to translate educational materials on ranked choice voting into more than twelve different languages.
DemocracyNYC is also working with community-based organizations on a digital mock ballot tool to allow organizations to create practice ranked-choice voting ballots in their language of choice. Available in 14 languages, the tool will allow voters to "test out the ranked-choice voting ballot before heading to the polls by voting on things like their favorite New York City snack or park."
Grossman, of the NYCLU's Voting Rights Project, discussed the New York Voting Rights Act (NYVRA), a bill currently under consideration by the state Legislature. The bill, which Grossman called "the bee's knees," seeks to produce racial and ethnic voting-access equity across the state. According to Grossman it "favors the voter, favors counting the ballot" as currently there are "too many ways for a voter's vote to get knocked out."
The act also provides for enhanced action against voting rights suppression, proves greater legislative guidance to the courts about treating voter suppression cases, and creates a statewide voting database housed in SUNY for public policy analysis. It creates more causes of action against voter intimidation and "attempts to mirror the crown jewel of the Voting Rights Act…the pre-clearance regime," for counties identified by a formula as "having a particular history of discrimination."
The next meeting of the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee will be in April.
Mar. 2, 2021
The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) held a public meeting of its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC) last week to discuss the ongoing process of ranked-choice voting outreach and education. The CFB is tasked with those efforts by the recent city Charter change approved by voters in 2019 that is ushering ranked-choice voting into effect for party primary and special elections for city government positions, with the first implementation happening this year. There are several special elections happening in the months leading up to the June party primaries, which will feature a full slate of elections for citywide, borough-wide, and City Council seats.
CFB Assistant Executive Director for Public Affairs Eric Friedman hosted, and was joined by VAAC members Daniele Gerard and Mazeda Uddin, along with other officials from the Campaign Finance Board and DemocracyNYC, which is directly part of the mayor's office.
Xamayla Rose, deputy public advocate for civic and community empowerment, represented the office of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (who is an ex officio member of VAAC), while Perry Grossman of the NYCLU also participated.
Allie Swatek, director of policy and research at the CFB, gave a presentation describing the group's efforts to educate voters about the new voting system, which allows voters to rank up to five candidates for each seat by order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated and that candidate's voters are redistributed based on their second choices. The process continues until a winner with a majority is declared.
The CFB's voter education and outreach has been organized under five "buckets," Swatek said, "train-the-trainer," voter trainings, panels and events, media coverage, and direct outreach.
The first, "train-the-trainer," is "targeted to community organizations to prepare them to be a ranked-choice voting resource." The trainings are about an hour long, and designed to educate community organizations on ranked-choice voting and how to best communicate ranked-choice voting with the populations that those organizations work with. According to Swatek, the first CFB "train-the-trainer" event on ranked-choice voting was held on January 6 and, as of February 24, the CFB had hosted 25 events with 427 attendees.
Swatek touted the success of partnering with elected officials to host "train-the-trainer" events, citing the first two training sessions, which were held on January 6 and 7 in Queens City Council District 24. The district was the first to use ranked-choice voting for a special election that culminated February 2 in order to fill a vacant Council seat. The events, which brought a total of 150 attendees, were held with the office of Assemblymember Nily Rozic, and with local organizations Chayya, India Home, the South Asian Council for Social Services, and Women for Afghan Women.
Another priority of the train-the-trainer events, aside from the ranked-choice voting special elections (there are several taking place in February and March), has been focusing on a specific audience and partnering with organizations like the Hispanic Federation and Disability Rights New York. The Disability Rights New York session, hosted January 21, had 40 attendees and its YouTube recording has had over 90 watches. Future train-the-trainer events will be held with the Hispanic Federation's partner organizations and Faith in New York Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
Swatek also mentioned the CFB's new train-the-trainer events for youth, the first of which launched February 23 with 25 attendees, describing them as "kind of incredible because most of these young people can't even vote, they just want to learn about it so that they can tell their parents and their siblings that can vote." The CFB intends to hold one youth train-the trainer event every month.
On voter training Swatek said that the CFB has hosted a total of 43 events with 2,400 attendees. At the trainings, voters are directly given information on what ranked-choice voting is and how to fill out a ranked-choice voting ballot.
A youth focused event with a combined 436 attendees and viewers was held on January 13 on Facebook Livestream, in partnership with the YVote and the Department of Youth and Community Development. On January 19 and 26, the CFB partnered with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, the city's Civic Engagement Commission, and DemocracyNYC to host two voter training events, which drew around 300 attendees. Two more voter training sessions were held on Facebook Live on February 10 and 17. The first was co-hosted with Bronx City Council Member Vanessa Gibson (who is running for borough president) and the Stonewall Community Development Corporation and had 406 attendees or followers, while the second was with Queens Assemblymember Alica Hyndman and had 398 attendees or followers. "We've found out that using Facebook Live is a really good way of reaching a bunch of voters at once," Swatek said, "...the cool thing about it is that the video stays on the person's site."
On March 9 and 11, the CFB will host voter trainiings with the Office of the Bronx Borough President, and on March 16 and 18 Spanish-language events with them, as well as Dominicanos USA and NALEO.
With panels and events, Swastika cited their ability to get leads for voter training events, saying of such appearances, "They're a little bit different than trainings because we get to deliver a really short bit of information about ranking-choice voting...once people know we can give trainings...we frequently get emails or interest and invitations to other events."
In late January, the CFB joined three panels to discuss ranked-choice voting with the civic organization Association for a Better New York (ABNY), news publication City & State, and the Staten Island North Shore Democrats. Future panels and events will be with the Bronx Chapter of Jack and Jill, Fund for the City of New York, APA VOICE, and others.
Swatek mentioned the NYC Elections Consortium RCV Working Group, which is composed of government officials and advocacy and community groups. It has met every two weeks since December, focusing on outreach, communications, and policy ideas for implementing ranked-choice voting. "We're really proud of the work we're doing here and think it's a really important resource," Swatek said of the working group.
Swatek highlighted the CFB public relations team's efforts to have information about ranked-choice voting and the CFB training offerings included at various New York City media outlets.
Swatek concluded by speaking about the CFB's direct outreach efforts through their over 40 volunteers. In anticipation of the Queens special elections in February, the CFB reached using text message around 24,000 voters in District 24 and 3,000 voters in District 31, which just finished its own special election. For the upcoming Bronx special elections, in Council Districts 11 and 15, the CFB has been reaching out via text to around 60,000 voters.
On communications strategies, Mitchell Cohen, content strategy manager at the CFB, outlined the organization's communications strategy for educating voters on ranked-choice voting. Working with the Center for Civic Design and drawing upon communication styles used in other municipalities such as San Francisco and Minneapolis, the CFB is using what they call the "bite, snack, meal approach." This strategy provides voters with materials on ranked-choice voting that can either be quickly consumed and digested (bite), moderately in-depth (snack), or fully in-depth (meal). The goal is that voters can choose the style and amount of information that works for them with "multiple points of entry."
Under the "bite" approach, the CFB mailed out postcards on ranked-choice voting to all 342,978 voters in Queens who could participate in the February ranked-choice special elections, and to those in the Bronx who will be eligible to vote in March. Findings from the Center of Civic Design, which tested "certain materials with New York City voters," established that successful RCV postcards had a clear "visual example of a correct ballot," "clear step-by-step instructions," and "provide context about how to get more information." According to Cohen, around half of voters who were tested with the Center for Civic Design postcards felt they were comfortable going to vote in a ranked-choice voting election.
The CFB has also been using social media posts and videos. They worked with DemocracyNYC and the Mayor's Public Engagement Unit to create a social media toolkit, translated into 12 languages. An animated video describing ranked-choice voting will be released on an unspecified date.
The RCV home page and FAQs page can qualify as an RCV "snack" or "meal," and include information on the reasoning behind ranked-choice voting and how to fill out a ballot. The FAQ page answers various specific questions such as about how writing in candidates works under ranked-choice voting and when results from elections will be delivered. Both are translated into Bengali, Chinese (Traditional), Korean, and Spanish.
Eve Grassfield, a policy advisor at DemocracyNYC, spoke about the city's work with ranked-choice voting. DemocracyNYC is a citywide initiative created in 2018 by Mayor de Blasio to expand voting access and engagement. Greenfield said that DemocracyNYC has "hit the ground running educating voters on this new system" by hosting workshops, posting on social media, and phone-banking. Workshops are hosted in multiple languages such as Spanish and Urdu, and also amplify other city resources such as COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. Grassfield said that DemocracyNYC has been working "collaboratively" with other city entities such as the CFB, the Civic Engagement Commission, and the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs to translate educational materials on ranked choice voting into more than twelve different languages.
DemocracyNYC is also working with community-based organizations on a digital mock ballot tool to allow organizations to create practice ranked-choice voting ballots in their language of choice. Available in 14 languages, the tool will allow voters to "test out the ranked-choice voting ballot before heading to the polls by voting on things like their favorite New York City snack or park."
Grossman, of the NYCLU's Voting Rights Project, discussed the New York Voting Rights Act (NYVRA), a bill currently under consideration by the state Legislature. The bill, which Grossman called "the bee's knees," seeks to produce racial and ethnic voting-access equity across the state. According to Grossman it "favors the voter, favors counting the ballot" as currently there are "too many ways for a voter's vote to get knocked out."
The act also provides for enhanced action against voting rights suppression, proves greater legislative guidance to the courts about treating voter suppression cases, and creates a statewide voting database housed in SUNY for public policy analysis. It creates more causes of action against voter intimidation and "attempts to mirror the crown jewel of the Voting Rights Act…the pre-clearance regime," for counties identified by a formula as "having a particular history of discrimination."
The next meeting of the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee will be in April.
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