New York City is ‘$9 billion in the hole’ because of coronavirus says Mayor de Blasio

By Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_1315"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-1315">Photo via Flickr/Mayor’s de Blasio’s office</figcaption></figure>

New York City now faces a $9 billion budget deficit in the city’s $ 89.3 billion financial plan due to the novel coronavirus pandemic Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.

“We have to come to grips with the fact that on top of the healthcare crisis, on top of the economic crisis, we are now in a crisis here in the city,” said de Blasio. “Our fiscal situation has gotten worse… but it’s not shocking to me.”

“There is literally no way that we can solve this problem without federal help or without making very, very painful choices that will affect the quality of life in this city,” said de Blasio.

The mayor projected $ 7.4 billion in lost revenue because of the pandemic that the economic toll would last beyond the next fiscal year. In April, de Blasio’s preliminary 2021 city budget was $6 million less than what he proposed in January and included $ 2 billion in spending cuts to education, parks, healthcare, social services, law enforcement, transportation and housing.

With no help from the senate or the federal government insight and with the deadline to pass a 2021 fiscal year budget quickly approaching, the city called on Albany for a “safety net” and to provide borrowing authority. On Monday, state Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the state senate’s finance committee, introduced a bill that would allow the city to borrow up to $7 billion by authorizing the Transitional Finance Authority to issue debt to make up for potential losses in 2021.

“It’s not something we want to use or intend to use in the first instance, but it’s something we need as a last resort,” said de Blasio, citing former mayor Micheal Bloomberg’s borrowing request to Albany in the aftermath of 9/11 as precedent. De Blasio also used the New York state legislature’s approval of debt up to $ 11 billion another example.

“There was no debate, there was no fanfare, it was obviously the right thing to do,” said de Blasio. “This city has been smart with its stewardship of our resources, smart in the way we serve our people and grow our economy and we need to keep doing that.”

On Tuesday, when the mayor first mentioned plans to try to increase the city’s borrowing power, Governor Andrew Cuomo opposed the idea calling borrowing for operating expenses “fiscally questionable.”

‘Bodybag’ protest at City Hall calls for end to overcrowded homeless shelters

By Todd Maisel

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_1316"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-1316">Protest was held at the gates of City Hall to protest homelessness in the city and their treatment. Mayor Bill de Blasio went in another gate. (Photo by Todd Maisel)</figcaption></figure>

Protestors laid out mock “bodybags” at the gates of City Hall Wednesday morning to dramatize the plight of the homeless crowded into shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bags represented the estimated 80 homeless deaths that demonstrators claim were caused by the shelter system. They demanded that the city pay for 30,000 hotel rooms and end “NYPD/Department of Homeless Services sweeps that remove people from more undesirable locations including trains, storefronts and highways underpasses.”

VOCAL-NY, an organization advocating for low-income New Yorkers, put the protest together. About 30 protestors, most of whom socially distanced, lined up along the gates of City Hall, shouting slogans and called for the mayor to do more to house homeless people in better conditions.

Privately, they hoped to block the entrance to stop his vehicle motorcade into the City Hall gates to dramatize their plight and get his attention.

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_137502431"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-137502431">Protest was held at the gates of City Hall to protest homelessness in the city and their treatment. Mayor Bill de Blasio went in another gate. (Photo by Todd Maisel)</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_137502443"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-137502443">Mayor Bill de Blasio went in another gate. (Photo by Todd Maisel)</figcaption></figure>

The mayor however entered through the Broadway gate, undeterred by the protest.

Police stood at the ready, but did not intervene in the peaceful protest. Instead, they advised demonstrators to wear masks and to properly social distance to avoid spreading COVID-19.

“We are asking the mayor to please open up those hotel rooms that are not being used because the city is shut down,” said Roberto Monguel, a homeless man and an advocate.  “In my shelter, we had six cases of COVID-19 alone and that’s not right. You would ask the staff about confirmed cases and they would nod in your face. It is not right for de Blasio to play dominos with people’s lives. At shelters, there is barely 36 inches between each bed. It is a war zone of contamination.”

Homeless advocates criticized the city’s removal of homeless from MTA trains at night, claiming the conditions they offer “are not safe.”

Gwendolyn Becker, a homeless advocate, said the city is taking people off the street, but putting them into unsafe conditions.

“The city is taking them off the streets and making them worse off than when they are in the shelters,” Becker said. “And what’s going on with the hospitals – when you go to the emergency room people are dying, then they go to the funeral home and nobody knows who anyone is. They are locking people up and putting them in jail just because they are homeless.”

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_137502435"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-137502435">Protest was held at the gates of City Hall to protest homelessness in the city and their treatment. Mayor Bill de Blasio went in another gate. (Photo by Todd Maisel)</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_137502439"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-137502439">Police secure City Hall during protest. (Photo by Todd Maisel)</figcaption></figure>

Lou Lamoriello: Islanders will have Adam Pelech available for playoffs, Belmont construction resumes

Stories by Joe Pantorno

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_137502470"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-137502470">Adam Pelech: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure>

The good news keeps coming for the New York Islanders.

One of their most valuable defensemen in Adam Pelech, who went down with an Achilles injury in January, will be available to return as soon as team facilities are able to open, Islanders’ general manager Lou Lamoriello said on Wednesday afternoon.

“Adam is allowed to participate… as if the injury never took place,” Lamoriello said. “There’s no question his value to this team.”

“We will have every player available to us,” he added, which means the likes of Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, and Johnny Boychuk will be at full strength come July.

The 25-year-old Pelech was continuing his development as a legitimate top-pairing stay-at-home defenseman in the 38 games before his injury, posting nine points, a plus-4 rating, and a defensive points share of 2.2.

After what was described as a “freak” injury during warmups shortly after New Year’s Day, the Islanders’ defense — which was the NHL’s best last season — took a nosedive.

In the games Pelech played in, the Islanders conceded an average of 2.63 goals per game. In the 30 games without him, before play was suspended on March 12, that number shot up to 3.1.

While it might not seem like an enormous difference, it’s dramatic for an Islanders team that is one of the worst goal-scoring units in the NHL — and it showed in the standings.

The Islanders went 25-10-3