MASK PROTOCOL NOW IN EFFECT: Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Dec. 13 that the mask protocol for all indoor public places announced on Dec. 10 is now in effect, as well as a new Frequently Asked Questions resource for business owners and the general public.
Masks are now required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement. As noted on the Frequently Asked Questions webpage, an indoor public place is defined as any indoor space that is not a private residence – businesses and venues New Yorkers frequent that are publicly owned or owned by private business. These entities include indoor entertainment venues, concert halls, indoor sports stadiums, recreational spaces, restaurants, office buildings, shopping centers, grocery stores, pharmacies, houses of worship and common areas in residential buildings. Posters encouraging people to wear masks and get vaccinated are available for businesses to use.
“As Governor, my top priority is to protect the health of New Yorkers and the health of our economy, and these temporary measures will help us get through the holiday season safely,” Governor Hochul said. “I share everyone’s frustration that we have gotten to this point, especially with the vaccine at our disposal. I want to thank the millions of New Yorkers who have done the right thing to get fully vaccinated. We are all in this together and if others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary.”
This major action to address the winter surge and concern over upcoming holiday gatherings comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise statewide to be in alignment with the CDC’s recommendations for communities with substantial and high transmission. The State Health Commissioner issued a determination solidifying the requirement.
This measure is effective until Jan. 15, 2022, after which the State will re-evaluate based on current conditions, and brings added layers of mitigation during the holiday season when more time is spent indoors shopping, gathering and visiting holiday-themed destinations.
Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said, “Taking this action now is critical to slowing the COVID-19 winter surge during the holidays. Each of you can contribute: get vaccinated, get boosted if you are already vaccinated, and wear a mask. We urge the public to support these new requirements in indoor public places by cooperating with the venues. We need everyone to do their part to get through this together.”
For information how businesses and venues can implement a proof of vaccination requirement or a mask wearing requirement, see the Frequently Asked Questions.
COVID-19 vaccines and booster doses are free and widely available statewide. New Yorkers can visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations. To schedule an appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site, New Yorkers can visit the Am-I-Eligible site. New Yorkers can also contact their health care provider, county health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health centers, or pharmacies.
New Yorkers can retrieve their Excelsior Pass or Excelsior Pass Plus at bit.ly/3F4uJV2. Businesses and venues can download the Excelsior Pass Scanner app—free for any business nationwide and available in more than ten languages.
ADAMS WINS CITY COUNCIL SPEAKERSHIP: On Dec. 17 Council Member Adrienne Adams clinched victory in the race for City Council Speaker, as 33 members of the 51-member City Council committed their support or released statements backing her Speaker candidacy. The broad support for Council Member Adams from legislative leaders across the five boroughs comes on the heels of a coalition of labor unions, including 32BJ SEIU, DC 37, CWA District 1, and NYSNA declaring their support for her campaign for Speaker. Incoming Speaker Adams will lead a history making City Council, with a majority of women serving on the Council for the first time.
An inclusive and diverse coalition, with members from across the City and across the political spectrum, is supporting Adrienne Adams. She will assume the office on Wednesday, January 5th, 2022 at the first Stated Meeting in the next session of the City Council.
Council Member Adams said: “I am honored to have earned the support and the trust of my colleagues to be their Speaker. Our coalition reflects the best of our city. We are ready to come together to solve the enormous challenges we face in order to not just recover from Covid but to build a better, fairer City that works for everyone. I want to thank the Council members, labor and party leaders, women’s groups, and everyone in our broad coalition for their support. The City Council will be a collaborative and effective legislative body that incorporates what makes New York City great and focuses on the needs of our communities.”
Adams was first elected to represent the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park in November 2017. A lifelong resident of Southeast Queens and longtime community activist, supporters note that Adams has been a leader for public safety, education equity, and economic development. Her ascension to the Speakership is the culmination of decades of public service and community organizing. She has previously served as a Community Board member and Chairperson, a member of the Community District Council, and the NAACP, among other community and advocacy groups.
Council Member Adams’ campaign for Speaker received support from the following Council Members in Queens: Council Member-elect Sandra Ung, District 20, Tiffany Cabán, District 22, Council Member elect Linda Lee, District 23, Jim Gennaro, District 24, Council Member-elect Shekar Krishnan, District 25, Council Member-elect Julie Won, District 26, Council Member-elect Nantasha Williams, District 27, Council Member-elect Lynn Schulman, District 29, Selvena Brooks-Powers, District 31; and 23 other Council Members in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
NYC DOT TO HOLD 21 STREET BUS LANE HEARING: The NYC DOT is proposing putting bus lanes on 21st Street between Hoyt Avenue and Queensboro Plaza. NYC DOT is holding virtual public hearing on the 21st Street bus lanes on Wednesday, January 12. (They previously held a meeting on Monday, December 20.)
The Old Astoria Neighborhood Association has been actively disseminating information about the plans, has taken a survey, and announced the meeting to its members and all concerned. OANA urges everyone to attend and “make their concerns known.”
To virtually attend the meeting on Wednesday, January 12th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., you can register at bit.ly/303teqW
For information on the DOT’s proposal, the 21st Street Public Meetings, OANA’s survey and their position statement, you can visit oana-ny.org/news/21st-street-improvement-project-public-meetings/
‘MORTGAGE SERVICERS MUST ASSIST HOMEOWNERS W/COVID- 19 RELIEF’: New York Attorney General Letitia James took action to provide support to New Yorkers still recovering from the financial effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In a letter to mortgage servicers operating in New York and mortgage industry trade associations, Attorney General James reiterates her expectation that they participate in New York’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by providing long-term relief to homeowners in accordance with New York state law, as well as with federal regulations and guidelines. Attorney General James also lays out, in her letter, that the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Mortgage Enforcement Unit (MEU) will be helping to oversee the distribution of New York state’s Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) announced last week by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
“While the support provided by the Homeowner Assistance Fund is substantial, the number of homeowners facing COVID-related distress is far greater,” said Attorney General James. “To help the greatest number of homeowners and ensure that the family home stays in the family, HAF funds must supplement rather than replace the mortgage industry’s own efforts. My office will continue to ensure that mortgage servicers comply with their legal obligations as we work to protect New York families and their homes. If we plan to rebuild our economy, we must ensure that homeowners are granted the relief they need.”
The letter follows Attorney General James’ warning at the onset of the pandemic, in April 2020, when she called on mortgage servicers to quickly provide forbearances to COVID-impacted homeowners and to prepare for the day when those forbearances would expire by establishing seamless transitions into affordable and sustainable modifications. Since then, the OAG has monitored compliance with COVID-related relief requirements imposed by state and federal laws and regulations, including investigating whether servicers have offered homeowners the forbearance relief and post-forbearance modifications required by New York Banking Law § 9-x.
Additionally, Attorney General James’ letter outlines expectations for mortgage servicers as forbearance plans expire, including that servicers comply with streamlined modification programs now required by various federal agencies and government sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and provide comparable relief (pursuant to New York state Banking Law § 9-x and New York’s mortgage servicing regulations) to homeowners whose mortgages are owned by private investors through private label securities or by banks in their own portfolios. Attorney General James emphasizes that servicers must invest in adequate staffing and improve their customer communications, so that they can handle any surge in requests for assistance. Servicers’ failure to prepare for this moment will be taken into account by the OAG.
Attorney General James also announced that the OAG’s MEU will be helping to oversee the distribution of New York state’s Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), by ensuring that mortgage servicers play their part by offering homeowners all available loss mitigation options before that homeowner seeks an outside HAF grant, in order to help the program save as many homes as possible.
In the weeks to come, the MEU will be reaching out to the mortgage industry, as well as the legal services and housing counseling agencies that assist New York homeowners, to further explain its role in the HAF application process and how to coordinate with MEU.
PROTECTS CREDIT AND GIFT CARD HOLDERS: Governor Kathy Hochul signed a package of legislation to protect consumers from exploitative credit and gift card practices in New York. Legislation S.133-B/A.5698-B protects credit card holders by creating a grace period for the use of reward points after the closing of an account. Legislation S.3467-B/A.4629- C prohibits fees and expiration dates on gift cards and gift certificates.
“As we enter the holiday season of giving and New Yorkers buy gifts for their friends and family, it’s more important than ever that we protect them from unfair practices that have a real impact on consumers’ bottom line,” Governor Hochul said. “This legislation will guarantee a season of good cheer in New York State by making sure that no New Yorker unfairly loses their accumulated credit card rewards or is shortchanged when buying a gift card for a loved one.”
Legislation S.133-B/A.5698-B protects credit card holders by creating a grace period for the use of reward points after the closing of an account so they do not fall victim to rewards programs that are often governed by agreements that are not transparent to consumers. One particular provision in many credit card agreements allows the credit card issuer to cancel all accumulated rewards points or other rewards benefits upon the closure of the credit card account, without affording the credit card holder any opportunity to use accumulated points. This becomes a consumer protection issue when the issuer unilaterally closes an account for reasons such as a holder failing to make a payment, or for unspecified reasons that fall under catch-all clauses such as if the issuer believes the holder may be unwilling or unable to pay their debts on time.
Legislation S.3467-B/A.4629-C prohibits fees and expiration dates on gift cards and gift certificates. Many gift cards are sold with a variety of fees attached that can significantly reduce their value. These include fees paid at the time of purchase and dormancy fees for failing to use a gift card for a certain period of time. The Federal Credit CARD Act of 2009 placed some restrictions on gift card fees by prohibiting dormancy fees unless a gift card is dormant for at least twelve months and by limiting the frequency of periodic fees to no more than once a month. The CARD Act also prohibits expiration dates prior to five years after issuance. However, permitted fees on gift cards can still be substantial. This bill protects consumers by prohibiting all fees on gift cards and prohibiting gift cards that decline in value over time. In addition, to further eliminate loss of value to consumers, this bill prohibits expiration dates on gift cards and gift certificates that occur earlier than nine years from the date of issuance and allows for redemption when the remaining balance is less than five dollars.
Assemblymember Nily Rozic said, “New York consumers deserve access to the credit card rewards points they earned and transparency about how they are governed. Thank you to Governor Hochul for signing this common sense legislation to protect consumers.”
LIU STATEMENT ON NYC CHANCELLOR APPOINTMENT: New York State Senator John Liu, Chairperson of the Senate’s NYC Education Committee, stated the following regarding the appointment of David Banks to Chancellor of the NYC DOE by Mayor-elect Eric Adams.
“Congratulations and best wishes to David Banks on being named Chancellor of New York City’s public school system. The incoming Adams administration has a long and bumpy road ahead that must include correcting many of the missteps and misguided 11th hour policy changes of the outgoing administration – from the blatant disregard for special needs students to dogged refusal to consider remote learning option in an ongoing pandemic to sudden elimination of longstanding G&T programs. New Yorkers eagerly await plans for our kids that are inclusive of all voices and communities, particularly those within the Asian-American community who have been shut out of the conversation by the exiting administration.
“Of particular importance is the expiration of mayoral control in June 2022, a topic that will come before the state legislature for reauthorization in short time. I look forward to discussions with our new Chancellor on ways to move the NYC educational system forward in a way that gets us back on track and addresses the many unmet needs of New York City schoolkids.”
GEOGRAPHIC PRIORITY FOR HIGH SCHOOLS UPHELD: State Senator John C. Liu, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on NYC Education, and Assembly Member Ed Braunstein stated the following regarding the Department of Education announcement that the city will continue to uphold geographic priority for high schools next year. The state legislators have been echoing concerns of parents in Queens and calling for the administration to keep geographic priority for high school admissions.
“The decision to uphold geographic priority is a victory for all students who wish to attend high school in their own communities, and not be forced to travel for hours across the city on overcrowded subways and buses. We remain convinced that geographic priority should remain indefinitely until such a time that there exists adequate school capacity and transportation infrastructure, especially in the outer boroughs. It is fitting that the DOE has finally awoken to the very reasonable concerns of parents and students, and at least for now, parents and students can rest a little easier knowing that this latest attempt at a last-minute change in enrollment policy has been thwarted.”
JAMES FIGHTS TO PROTECT DREAMERS: New York Attorney General Letitia James on Dec. 16 continued her fight to protect hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across New York and the rest of the nation. Co-leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general from around the nation, Attorney General James filed an amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy in Texas v. United States, where the coalition highlights the critical contributions of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients to public health efforts, the economy, and communities across the country — and pushes back on the Texas-led efforts to end DACA. Since 2012, DACA has provided access to work authorization and protected from removal approximately 825,000 individuals who grew up in this country, most of whom have known no home other than the United States.
“Home is here for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who know no other home but the United States, and that has never been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Dreamers stepped up and served on the frontlines to save millions,” said Attorney General James. “Despite Texas’ false and bigoted claims, DACA recipients are vital to our economy, vital to our communities, and vital to our way of life. We will continue to fight against these immoral threats of deportation, but the court has the opportunity here to preserve DACA and send a message that Dreamers are valued, that they are loved, and that they are crucial members of our society. Si se puede!”
James noted that DACA has allowed recipients to live, study, and work across the United States, free from the fear of being forcibly separated from their families and communities. The policy has enabled hundreds of thousands of grantees to enroll in colleges and universities, complete their education, start businesses that help improve the economy, and give back to communities as teachers, medical professionals, and entrepreneurs. These contributions became especially evident as the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began to sweep through the nation and thousands of DACA recipients served on the frontlines as essential workers. As of November 2021, an estimated 34,000 health care workers and support staff depend on DACA for their authorization to work in the United States, including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, home health aides, technicians, and others.
DACA also plays a vital role in supporting economies at the national, state, and local level. For instance, DACA recipients and their households pay an estimated $9.5 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year. Allowing new initial DACA requests would lead to an estimated increase of $2.5 billion in state and local tax revenue over the next 20 years. Additionally, DACA recipients’ estimated spending power — $25.3 billion — is important to the overall economic health of the amici states. Without DACA, national economic growth over the course of a decade is projected to fall by $280 billion. Such a scenario would also lead to an estimated loss of $33.1 billion in Social Security contributions and $7.7 billion in Medicare contributions — funds that are critical to ensuring the financial health of national programs upon which Americans across the country rely.
‘SBA MUST COMBAT FRAUD, PROTECT DISADVANTAGED SMALL BIZ’: Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform Carolyn B. Maloney and Ranking Member James Comer sent a letter to Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Isabella Casillas Guzman requesting documents and information about SBA’s efforts to mitigate the longstanding problem of fraud in small business set-aside contracting programs and to improve the certification process of eligible businesses.
“Congress established set-aside programs to help eligible small businesses compete for federal contracts against larger and more established companies. Set-aside contracts also provide the government with a more diverse source of goods and services and help create jobs, raise wages, and distribute income more widely. Federal agencies awarded over $100 billion through set-aside programs in fiscal year 2020, which amounts to over 10% of the $665 billion spent on federal contracts that year,” wrote Chairwoman Maloney and Ranking Member Comer.
The bipartisan letter addresses longstanding concerns about fraud in small business set-asides, including the 8(a) Business Development, Women-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) programs.
Bad actors have falsified information provided to the SBA, including using an eligible figurehead to conceal the entities or individuals who control a business and using “straw-owners” to pose as female, African-American, or service-disabled veteran business-owners. This fraud comes at the expense of taxpayers and disadvantaged small businesses who are unfairly deprived of the opportunity to participate in these programs.
“The extent of set-aside fraud and its fiscal impact government-wide is difficult to estimate because programs can incur financial losses from fraud that are never identified,” the Chairwoman and Ranking Member continued. “Extrapolating from the prevalence of set-aside fraud in the small number of cases reviewed in these studies, the extent of set-aside fraud governmentwide may be in the billions of dollars.”
SBA’s information technology system that manages set-asides, called Certify, has had significant problems. SBA has struggled to develop Certify for eight years, relying on labor-intensive workarounds because the system lacks key functionalities and tools. The SBA Inspector General found that SBA’s manual processes to compensate for system failures doubled the time it took to review and process applications.
While SBA has recently required formal certification requirements for all set-aside programs, the continued concerns about fraud and weaknesses in the Certify system highlight the need for SBA to implement a comprehensive fraud risk program to combat set-aside contracting fraud.
—With contributions by Annette Hanze Alberts
This column was originated by John A. Toscano
For more I on Pols, visit this week’s QGazette.com.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Our Hometown DMCA Notices Newspaper web site content management software and services