Check out the latest edition of LI Main Street News moving through the 11th week of quarantine. This issue for day 74 of the economic shutdown covers a new downtown profile, communities helping communities segment, outdoor dining on Nassau County roads, information on some relief efforts to local communities, and more quotes from elected County & Village officials opposing the removal of local zoning.
presented by Vision Long Island and the Long Island Main Street Alliance May 28th, 2020
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Quotes of Day
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Helping Main Street through the
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At this time of uncertainty, we are beginning to see a number of downtowns being shuttered as bars, restaurants, and any place where multiple people congregate are running up against fears of and caution at spreading the Coronavirus. While this is a socially responsible action that will help to save lives, in the short term these actions are having a number of adverse effects on our local communities. Vision Long Island and Long Island Main Street Alliance members have collected a number of experiences from local restaurants and service businesses, but before we go into that we would like to encourage everyone reading this to find a way to responsibly patronize local establishments. Many stores are offering curbside pickup or online shopping to help them get through this difficult time. And your favorite restaurants are also currently open for business with takeout available. We also urge you to consider gift cards in order to purchase something at a later date for yourself, or perhaps to give as a present. Local shops are in a capable position to provide you with what you need in the short-term. Many will also be willing to accommodate you if you contact them ahead of time with requests that will minimize contact and help to lower the spread of this virus. Vision has connected to over 600 small businesses in nearly 50 downtowns as they weather the economic storm through the Coronavirus. We encourage people to responsibly patronize these and other open establishments who need your help in this time of crisis. Many of these businesses have been there for local organizations and philanthropy – they now need our support. In the meantime, here is the featured downtown for today. For a complete list of downtowns profiles, please check out our website here.Village of LawrenceThe Village of Lawrence has experienced many transformations through the years. What was once vast farmlands, and originally developed by brothers Alfred, Newbold and George Lawrence as a summer resort, is now a thriving community of over 6,500 residents. The Village is characterized by a wide variety of eateries and its commercial area offers a full range of services that accommodates shoppers looking for specialty shops, boutiques, and professional services. Lawrence is home to many Village-owned recreational facilities, including golf, tennis, and marina, but is also a destination community where diversity and cohesiveness unite in appreciation of community and neighborhood. All these elements ensure that the spirit of community, which has made Lawrence such a wonderful place to live and raise a family, continues. Speaking about the present health crisis, Lawrence Mayor Alex Edelman states, “In the face of the coronavirus, the residents and employees of our village responded with courage, patience, ingenuity and an ongoing commitment to one another.” He notes, “Citizens supported first responders, local merchants accommodated loyal shoppers and a hospital/medical facility was created, designed and built on site by generous, unselfish neighbors facilitated by a village government eager to help in so noble an effort.” As the first stage of reopening emerges, Mayor Edelman assures residents that the Village of Lawrence is here to assist in any way it can so please do not hesitate to call. Here is a list of some restaurants in Lawrence open for takeout, delivery and/or curbside pick-up. Burnside Deli Carisma Dominicana Carlos & Gabby’s Chimichurri Charcoal Kitchen Cho-Sen Island Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Giant Bagel Gino’s Pizza Golden Krust Caribbean Restaurant Jerusalem Pizza Lollibop Cafe & Play Lucky Boy Meisner’s Gourmet Catering Petencito Latin Grill Prime Bistro Sherwood Diner Sunflower Cafe Sushi Pie Sushi Tokyo The Coffee Bar and Restaurant Traditions |
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“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Dr. Seuss Assemblywoman Melissa Miller, 20th District, Nassau County, has been taking the time to acknowledge and highlight local heroes in her district. Most recently, Assemblywoman Miller recognized an amazing young professional, Dalton George, who creates community recreation activities for 18 children with autism in Lido Beach. The children live in three groups homes and it is Dalton’s responsibility to create in-home and community-based activities that support the children’s education, growth, development and socialization. An exacting job in a pre COVID world, all the more challenging now. According to Assemblywoman Miller, Dalton and all the staff at these facilities prioritize health, learning, and creative activities and projects for these children, which has been so important during this time of isolation. “These have been challenging times for all of us – but Dalton has had to keep re-imagining how to keep 18 boys under the age of 21 active and engaged while being required to stay home,” Miller stated. “For children and adults with special needs, routine and interaction are vital to maintain stability. Dalton, and residential staff that include DSPs, nurses and clinicians, have done an incredible job keeping the children healthy, learning and not stressed-out. Many of us can relate, staying home is not easy, especially with the rigorous new disinfecting procedures,” explains Miller. Dalton has organized game nights, karaoke, baking nights, and they have started a garden. On Mother’s Day, all the residents made cards, and the staff added flowers and made sure they got to their moms. “Thank you to Dalton and the staff,” Assemblywoman Miller states, “for being so adaptable! Keep up the great work!” |
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Nassau County Executive Curran Announces Initiatives to Help Main StreetVision and members of the LI Main Street Alliance were out today in downtown Farmingdale with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Mayor Ralph Ekstrand as she rolled out three initiatives to help Nassau’s Main Streets. The first is to allow outdoor dining in County roadways that traverse through downtown areas. The second is a program to donate 1000 sanitizer and personal protective gear packages to local businesses that apply. The third is the Nassau IDA’s boost Nassau loan program that also leveraged funding from the NYS loan program that has a number of banks participating. “We believe that the extra capacity of sidewalk and street seating could make the difference for survival for restaurants and businesses,” said County Executive Curran. “That’s allowed during the pandemic, that would be allowed now.” Kudos to the partnership between the County and our Main Street business districts, Towns, Villages and local chambers to implement these income generating programs and safety equipment. You can read more at Long Island Business News. PinkTie Delivers Makes 3 Stops in One Day to Deliver Much-needed SuppliesVision Long Island was proud to be a part of the massive group effort this past week for the Pink Tie Delivers team. Dime Savings Bank, LI University students, 1st Equity Title, Late Night Chauffers, Keller Williams, Trinity Solar, Vision Long Island, ReCommerce, Remove It Man and Napoli Marble & Granite all teamed up for the day to make three stops that required a box truck and 5 other vehicles to get food and other requested items to three local food pantries. The first stop of the day was in Wyandanch at the Community Church of the Nazarene with Reverend Solomon. Their pantry has been hard hit and it was great to hear about the good work they are doing in the community. NYS Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Peirre joined us and spoke about the issues the Coronavirus has brought to her district beyond food insecurity. After that, the next stop was Brentwood & Central Islip at the Youth Enrichment Services center at the Little Church of God In Christ. Carolyn, Mariann and Andre all spoke of the work they are doing to feed families of essential workers and all members of the community with a massive increase in demand. Town of Islip Councilman Jim O’Connor joined the effort and shared the work the Town is doing to respond to the Coronavirus shutdown and assist hard hit communities. Debbie Cavanaugh from the Central Islip Coalition of Good Neighbors helped coordinate this stop as well. Our final stop for the day was over to Valley Stream at the Holy Name of Mary Parish Outreach. Sr. Margie shared the experiences of increased needs from not only her parish but members of the community. She has been providing these services for 35 years and it was great to see her and her team’s good work. Tom McAleer from the Village of Valley Stream joined us at that stop and spoke about the efforts the Village is making to respond to the many community needs. A big thank you to volunteer Kevin Aberto who helped us connect to the Parish. Beyond the food, financial donations from Pink Tie were made to each of the pantries. This brought the PinkTie Delivers service to a total number of 5 stops for last week. There is another 5 planned this week, so keep an eye on our newsletter for reporting on that. In the meantime, if you want to assist the Pink Tie Delivers team by either 1) sponsoring a food drop; 2) doing the Doorstep Donation Program with the employees of your company or 3) simply donating a bag/box of food to be picked up by the team, head on over to http://www.pinktie.org for more information. Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order Authorizing Businesses to Deny Entry to Individuals Not Wearing MasksThe following is an update from Governor Cuomo’s website: Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today issued an Executive Order authorizing businesses to deny entry to individuals who do not wear masks or face-coverings. The Executive Order builds on the state’s ongoing efforts to protect New Yorkers and slow the spread. Governor Cuomo also announced a partnership with Rosie Perez and Chris Rock, who will help New York State build communication and education on the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing and the availability of testing and healthcare in the state. The Governor also announced that New York State will distribute 1 million masks to New York City’s hardest-hit neighborhoods today. The state has already distributed more than 8 million masks across New York City, including to NYCHA developments, food banks, churches and homeless shelters. New York State maintains a comprehensive testing network throughout the state, including more than 225 sites in New York City. New York’s extensive testing—the state currently conducts tens of thousands of tests per day—now allows the government to pinpoint the state’s hardest-hit neighborhoods for additional supplies and other aid. The Governor also announced that the MTA will pilot the use of proven UV light technology to kill COVID-19 in subway cars and crew facilities. The MTA currently cleans and disinfects trains every day. “I’ve been working to communicate this message about masks and how effective they are. They are deceptively effective, they are amazingly effective. And we’ve made them mandatory in public settings, public transportation, et cetera,” Governor Cuomo said. “But when we’re talking about reopening stores and places of business, we’re giving the store owners the right to say, if you’re not wearing a mask, you can’t come in. That store owner has the right to protect themselves. That store owner has a right to protect the other patrons in that store. You don’t want to wear a mask, fine. But you don’t then have a right to then go into that store if that store owner doesn’t want you to.” Finally, the Governor confirmed 1,768 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 366,733 confirmed cases in New York State. You can watch the Governor’s full press conference here. |
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Calendar of EventsThe INN Organization will Hold Curbside Food Drive on May 30thThe INN organization will hold its first ever curbside food drive this coming Saturday, May 30th from 11 am to 2 pm at the Mary Brennan INN soup kitchen, 100 Madison Avenue in Hempstead. This will be a safe, no-contact drive where donors will place donations on a table with a masked volunteer standing at a safe distance. The volunteer will then retrieve the donation after the donor leaves. If you’re interested in donating you can view a full list of items they are accepting here. For any questions, please call 516-732-6009. The following is a list of upcoming and ongoing calendar events. Check back on each publication for updates: • Virtual Walks: The Health Education Council will be holding Virtual Walks every Monday at 12:30 pm EST and Wednesday at 3 pm EST, with a Spanish language virtual walk each Friday at 3 pm EST. If you’re interested in taking a walk with friends while still practicing social distancing you can head to the the website here to sign up for a virtual walk. A Spanish speaking version is available here. You will then receive a zoom link and all you’ll need is a smart phone and a good pair of shoes and you’ll be in business! • LIBN invites you to join their team every Friday at 2PM on libnow, LIBN’s live end-of-week recap, where they take the pulse of the Long Island business community and chat with experts on the state of their industry. This Friday, we’ll chat with District Attorney Timothy Sini and Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, President & CEO of Family & Children’s Association. Participate in an interactive Q&A where YOU tell them what your business needs to know to stay ahead of the curve, as Long Island inches toward going back-to-business. You can register for the event here. • A forum series on suburban labor organizing and worker power in the COVID pandemic and beyond will be presented by Hofstra Labor Studies and the Center for Labor and Democracy in collaboration with Long Island Jobs with Justice and A.L.L.O.W. (Advancing Local Leadership Opportunities for Women). The event will take place on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Advance registration is required: RSVP HERE. Registrants will be sent an event link to attend prior to the event. Free and open to the public // Capacity: 300
• Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Long Island Advancement of Small Business presents ZOOM Video Conference “Office 365 Unleashed for Small & Medium-sized Businesses” 8:00AM to 10:00AM RSVP at www.liasb.com or call 516-473-7202. Registration is Free, but you must register for this event. |
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New York State Launches NY Forward Loan FundYesterday, New York State opened pre-applications for the New York Forward Loan Fund. Loans from this fund are available to small businesses, nonprofits, and small landlords in New York State that did not receive a loan from either the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for COVID-19 in 2020. New York Forward loans must be fully repaid over a 5-year term with fixed annual interest rates of 3 percent for small businesses and landlords. Small businesses may apply for the lesser of $100,000 or up to 100% of the average monthly revenues in any 3-month period from 2019 or the first quarter of 2020. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as industries and regions reopen however, priority for New York Forward Loans will be given to industries and regions that have been reopened. Resources are available to assist in preparing applications for small businesses, landlords and nonprofits in industries and regions that have not yet reopened. To view more details, including eligibility requirements and how to apply, click here:
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CDC Guidelines on Coronavirus PreventionAs concern about the ever-expanding impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) grows, we can minimize or prevent the spread of coronavirus by taking these steps:
These are everyday habits that can help prevent the spread of several viruses. CDC does have specific guidance for travelers. For more information see the CDC website or call the NY State Coronavirus hotline to speak with a representative 888-364-3065
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