presented by Vision Long Island and the Long Island Main Street Alliance May 29th, 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.InwoodSituated at the border of Queens, but grounded in Nassau County, Inwood is a tight knit community, filled with caring individuals, organizations and community businesses. From organizing an essential workers appreciation parade on May 24, in place of the annual Inwood Memorial Day Parade, to organizing food to those in need during this devastating health crisis, Inwood displays respect and concern for community on a significant scale. In 2019, the Town of Hempstead approved new zoning for areas in Inwood aimed at promoting mixed-use and transit-oriented development. Inwood could soon feature a “village-like atmosphere” with new apartments and shopping opportunities, said Town of Hempstead Council member Bruce Blakeman. “Boutiques, restaurants, pharmacies, dry cleaners, everything oriented toward getting people out of their cars and walking around,” Blakeman added. The rezoning of the industrial and commercial areas north of the Inwood train station has the opportunity to revitalize the area and provide affordable rental apartments for seniors looking to downsize and transition to a walkable community and for young people commuting to Manhattan. As one of the westernmost points of Nassau County, Inwood offers quick access to the city and Kennedy Airport. The COVID 19 crisis has put a pause on these plans and puts existing businesses in jeopardy. In order to keep local businesses alive during this time, shopping local is more important now than ever. Here is a list of Inwood restaurants open for take-out, delivery and/or curbside pickup. Caribbean Hut Ciccio Boys Pizza Five Star Hermans Deli & Catering Max’s Pizzeria Moca Express South Shore Pizzeria Tanami’s Tang’s Garden Tropical Yummy Taco |
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Mask Mavens of Huntington“Many hands make light work.” – John Heywood The coronavirus has affected every resident of Long Island. As Long Islanders do, countless folks stepped up to extend a helping hand to one another. From organizing food banks, to feeding our heroic frontline workers, Long Islanders have a giving heart. In Huntington, there are a group of women exemplifying this sentiment and making a difference. Mask Mavens of Huntington quickly became a group of 40 women who sow, gather material and deliver hundreds of masks every day, for free. to those who simply ask. Of the team, about nine members each sew anywhere from 30 to 50 masks daily. Other members cut material, others act as errand runners who pick-up and distribute masks, as well as provide sewers with the materials they need. The finished masks are distributed to hospitals, organizations, fire departments, group homes, retail stores and churches not only statewide, but also nationwide. “We’re running a factory out of 40 different houses. It’s crazy. It’s insane that this is even happening,” Steenson-Kraese, told Huntington Patch, who reported this inspiring story. Masks are created on a first come, first serve basis. The group’s first priority is to essential workers and their families. For all others, the group asks that requests be limited to only what is absolutely needed. They want to accommodate everyone. Thank you to all involved for your hard work and love and dedication to community. |
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Long Island Begins Phase One ReopeningAcross Long Island a number of businesses have begun to open their doors again as Long Island has officially entered “Phase One” of the Governor’s reopening plan. This new phase is mostly for low-risk businesses involved in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, but does allow for retail to open with restrictions. For a lot of local owners that means incorporating curbside pickup in addition to an increase in online sales. However, some Main Street businesses remain shuttered as they rely on foot traffic that simply isn’t ready to return at this point. This painful for a lot of stores that are normally bustling with crowds prepping for the summer season on Long Island. Even with the ability to reopen their doors at a reduced capacity a number of stores are seeing almost no foot traffic as residents continue to remain isolated from fears of contracting coronavirus. This is especially devastating this time of year when so many stores are counting on foot traffic to bring up profits after a generally slow winter. But even with that there’s a sense of anticipation among a number of store owners who are eager to begin returning to normal. Phase one is seen as the beginning of that and will hopefully lead to more and more people willing to shop locally once again. Or, at the very least, shop online with local stores that have worked over the last few years to increase their online stores. “I’m excited. I’m hopeful. I’m happy. I thought it wasn’t going to be until the middle of June,” said Cathy Whitley, owner of Robert’s Mens and Boys Wear in Mineola. “It was a nice surprise that it was sooner than what I had anticipated.” Restaurant owners are still being left behind though as Phase one does not allow for the reopening of dining rooms just yet. Many are hopeful that Towns and Villages will begins to take advantage of some of the loosening of restrictions across the island to allow for road closures to boost outdoor dining. As the weather turns nicer and residents become more and more ready to leave their homes, such a lifting of restrictions would be welcome for struggling restaurateurs. Meanwhile, other sectors of the economy are beginning to move once again. Construction is coming back though they are operating with increased safety precautions to help safeguard workers’ health. A number of companies that had been forced to furlough employees at the beginning of the health crisis are now moving to ramp business back up. “We were preparing for this for weeks now,” said Martin Racanelli Jr. of Racanelli Construction. “We were highly impacted. We had approximately 50 jobs going on when we got shut down. All but probably 10 of them were shut down.” The shutdown went beyond just the construction company as it spiraled out to effect subcontractors and wholesalers who deal with them. While it’s good to be getting back underway, the shutdown had a wide-ranging economic impact that will take time to recover from. In addition to that there is still some confusion and anger as to why some businesses were approved to stay open while others were forced closed. “With the understanding of the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, staying closed and the social distancing there just should have been a better of evaluation of what was actually essential,” said optometrist Dr. Steven Agin, who noted that liquor stores were allowed to stay open while he was deemed non-essential. “It was absolutely out of line for us to be closed for two months, I had a lot of people upset because of these restrictions.” Long Island is expected to enter phase two sometime in the next month. That will allow for the reopening of professional services, finance and insurance, retail, administrative support, and real estate, rental and leasing. Restaurants and food services will be allowed to reopen dining rooms at a reduced capacity in phase 3, and phase 4 will allow for the reopening of arts, entertainment and recreation, and education. You can read more on reopening across Long Island in Newsday, The Herald, and Huntington Now. Governor Cuomo Announces New York City to Enter Phase 1 of Reopening on June 8The following is an update from Governor Cuomo’s website: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York City will enter Phase 1 of reopening on June 8 and that five other regions—Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country and Southern Tier—can enter Phase 2 of reopening today. Phase 2 allows office-based workers, real estate services, in-store retail shopping and some barbershop services to resume. Each industry is subject to specific state guidelines to maximize safety and social distancing. Business guidance for phase two of the state’s reopening plan is available here. Governor Cuomo also announced the implementation of a new early warning dashboard that aggregates the state’s expansive data collection efforts for New Yorkers, government officials and experts to monitor and review how the virus is being contained on an ongoing basis. It tracks new infections and their severity, hospital capacity by region, and other metrics. The early warning system dashboard was developed in consultation with internationally-known experts who have been advising New York State. The early warning dashboard can be found here. “Remember that reopening does not mean that we’re going back to the way things were,” Governor Cuomo said. “Life is not about going back. Nobody goes back. We go forward. And it’s going to be different. This is about reopening to a new normal — a safer normal. People will be wearing masks and people will be socially distanced — it’s a new way of interacting, which is what we have to do. Wear a mask, get tested and socially distance.” Finally, the Governor confirmed 1,551 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 368,284 confirmed cases in New York State. You can watch the Governor’s full press conference here. |
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Calendar of EventsRadio Zindagi presents VOICES programIn case you missed it, Radio Zindagi presented Voices yesterday with the South Asian Chamber’s Harry Malhotra, Town of Oyster Bay Councilpersons Steve Labriola and Laura Maier and Nassau County Minority Affairs Director Lionel Chitty. , and Vision Long Island / Main Street Alliance Director Eric Alexander. The group had a robust conversation on reopening with questions about the varying Phases of NYS regulations, accessing loan programs and things local municipalities are doing to help. You can watch the full video here. The 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
• Please join the Queens Chamber of Commerce for a complimentary webinar to learn about:
This webinar will take place on Tuesday, June 9th at 2 pm. You can register for the event here. • 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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Our Daily SponsorPSEG Long IslandPSEG Long Island is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PEG), a publicly traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of $10.4 billion and operates the Long Island Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system under a 12-year contract. They have pledged to build a Long Island utility with PSEG’s same record of service, reliability and customer satisfaction. It will take some time to make all the improvements they’re planning, but in the end, they will create a utility of which Long Islanders can be proud. Keeping the lights on isn’t just a job: It’s their mission. |
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