New York City is reliving some of the nightmares it endured earlier this spring as coronavirus cases begin to surge, and once again Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are pointing fingers and offering conflicting guidance
city schools would stay closed for the rest of the academic year that ended in June, Cuomo insisted that was only the mayor’s “opinion” and no decision had been made. Ultimately, schools statewide remained closed.
"The back and forth between the Mayor and Governor … is an echo of what we saw in mid-March, when delays and power plays led to lives lost,” Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate and a frequent critic of de Blasio and Cuomo, said in a statement Monday. “Since then, the only thing that has been consistent between them is inconsistency. The message has been mixed, and the results are clear — cases are rising and New York is at risk of another wide-scale outbreak if proper precautions are not taken.” During the mayor’s Saturday conference call with advisers, which lasted for more than three hours, he pressed his health appointees for data that would justify such drastic action, the sources said. The officials, some of whom had suggested more aggressive action several weeks ago when the spikes began, told the mayor the neighborhoods had hit a troubling benchmark: A transmission rate of more than 3 percent for at least seven days, which was a standard previously set for more aggressive action. What’s more, they were raising the citywide average transmission rate — the data officials track to determine whether public schools can safely remain open. “Really, it was the data we saw that we analyzed Saturday that convinced all of us it was time to do something more rigorous,” de Blasio said during his weekly interview on Inside City Hall Monday night. He had hoped rates would improve with enforcement, as was the case following a spike in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, but that did not occur in these areas. Several officials, such as Jay Varma, a top health adviser to de Blasio, and Department of Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi, had wanted aggressive enforcement actions earlier, following signs of a spike in August, three people involved in the city’s pandemic response said. “City Hall never listens to the actual experts. Numbers are already rising around the city, not just in these zips,” said one person familiar with the discussions. "He goes out of his way not to use the word ultra-Orthodox or look like he's singling them out and that strategy has backfired,” another person involved in the talks said. “It's a frustration for professionals in the administration." De Blasio, who has historically governed with heightened sensitivity toward Orthodox Jewish communities, wanted to hand out masks to those not donning them, rather than immediately issuing tickets, as some of his officials had suggested. But anyone who refused a mask would be given a summons, de Blasio said. “If someone refuses a mask, then you’re getting a fine right away, but the goal is to change the behavior,” he said Monday night. His public hospital chief, Mitch Katz, reinforced potential concerns within the neighborhoods that would be targeted, and Pinny Ringel, who works as the mayor’s liaison to those areas, also urged extensive community involvement to mitigate a backlash, the sources said. The three sources said the officials are now closely tracking a potential increase in infection rates two weeks after gatherings for the Jewish high holidays, including Yom Kippur last Monday. Like outbreaks in Rockland County and New Jersey, the increased numbers tend to originate from Orthodox communities, where religious gatherings, weddings and other celebrations have occurred often without the use of masks or social distancing. “Medical experts have identified a number of important steps people should take to protect themselves,” read a letter sent Thursday by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, an umbrella group of more than a dozen Orthodox rabbis. “Social distancing, face covering, hand washing, special precautions for the elderly and for those with pre-existing medical conditions, and staying at home when experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.” The next day, five senior Orthodox leaders in Far Rockaway wrote a letter to their congregation, advocating for similar precautions. “There has been much focus on the neighborhoods in N.Y.C. and in Nassau with the highest rates of infection that all share the common denominator of dense Orthodox populations,” the letter stated, urging congregants to wear masks, avoid large crowds, social distance and quarantine if sick.But it’s unclear how many in the community are heeding the advice of rabbinical leaders and if it’s too late to contain the spread. City health officials and members of the Orthodox community who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity say misinformation and conspiracy theories have been rampant in a politically conservative community suspicious of outside interference. After suffering a severe outbreak earlier this year, many said they believed they had achieved herd immunity, or enough people who had contracted Covid-19 to fight off a second wave. Most public health experts have said herd immunity would need to be much higher and it's effectiveness in Covid-19 remains unclear. Many others adhered to right-wing talking points, disseminated through social media, that said the severity of the disease was a hoax. “It’s like any other American: you need to be already pretty convinced that something is a hoax for you to suddenly believe everything that gets forwarded on WhatsApp,” said Yosef Hershkop, manager of Kāmin Health Crown Heights Urgent Care, referring to the popular messaging program. “Remember WhatsApp is also used to forward [credible] info from orthodox Jewish doctors and Hatzolah. Not just nutty or wrongful memes. Most people are getting a steady stream of both kinds of content.” Despite De Blasio’s light touch with the Orthodox community, he grew more aggressive during the pandemic and faced stiff backlash after warning the “Jewish community” in April to heed the city’s warnings. The mayor was accused of “scapegoating” Jews, and the focus again on ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods raises an ugly specter of anti-Semitism. “People are going to panic anytime they see a kippah on their street,” Hershkop said, using another term for a yarmulke.
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