The New York City Council’s Committees on Aging, Health, and Hospitals held a joint meeting in City Hall on Nov. 17 to discuss services available to older adults living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Councilmembers introduced bills to ensure inclusive and equitable access to HIV prevention services and treatment within the city. This was the first meeting that the Council has held regarding older adults living with HIV in nearly two decades, with the last one being in 2006.

“We know that health is a choice, but it’s not just an individual choice. It’s an institutional choice and it’s a democratic choice,” said Ashwin Vasan, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

HIV/AIDS was a leading cause of death in NYC from the early 80s until the early 2000s when things started to get better with the introduction of antiretroviral therapies. However, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, New Yorkers are sicker and dying too soon from all causes, Vasan said.

In fact, “life expectancy – the average number of years a person can expect to live from the time of their birth – has dropped dramatically from 82.6 years in 2019 to 78 years in 2020,” according to NYC Health.

Councilmember Pierina Sanchez has proposed a bill that would expand the availability of rapid testing for sexually transmitted infections. Another piece of legislation by Councilmember Chi Ossé would require the city to conduct outreach and report on the distribution of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication that helps to prevent people from contracting HIV when taken prior to exposure.

Last December, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation to require insurance companies to cover access to PrEP and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), a medication that helps to prevent HIV after possible exposure.

To expand on that, Crystal Hudson, the chair of the Committee on Aging, proposed legislation that would increase access to PrEP and PEP by not requiring prior authorization by health insurers or healthcare plans for the medicines before pharmacists can give them out.

“Healthcare is a human right and a person’s sexuality, gender identity or HIV status should not determine the quality of care they receive,” said Lynn Shulman, chair of the Committee on Health.

The committees acknowledged that HIV is not just an LGBTQ issue and with the passing of the different bills proposed, they hope to continue to eliminate the stigma around HIV and ageism which only exacerbates discrimination. The committee and those who testified want to make NYC a stigma free city and honor those who passed away while trying to continue to prevent deaths from HIV.

The city has set a goal to try and increase life expectancy to 83 years by 2030 through HealthyNYC, a campaign to try and get more New Yorkers to live healthier, longer lives.

]]> https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2022/12/rising-rents-have-residents-of-cyprus-hills-brooklyn-searching-for-a-new-neighborhood/ Wed, 14 Dec 2022 18:35:54 +0000 https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/?p=11314 ...[read more]]]> BY ARGENIS COLLADO

The COVID-19 pandemic had grave consequences on the Cypress Hills neighborhood, one of the communities with the highest infection rates. Yet more than two years later, those living within the area have been forgotten by the rest of the city as there is little media coverage, leaving those outside of the community unaware of the issues.

As rent increases, the residents who have called Cypress Hills home for decades, now search elsewhere for a place to call home. 

Ysabel Espinal, 72, and her husband Francisco Espinal, 80, arrived in Cypress Hills in 1998 when they started renting out a basement apartment on Autumn Avenue for $550 a month. At the turn of the century, they moved a street over to Hemlock street, where they have lived since. 

“Now they want me to pay more in rent or to move out,” said Espinal. “But in reality I can’t afford to pay more rent, I just don’t have that money.” 

Recently, the Espinal’s were told by their landlord that the rent would be increasing to $1,450, almost double what they have been paying – $850 per month. 

They have been living in Cypress Hills for 24 years, and living in the community is a part of their identity.

Espinal has been working at Blessed Sacrament church located on Euclid Avenue since she arrived in the neighborhood, and ever since retiring Francisco spends his morning with a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. 

The Espinals notice the changes that have come to the community after quarantine. Vacated buildings that used to house stores and tenants. And the new apartment complex that is being built right off of the Crescent Street stop on the J/Z MTA line, across from the church.

Since the start of 2022, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Cypress Hills is above $2,000. From March 2021 to January 2022 rent has fluctuated up and down, however, since January the average cost has not been below $2,000. Although recent trends have seen both downward and upward trends in the average cost of rent, as of November 26, 2022, the average rent is $2,150. 

While compared to other parts of the city, the average price of rent in Cypress Hills doesn’t seem too bad. That is until you take into account that Cypress Hills has a drastically lower median house income. The median income of the neighborhood is $42,700, with 70% of the population being renters. The overall cost of living is also 69% higher than the national average.

Together with East New York, Cypress Hills makes up the BK5 community district. According to the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, BK5 faces some of the most threats to affordable housing with 18 threats and counting, which is the most for any district in Brooklyn.

New York City was devastated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The city lost a reported 24,000 people to the disease. Many of the unclaimed and a few of the dead whose families were either too poor or too grief stricken to have a funeral, were buried in a pauper’s lot on Hart Island.

 Jobs in New York City were lost because businesses most impacted by the disease—restaurants, bars, arenas—had to shutter their doors for extended periods to help curb the spread of the disease at the time.

During the peak of the pandemic when New York was the epicenter, businesses—at least in New York City—closed early, in part, by curfews imposed on the city, as well as pleas from health officials to limit gatherings in order to slow the spread of the disease.

With restrictions now relaxed and COVID protocols optional in some spaces, some businesses are sticking to their earlier closing time during the pandemic. Data analyzed from the New York City Police Department seems to point to the rise in crime.

Compared to 2021, crime has ticked up significantly year over year, with murder being one of the few categories where there is a decrease. According to the NYPD’s CompStat, there were 391 murders in 2022 compared to 440 in 2021, a decrease of 11 percent. Shooting victims and shooting incidents also decreased from 2021. However, other forms of crime saw double digit increases. Burglary saw a 25.8 percent increase compared to 2021. Rape saw an increase of 8.9 percent compared to 2021.

Some of these statistics reinforce the notion that some New Yorkers feel about crime in the city.

Jose Alvarez, 34, of Brooklyn, who works at a Stop and Shop in Coney Island, has seen the effects of crime first hand.

“During the pandemic, we closed earlier to disinfect the store and to ensure that employees got home at a reasonable time before the curfew,” Alvarez said.“But now, we just want to ensure that associates are safe because what I have seen recently, their safety is important,” Alvarez said.

The Coney Island Stop and Shop closed at midnight, pre-pandemic. The store now closes at 10 p.m..

Grocery stores are not the types of businesses shutting their doors earlier to their clients. Some bankers are now closing their ATM lobbies that were once 24 hour ATMs. At the beginning of 2021, JPMorganChase began closing ATM lobbies before midnight in select neighborhoods and would reopen them when the branch opens.

When contacted via Twitter as to the reason this was the case, a Chase representative cited crime as the reason.

“Earlier this year, our Security Team made the decision to close several ATM vestibules early, aligning them to that of the normal branch hours. This decision was made due to rising crime and vagrancy that occurred in these previously 24/7 vestibules,” the statement read.

Inshan Ali, who owns a bodega in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, agreed that crime has encouraged many to limit their hours.

“In a deli on Flatbush Avenue in December last year, they killed the employee during a robbery,” Ali said.

“The deli now closes early instead of opening past midnight. I closed my deli earlier too,” Ali said.

Stacey Philips, 30 of Brooklyn, a volunteer with a community fridge in Flatbush, agrees that crime has many businesses closing earlier.

“There is a supermarket that was open 24 hours on Church Ave. Now, it closes at 10 p.m.,” Philips said.“Businesses are just caring more about the safety of their employees,” she said.

Two important issues on the rise in New York City are the scarcity of food and the lack of affordable housing due to gentrification. As winter approaches, these issues start to become even more apparent and worrisome.

Throughout Brooklyn, neighborhoods such as Bushwick, Flatbush and Williamsburg have seen their once relied on food banks close down, as well as many other local grocery stores and pharmacies they once relied on. 

“COVID-19 has hit so many people hard, but it hit full communities harder,” says Abigail Gomez, a stay-at-home- mom living in Williamsburg. “So many small stores became newer and bigger stores that could afford to keep up with more expensive rent. It really starts to take the uniqueness out of the neighborhoods that a lot of us grew up in.” 

There are several types of gentrification ranging from climate to industrial, and factors such as this have caused Brooklyn residents to be pushed out and have brought in non-native residents and business chains to settle into empty or inexpensive space in different neighborhoods, according to Politico.

City Limits has calculated that roughly 70% of New Yorkers living in the five boroughs are spending most of their income on rent, meaning there is very little to spend on other necessities. This means that individuals have to prioritize which necessity they are able to afford, thus adding to the issue of food insecurity across New York’s boroughs. This number has continued to rise since the beginning of the pandemic.

Alongside the lack of affordable housing, there are lack of resources in food banks, as well as food banks shutting down. Because of this, one out of every 10 adults face hunger. Part of this issue is how long it takes to get contracts signed with distributors and how to divide food amongst the pantries. With only two major food banks able to provide supplies for numerous pantries, City Harvest and Food Bank for New York City, demand is harder to keep up with. 

“These distributors are dividing food amongst 100 different pantries and it takes about six to eight  months to get a contract. This makes it harder for those with no financial capacity or technological capacities and has a generational gap for people who don’t have in city food banks to access them,” said Zac Martin, the Founder of Trellis Community Development.

While several food banks have started to faze out, Trellis Community Development has never stopped. Trellis is home to one of the leading non-profit food banks in Brooklyn, and has never closed their doors during the last two years. 

This does not mean that they haven’t had their own struggles to keep the pantry open. Many times they have had to readjust to make sure the pantries were still able to be up and running, and this came with making sacrifices.

“We used to have pre-packaged bags that allowed people to come in and pick up what they needed. During the pandemic we were no longer able to have these or to let people in beyond access points,” said Martin.

The solution was simple and effective: meals were put together on the spot to hand out to people. It was a shift in what they were used to, but Trellis made it work so people would still be able to have a meal. 

Not every food bank is fortunate enough to be able to stay up and running. With the help of volunteers coming out of pocket to pay for meals to provide for others or relying on the assistance of other food pantries, many stay afloat for longer and it proves that their main goal is to feed people whenever possible.

The New York Times found that 9-year-olds’ national test results for math and reading dropped significantly compared to results before the pandemic. In fact, results were so much lower they resembled results from over two decades ago, “Top performers in the 90th percentile showed a modest drop — three points in math — students in the bottom 10th percentile dropped by 12 points in math, four times the impact.”

While online learning was a solid attempt at continuing education for students, the ramifications of two years of isolated learning from home, where distractions are rampant, have revealed themselves.

Denise Alexandra, a paraprofessional educator for the Department of Education at P.S. K225 said she’s noticed a difference in the students she works with. 

“These kids are very clingy and struggle to focus when they don’t feel attended to consistently,” Alexandra said.

While score declines have spanned all races and income levels, some groups have suffered more than others.

According to, The New York Times “In math, Black students lost 13 points, compared with five points among white students, widening the gap between the two groups… research has documented the profound effect school closures had on low-income students and Black and Hispanic students, in part because their schools were more likely to continue remote learning for longer periods of time.”

At P.S. K225 in Brighton Beach, some have witnessed these academic trends for themselves amongst students in their classrooms.  

“More than in years past, kids are struggling to read, write, and understand basic sentence structures. Beyond that, they just can’t seem to pay attention to anything longer than mere minutes, unless it’s related to an iPad or electronic device. They are addicted to those iPads, they can’t be separated for too long or they throw tantrums.” said Crystal Stephens, a K-2 teacher at the school. 

Karina Calzadilla, director of the Shorefront after school program echoed these sentiments. 

“It’s disheartening to see a kid genuinely not know how to do something in math or English that they ought to know how to do by now. We do the best we can to teach them basic foundations of academic criteria for their age/grade, but there’s only so much we can do in after school,” Calzadilla said. 

The daunting reality is that these children are in a position in which it will take years for them to “catch up” to where they would have been had their online schooling not been a two-year experience.

It is estimated that elementary school students may need at least three years to catch up to where they would have been had the pandemic not happened, according to a report released on Tuesday by NWEA, a nonprofit organization that provides academic assessments to schools.

Although art education is a crucial component of student learning, it is frequently the first area of the budget that is eliminated in New York City public schools. The 2020 pandemic affected the arts curriculum, which made it challenging for students to learn and be creative. It additionally had an impact on the funds allocated to schools.

The goal of advocacy organizations like Arts in Education Roundtable is fighting to keep art education programs from declining in NYC public schools. 

“Transforming our city’s schools starts with the arts. That is why the Roundtable launched our ‘It Starts with the Arts’ advocacy campaign, to call on our City to invest in dance, music, theater, visual arts, and media in our city’s schools and communities. We believe that dedicated per capita funding plus accurate data reporting and assessment is the first step towards creating greater equity,” said Kimberly Olsen executive director of Arts in Education Roundtable. 

Roundtable’s advocacy efforts last year resulted in the creation of the $3 million “Support for Arts Instruction” citywide initiative, which aims to increase participation in arts education, particularly in schools with little access to it. 

This is a first step in ensuring that every student has access to a full, varied arts education. They’re  excited to collaborate with Mayor Eric Adams, Chancellor David C. Banks, and the City Council in 2023 to expand on this base and advance the cause of arts education for all.

“Policy change, school accountability, and clear direction from the Chancellor is needed to ensure that arts instruction is not impacted if school budgets are cut in the upcoming school year. Without those measures and the funding to support arts opportunities, we are concerned that we may see history repeat itself similar to the massive cuts in 1970s, 1990s, 2008, and at the beginning of the pandemic,” Olsen said.

According to Chalkbeat, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday November 22nd New York City lawmakers won’t have to vote again on the education department budget, meaning that the more than $370 million in cuts made to schools across the five boroughs this year will stand.

Over the previous two years, Mayor Bill de Blasio protected schools from these cuts by mostly utilizing COVID stimulus money. Adams’ proposal changes this practice and returns to a funding structure that is more closely correlated with enrollment.

If a school enrolls fewer students than anticipated halfway through the school year, money must normally be returned. According to the NYSED this year, enrollment dropped at over 23% of the city’s public schools, with around three-quarters of them losing 10% or more of their students.

“We’re given a projected budget usually in March, and this budget is usually based on how many students. So, it behooves the principals to make projections to maximize the number of students that they have,” said Former Willam E. Doar Washington D.C principal Lindsey Joseph.

Principals play critical roles in ensuring that school art instruction is successful and that children’s education experiences are meaningful and valuable. 

“Primarily, what the main focuses are the four core contents which is math, science, reading, and history. When those students approach high school, they bear credits for those core classes. Unfortunately, sometimes what’s left over trickles down to other departments that comes before art programs,” Joseph said.

Art programs frequently receive donations from the private sector when school financing is inadequate. According to U.S. News and World Reports, an arts education gives students a well-rounded education. Public school principals do not want to eliminate art programs, but due to a lack of funds, art programs come last.

“I think principals perhaps should have to start advocating for the importance of it. I think that education as a whole has to get over the stigma of it’s not a business, we provide a service. And if everyone kept that mindset, realizing what services do, we need to ensure that this child is a productive member of society would be helpful. I think specifically, principals have to start thinking outside the box,” Joseph said. 

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant impact on the world of art instruction. Teaching visual arts concepts, abilities, and practices to students in online classrooms utilizing unconventional methods has proven to be difficult for art educators. 

“I conducted my class online during the pandemic and I found it challenging because my students were able to get the supplies they needed from me. At that time all of my students had limited resources which limited their learning and creative work,” said Monirul Islam, a New Preparatory Middle school Art teacher. 

For 25 years, Islam has been instructing painting courses. Over the course of his career as a teacher, he has observed a reduction in the quality of the art programs at his school. Activities like cooking and sowing have been eliminated, and the school now only offers two art programs, which are now music and art classes.

“Every year I’m getting support from the budget. It’s not enough but we still try to continue the work as much as we can with the amount that we get. If our budget gets cut that will have a heavy impact on students’ education,” Islam said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools had to shift to online classes and for theater performances had to shift online, where Students who wish to become artists struggled to continue a love for the arts.

 “Personally, I found doing the online shows to be extremely boring, and as a stage manager there wasn’t really much to do. It was mostly just sitting there and making sure I was on book for the actors,” said Brooklyn College theater major Oziel Jimemnezsantios.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the music business. Venues closed their doors, and left owners and workers worried about the future of their business.

Throughout the State Of New York, each neighborhood and borough suffered through cases of COVID going up and having to rely on help from the government. According to the State Comptroller’s office, over 19.3 percent of employment in Brooklyn dropped by the second half of 2020, leaving residents to rely on unemployment. It was also shown that Brooklyn had the highest cases of COVID-19 throughout 2020. 

In March of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic peaked, doors of arts and entertainment were forced to close. By December of 2020, over 66 percent of employment in the arts and entertainment industry declined. This was the “largest decline in the City’s economy.”

The budgets for music venues have been decimated. They relied on the internet, having live streamed events and pre recorded events. They also focused on renovating their buildings. Dr. Anthony Fauci announced that by fall of 2021, venues were permitted to open their doors.    

Moving forward in 2021, music venues needed to change their rules. Music venues, such as The Bowery Ballroom, Music Hall Of Williamsburg, and Brooklyn Steele, passed a rule in which all attendees must wear a mask and show proof of their COVID vaccine pass. This was to make sure attendees were practicing safety rules when coming to a show.

In a press conference from June 15,2021, then Governor Cuomo discussed how restrictions would be lifted in public areas, including places of entertainment. Around this time, he had also announced the first dose of the COVID-19 Vaccine. “Not only do we have the lowest positivity rate, we have hit 70 percent vaccination ahead of schedule.” Aside from following the vaccinate protocol, public places had to make sure they were implementing social distancing rules, making sure they were clean, and checking vaccine passes.

The music scene and night life was bound to continue to get the help they needed.

Nightlife United is an organization that helps music venues in New York financially along with helping nightlife workers stay in safe working conditions. They have provided grants so that venues and workers are able to keep their doors open and continue their jobs in nightlife. Some of the venues they have helped in are Now And Then NYC, Ode To Babel, The Living Gallery, and The Paper Box.

NightLife United, in partnership with the National Independent Venue Association, helped pass the Save Our Stages Act, a bill that helps make grants to eligible live venue operators, producers, promoters, or talent representatives to address the economic effects of Covid-19 pandemic on certain live venues. This bill was created by Senator John Cornyn. 

Dashiell Brodie, a NightLife United cofounder and the owner of Friends And Lovers, a local bar in Classon Avenue, Brooklyn New York, has created a small space for independent venues and dance clubs, connected with NIVA in March 2020, raising money from private donations. “We wanted to see what we could do to help venues and workers.”  

“The first round was in June 2020, we split grants between individuals and venues. They received over 5,000 dollars,” said Brodie. 

He also says that they want to also focus on advocacy for music venues. 

“We want to look at these with the industry. We want to advocate for venue workers who might not be working in sustainable conditions, Brodie said. 

Some of the issues they’ve had was lack of employees. 

“Some of them either didn’t come back at all or left and said they would return. We also saw tickets sales bounce back,” Brodie said.

Brodie concluded that they have a new grant coming out mid December and hopes that people can help spread the word, donate, and amplify what Nightlife United does.

Jourdan Wesby, a venue worker under the company AEG and Bowery Presents, says that both of these companies were financially well. 

“Well, there will always be a demand for music and in this case, live music. I work for AEG and Bowery Presents, they are a big company so when it comes to the financial survival, they were secured,” Wesby said. 

However, Wesby said  that smaller venues weren’t so lucky. 

Some venues are smaller and independent so their flow of income isn’t as big as the ones I work at so rent becomes an issue.” 

He does see the good in venues receiving financial assistance. 

“I think it’s good for the scene and the culture,” says Wesby, “It allows venues to stay afloat when it is a hard business to maintain.”

A 1-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn is going to cost you 12% more than it did this time last year. 2021 was considered the height of the global pandemic, which can raise questions surrounding how this was affordable for Brooklynites during the time.  

Currently, the average price of a 1-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn as of November 2022 is $3,340, which is an 11.91% increase compared to 2021, according to a MNS market report. In 2021, the average cost of a 1-bedroom was $2,985. The spike occurred at what would be considered the peak of the global pandemic, which put some Brooklyn residents in a bind as some people were unable to pay their rent.  

New York City is currently the most expensive city in the world, and with Brooklyn coming in second to Manhattan it raises questions about how Brooklyn rent is affordable for the everyday person considering that the average New Yorker’s salary starts at $28,800. 

The nearly 12%  increase rose amid the peak of the global pandemic, causing some renters to fall short on paying their rent. In turn, this allowed government officials to put laws in place to protect them. However, despite Brookyln’s rental increase during the height of the pandemic, the real estate industry was seemingly considered to be a sellers market at the time.    

“The market in New York City during the pandemic was technically a sellers market, which means that it’s oversaturated with buyers,” said 25-year-old New York City real estate agent who works with Fave Realty, Tyi-ara Wigfall. 

Although the market was oversaturated, renters struggled to pay their rent during the pandemic, causing the pause on evictions across New York State as a part of the pandemic protections under the Tenant Safe Harbor Act. 

This made it illegal for landlords to evict tenants if they failed to pay rent and instead allowed landlords to file a legal case against their tenants in housing court. By the end of 2021, housing courts across the state had upward of 200,000 pending cases against New Yorkers. The cases began to move forward in December 2021, yet this didn’t stop the rent from increasing.

According to New York State’s website, The Tenant Safe Harbor Act of 2020 was implemented to protect New York State tenants from being evicted for failing to pay their rent in time. The act says that from March 7, 2020 through January 15,2022, the state’s citizens are protected if they’ve gone through financial burdens due to COVID-19. In order to qualify for these protections, New York State tenants have to identify “financial hardships as a defense and affirm in court that they suffered from financial hardship.”     

Despite government officials’ effort to protect tenants from being evicted, some landlords were forced to raise their rent to meet the market’s inflation during the pandemic.   

“One thing I did learn amidst the pandemic was that landlords are supposed to raise their prices as inflation rises. [Landlords] are technically supposed to raise their rent as the economy rises just so [they] can keep up with [their] bills [and] mortgage,” Wigfall said. 

Other governmental efforts were made to protect tenants as well as landlords when the ODTA launched the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which provides owed rent to landlords for up to 12 months depending on the income of the tenants.      

Governor Kathy Hochul previously announced that she is standing in solidarity with New Jersey and California in calling out the federal government to provide more funding to “high tenant states” in a letter to the United States Treasury. 

“I pledged to deliver relief to struggling tenants and landlords who were still recovering from the pandemic. Since then, we’ve issued more than $1.3 billion in rent relief out the door, made $100 million in rent supplements available, signed an increase in rental voucher amounts into law, invested $25 million for free legal services for tenants, and unveiled a number of bold, achievable proposals to address systemic housing need, Governor Hochul said.

Yamil Speight-Miller, Executive Director of the Kings County Democratic Party said their organization is focused on affordable rents for Brooklynites. 

“One of the issues that we are addressing is rent stabilization laws [and] that [have] always been important. People who live in New York should be able to afford New York,” he said.   

Nearly three in four businesses in Brooklyn continue to see lower sales compared to before the pandemic. That’s according to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce who surveyed Brooklyn Businesses. 

This has resulted in 33% of businesses having trouble paying their rent, and some of those businesses are now in danger of disappearing as a result of the state lifting its 20-month eviction embargo prompted by the pandemic.

“Actually a new grant program was approved recently in October to help small businesses that are having a tough time,” said Adrian Banneker, a customer service representative of the NYC Small Business Services. “The grants are given to the different Business Improvement Districts around the city and they handle it from there.”

The grant initiative enables the development and deployment of technical assistance programs, resources for capacity building, and back-office services for the benefit of numerous Business Improvement Districts and Special Assessment Districts with annual assessments less than or equal to $1,000,000. This funding is made available to nonprofit organizations. 

“The communities that require them the most will benefit from these desperately needed funds. BIDs are a significant resource for small businesses and the communities they serve across the City,” said Banneker. “Whether it be by supplementing safety and sanitation services or by promoting economic activity through street activations and holiday lights.”

Establishments around Flatbush Avenue are trying their best to stay in business until they’re left with no option but to close permanently. 

“We were devastated to see a significant number of neighborhood businesses closing permanently,” said Sneha Goud, the outreach manager of Flatbush Business Improvement District (BID). “We make every effort to support the preservation of these vulnerable enterprises. We advertise businesses on social media and host networking events where business owners can meet and conduct business-related negotiations,”

The Flatbush BID helps the community in many ways including seasonal events for giveaways around the holidays, organizes discussions with a variety of stakeholders on a range of challenging topics and initiatives that affect the Flatbush neighborhood, build community partnerships, and more. 

Goud noted that one of the primary causes of local businesses’ inability to get back on their feet is the current dominance of online shopping after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“People are accustomed to online shopping because of the pandemic. With these businesses, there are no websites for online shopping or online pickups,” said Goud. “Majority of the businesses in this area are mom-and-pop stores and small, neighborhood enterprises run by older people who are not up to date with today’s technology. You’ll need to physically go and visit the business to do your shopping.”

The majority of the local establishments in the neighborhood have been in business for over a decade. Therefore, they have struggled to adjust to the aftermath of the pandemic to get back on the right track.

“It was really bad for me during the pandemic. I was closed for a year and a half and I opened back up last year in 2021,” said Brian Clarke, a mom and pop shop owner. “Now people need masks and stuff to protect themselves so as you can see I began to sell masks, gloves, wipes, and selling them would help me pick up the pace again in selling and making money.”

Clarke owns a small stand shop by the corner of Flatbush Ave and Church Avenue. He’s been in business for over 12 years selling different pieces of clothing like socks, hats, beanies, and also accessories. Clarke mentioned having some competition with the new Target store that opened next to him in July 2022, but says he sees a positive side of it.

“I was actually shocked when I found out a Target was opening right next to me. That’s when I realized that this neighborhood is doing a 180 turn,” said Clarke. “I actually don’t mind in a way because it means there’s going to be more foot traffic which also benefits me. More people will pass by me and probably stop to look or buy something.”

Clarke says he doesn’t fear the competition due to his products being sold at a lower price than the company and people nowadays place a high value on saving money.

“I feel blessed to still be here. You know it’s been tough but we’re staying strong here,” said Clarke.

After New York State’s eviction moratorium came to an end, activity in the city’s housing courts had a gasping increase. The court previously handled more eviction cases than any other city in the country. 

The Moratorium was enacted as part of the state’s pandemic- relief effort to help tenants who were affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Since March 2022, landlords have filed about 2,000 eviction cases per week, which is about 40% higher than they did in mid-January when the state’s eviction ban expired on the 15th.

According to city records, there have been more than 500 evictions of tenants from residences since February 2022, which is roughly twice as many as there were in the 20 months before that.

Because the DOI updates its record only when a marshal reports an eviction – which can take days or weeks – the actual number of legitimate evictions is probably greater.

“When I got the eviction notice I didn’t know what to do. I was still out of work and struggling to pay bills,” said Angelica Rosario. 

She received her eviction notice a few days after the moratorium expired on Jan. 15, 2022.

Evictions in Latinx communities ranked highest compared to Black, White, and Other. 

During the pandemic – when both national and local municipalities enacted a moratorium – cases drastically decreased. When compared to the city’s average, evictions in New York City decreased to almost nil during April, May and June, 2020.

“The support was just too good to be true. I know my landlord was just waiting for the moment he could give that notice. But thankfully I was able to find support,” said Rosario.

Jessica Torres lived in her building in Bedford- Stuyvesant for years and says when she got her notice, she went to look for ways the City might have been able to help. She worried that none of the help being provided would be enough to save her apartment, seeing the increased amount of people being let go.

“I got approved after I submitted with ERAP last year, but that only helped but so much. I’m still struggling to pay rent and funds just aren’t there,” said Torres.

She reapplied right before the window closed, but is concerned that the relief fund will run out before they get to her application and she won’t be able to pay her landlord.

New York State implemented support systems like the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) providing rental arrears, interim rental assistance, and utility arrears support to low- and moderate-income households at danger of homelessness or housing instability.

Currently, applications are on hold. Any application submitted before Sept. 30, 2022 will be still be reviewed, officials said. 

“We’re very busy and continue to get a bunch of calls. Applications were closed due to limited funding and the increased amount of applicants that were being received,” said Ricardo Gutierrez Public Support Operator for ERAP. 

Multiple resources that New York State has provided in the past are now closed due to lack of funding. Torres’s fear may soon be many others as well.

“We would love to help everyone, but as we all know that isn’t always possible. There were over 1,000 applications a week at one point,” said Janelle Holmes, Press and Information Assistant for ERAP.

There have been a total of 387,326 applications submitted to the program and of that 213,079 have been paid out.

“There are many different reasons evictions increased, but the main reason we’ve seen is due to the rise in rent and the tenant’s inability to pay that and back rent owed,” said Holmes.

She explained that a lot of tenants who were approved like Torres end up falling back behind on rent, because they still can’t afford to pay.

“Majority of the people that call are individuals who were laid off or jobless and still trying to find something to replace their previous income,” said Holmes. “But we also help connect tenants to information for free legal representation.”

Under New York City’s Right-to-Counsel (RTC) law, DSS’ Office of Civil Justice (OCJ) provides tenants facing eviction in Housing Court or NYCHA administrative proceedings with access to free legal representation and advice provided by legal services organizations from across the five boroughs.

Multiple representatives from ERAP have agreed that based on conversations they’ve had with tenants and current numbers the representation has been a great help.

“This will only last so long, lawyers are overworked and overloaded with cases. The pandemic caused a pause from the historic eviction jump, but it didn’t stop it. Evictions are still predicted to increase, so people should set themselves up the best they can at this time. But we will do all in our reach to help,” said Nathaniel Case, a 311 Right-to-Counsel Operation Representative.

Starrett City, Brooklyn bore the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to The City, residents in the 11239 zip code saw the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in New York City. Residents there have died of COVID-19 at roughly three times the citywide rate. 

This area of East New York is home to various nursing homes and senior centers, as well as the expansive federally funded housing complex known as Spring Creek Towers, which serves low- and middle-income families. The majority of locals are Black, and many are elderly.

The City, a non-profit journalism outlet partnered with the Brooklyn Public Library’s Spring Creek Branch to speak to residents about how COVID-19 affected them and the neighborhood they live in. 

Residents like Lisa Sonders attended this event to speak out about how Covid 19 affected her and her community. 

“A lot of people died in my area, we couldn’t use the community room or the patio and people were coming into my building from the streets and sleeping in our bathrooms,”Sonders said.

Sonders, who lives in Starrett City, moved in right before the pandemic hit, and says that she is still scared to go outdoors due to Covid. 

“It is scary, this is the first time I’ve taken transportation since COVID-19 came. This will be the first time I’ve taken a bus and a train,” Sonders said. 

Sonders says that she is heartbroken about how COVID changed her neighborhood, and as she sees businesses close down, she has seen businesses be vandalized and an increase in pricing when she goes food shopping. 

“I’ve seen a price increase for eggs, it used to cost 2.99 but now it’s costing 5 dollars for the medium sized ones,” Sonders said. 

Michael Harley, a Starrett City resident, works with the elderly in a nursing home in Starrett City. He says he was devastated when he was able to return back to work due to hearing about the deaths that had occurred within his work place. 

“So, a lot of people that I knew when I finally got a chance to go back to work, a lot of them had passed away. This virus affected older people heavily,” Harley said. 

Harley said he has seen people he loved pass away due to COVID-19and he has heard from close friends and family that have also experienced their relatives and friends pass away. COVID-19 has affected this community’s economy, a lot of people lost their jobs due to Covid, leaving people helpless and in need of funds. 

“I feel like we’re last on the list in terms of resources, in terms of money being given and we still need help.”

THE CITY launched MISSING THEM in May 2020. To date, they’ve heard from thousands of New Yorkers over the past two years. More than 2,600 names have been logged, and more than 500 obituaries have been published. Their aim is to interact and listen to New Yorkers in their own communities to learn how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all as a city.

Starrett City, a diverse neighborhood in Brooklyn that’s home to families, young adults and the elderly, was hit especially hard during the pandemic. According to The City, residents in the 11239 zip code died of COVID-19 at roughly three times the citywide rate. 

Many of the neighborhood’s residents identify as Black, with a large community of Spanish and Russian-speaking neighbors, as well. Many Starrett City residents, neighbors shared, have lived in the neighborhood for generations. 

In October, The Brooklyn Public Library’s Spring Creek branch teamed up with the non-profit news organization, The City, to speak to residents in Starrett City. Reporters interviewed residents about their experience with COVID-19 and how it has impacted their community and offered to help memorialize loved ones lost to the pandemic through the MISSING THEM project. 

“It upsets me to see the aftermath of COVID in my neighborhood,” says Kourtney Rodriguez, who lives in Starrett City. “I see the effects daily at work when people still have not fully recovered financially from the pandemic, and it is shocking.”

Rodriguez, 25, was personally impacted by the pandemic.  Working as a cashier at the local grocery store, she met Eloise Cantra and worked alongside her until Canta’s  passing. Rodruiguez said that the community became more divided after her coworker’s passing.

The community of Starrett City has been deeply impacted by COVID-19 and slowly getting back to normal. However, with a large elderly population in the community, it is essential to provide the proper coverage. The CITY has been enlisting others by visiting places like Senior Partners, Jasa Starrett Senior Center, and the Brooklyn Sports Club and spreading their message. Their goal is to bridge the gap in the community, as well as memorialize  those we have lost during that uncertain time.  

Elena Roberts, 37, of Brooklyn, New York, who works out at the Brooklyn Sports Club, spoke about losing a close friend. She said that her friend, Natalie Green, did not have any prior health concerns prior to her passing in 2020. 

“Natalie was a healthy individual,” said Roberts. “Ever since she passed, life does not feel the same,” Elena says that since Natalie’s passing, she feels the anxiety of COVID everywhere she goes and is very cautious about going out and always wears her mask.

Life after COVID-19 has presented many challenges and altered how many of us live our everyday lives. Questions of whether we will ever get back to the way things used to be have lingered in everyone’s minds, but for now, we can lean towards a bit of hope with organizations like the city doing their part to highlight those we overlooked in Starrett City. 

On March 17, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appeared at Teachers College at Columbia University to talk about the impact of Covid the United States agriculture industry, and how the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working to provide Americans with the best nutrition.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and schools, the USDA itself, and many places where food was prepared and served, were shut down. “It caused a major disruption in the food and agriculture industry and business. Millions of people are in this business and are dependent on this for their livelihood,” said Vilsack.

The New York State Restaurant Association reported that one in six restaurants statewide closed permanently due to COVID-19.

Vilsack remarked on the USDA’s extraordinary efforts to relieve many families from food insecurity during the pandemic. ” For the first time in 45 years, we provided an improvement and increase in the SNAP benefit above and beyond inflation,” he said, referring to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “We extended waivers in schools so that they can do grab-and-go meals.”

Although these programs help many families in the United States, who ensures SNAP recipients make healthy choices when shopping for groceries? Vilsack doesn’t know the answer, and that’s why he believes nutritional security is just as important as food security. “A consistent access to food that’s obviously healthy as well and affordable,” said Vilsack.

He described nutrition security as a “big, tall task that we need to undertake.” Vilsack continued, “We have learned during this pandemic the linkage between nutrition security and health.”

Vilsack said two-thirds of the COVID-19 related hospitalizations have been related to obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart failure. “These are all diet-related conditions,” said Vilsack.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity prevalence was 42.4% in 2017- 2018, and 11.3 percent of the US population has diabetes.

Vilsack believes that nutrition education should start at an early age because over time adjusting to a healthier diet can be difficult. “We started late with broccoli in my family. We’re still not there with my 48 year old, older son,” said Vilsack.

To promote this initiative, the USDA has launched several projects such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) plan, in which they plan to invest, according to Vilsack, tens of millions of dollars. The USDA has also put $100 million in the American rescue plan to support food banks around America.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” former South African President Nelson Mandela once said. But what happens when education becomes a weapon against you, and complicates your life by testing your mental health, with depression as a result?

Genesis Vancebi, a psychology major at Marymount Manhattan College, is a college student facing depression. “I think what has caused my depression is the amount of adjusting I had to do to fit in,” she said. “I was transitioning from high school to college. So, I wasn’t mentally prepared for the work I would be doing for just two classes during my first semester.”

Ayodele Floyd, a psychology student at Brooklyn College, said that work and social pressures add to the workload burden. It’s “not only the workload but the life surrounding that student” that can trigger depression, she said.

A 2010 study by Laura W. Perna found that nearly half of college students work an average of 34.5 hours per week. “I work and have a social life and attempting to arrive at deadlines can be quite overwhelming,” said Floyd.

Christopher Alvarez, a marketing student at Baruch College, points out another factor that can lead students into depression: the lack of socialization. “In a college in the city, with no campus, there is a lack of social life, and this is what sparks any sadness or depression any student may have,” said Alvarez.

Julie Wolfson, outreach and research director at Fountain House’s College Re-Entry program, believes that there isn’t an exact factor that leads students into depression, but the big college transition plays a significant role. “There can be a lot of things that go along with it. In addition to the academics that are rigorous, they might also now be responsible for their own meals and their own laundry and maintaining a living space,” said Wolfson.

As Alvarez commented, socialization is big part of the college experience and Wolfson agrees that a student’s struggle to fit in or find a social circle might affect their mental health. “If a student is isolating a lot, if they are not getting out, if they aren’t meeting people that kind of fulfill that need for social community,” she said, “those can be factors leading to students feeling depressed.”

On the other hand, people like Marymount’s Vencebi can become socially anxious when around too many people. “I’m transitioning from a public to a private school which means it is more intimate than public schools, and I have always been one not to socialize,” said Vencebi.

One other crucial factor that can lead students into depression is financial instability. According to a study by Feeding America, 31% of people decide whether to pay tuition or eat. In addition, Federal Student Aid reports that about 44 million Americans have taken out student loans. According to statistics from the Education Data Initiative, student loan debt is over $1.61 trillion.

It is uncertain  whether President Biden will cancel or reduce student loan, debt, although he promised student debt forgiveness during his election campaign.

Cleyding Lopez took a break from her studies because she couldn’t afford her tuition. “As an illegal immigrant who wants to improve her life, going to college is a more difficult challenge because I don’t get student aid as other people whose legal status is different from mine,” said Lopez, who was in her second semester at Kingsborough Community College.

Brooklyn College’s Floyd sympathized. “I can only imagine for those who don’t receive aid, not only would you have to worry about succeeding in classes, but also struggle to remain financially eligible to take these classes,” he said.

In recent years, many students have seen Covid-19 as one of the causes of poor performance, which has emotionally and financially affected their careers.

“Covid destroyed my GPA,” said Baruch’s Alvarez. “Sure, cheating was the wave, and it did seem like easy A’s, but without motivation to go to class and do classwork I just slumped hard,” he added.

Other students started college during COVID, and don’t know the difference between going to college pre COVID or during COVID. The amount of work required can be surprising. “I never have experienced college without Covid. However, I anticipated the amount there was to come and was somewhat prepared for it,” said Floyd.

Although coming back to campus won’t be the same for students, Floyd is glad for the new experiences. “I am excited to be here,” said Floyd.

Floyd thought online school was going to be easier but was proved wrong. “Professors got creative and made the workload harder; due to this, my grades slowly began to decrease, and I was losing my mental stability,” she said.

Counseling is a service offered to all students in colleges, but not all take advantage of it. “They always say, ‘We understand,’ but they don’t. They are not in our shoes currently to understand what we feel,” said Vencebi.

If you don’t want to go to counseling at your college, there are other options like U ARE HEARD virtual counseling.

Marc Lehman, founder of U ARE HEARD, developed this platform as he noticed the lack of engagement between students and college counseling centers.

“Unfortunately, the statistic right now is that only 11% of students on campuses engage in assistance. In addition, students that are depressed and anxious are extremely on edge,” said Lehman.

As well as U ARE HEARD, Fountain House’s College Re-Entry offers a core semester to help students that are struggling with mental health challenges that wish to re-enroll in school. They also help those who transitioning to college for the first time. If you would like to get more information here is the link.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain information on how the Brooklyn College Counseling Department handles students dealing with mental health challenges post COVID. The Department did not make anyone available for comment.

By ENRICO DENARD