ASKED & ANSWERED Insurance chief predicts a telemedicine revolution PAGE 6
CRAINSNEWYORK.COM
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THE LIST Crain’s annual ranking of the largest publicly held firms PAGE 11
MAY 18, 2020
CORONAVIRUS ALERT
City gave $91.5M contract to shop that couldn’t deliver
Top PPE order to Brooklyn business with shaky financial record
A
t the frenzied height of the Covid-19 crisis in New York, on April 11—the day the city clocked 516 new deaths—a struggling Brooklyn medical-supply store won a $60 million order from
the city to produce protective gowns for health care workers on the front line of the pandemic. The virus was filling city hospitals with infected New Yorkers. Nurses treating them had begun to revolt over a lack of personal protective equipment: the gowns and masks
that form a thin barrier between medical workers and the sick. The city was scrambling to fill that deficit. Days before, Mayor Bill de Blasio had made a desperate plea to the
JANON FISHER
BY GWEN EVERETT
See WOODHULL on page 19
HELPING SMALL BUSINESS BOUNCE BACK 10 steps government can take to jump-start the city’s economy BY BRIAN PASCUS
N
ew York’s small businesses have been devastated by the lockdown to stem Covid-19. Unemployment has reached record levels, the hospitality industry has been crushed, and companies are trying to figure out how to navigate a post-pandemic world. But there are solutions.
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MORE INSIDE
HARRY PULVAR
See 10 STEPS on page 22
GRUBHUB SNUB
City Council caps fees for online food delivery. PAGE 2
LOAN LIMBO
PPP money is flowing but confusion reigns. PAGE 3
VIRTUAL SHOWPLACE
CALLING IT QUITS
PAGE 4
PAGE 10
Company helps nonprofits offer online experiences.
Uber closes e-bike startup for which it paid $200 million.
5/15/20 5:44 PM