The local paper for Downtown YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE ◄ P.2
WEEK OF APRIL APRIL-MAY
30-6 30 2020
ON A MISSION TO SAVE CHINATOWN
BUSINESS City Council Member Mark Levine. Photo courtesy of Council Member Mark Levine.
SHOULD THE BEACHES OPEN?
PUBLIC HEALTH
City Council health chair calls for a safe option, but other elected officials aren’t on the same page BY JASON COHEN
As temperatures begin to rise and summer is around the corner, the question remains will NYC open its beaches amid COVID-19? While parks and playgrounds are closed, one elected official feels people should be able to relax in the sand and swim in the ocean. New York City Council Health Chair Mark Levine told the Westside Spirit that New Yorkers can’t be
cooked up inside all summer, so finding a way to safely keep the beaches open should be a priority. “The alternative you give is no safety valve to the city and going to the beach with no lifeguard protection,” Levine said. “With summer coming, we are going to see less support of social distancing.” He feels with coordination from the Parks Department and other government officials it can be done. Levine said the hours will likely be limited and there would need to be strict security measures that would enforce social distancing. “We should start devel-
Welcome to Chinatown delivers over two thousand meals to essential workers at NYC hospitals BY CULLEN MONROE ORMOND
Manhattan today is so different than it was just two months ago. Bursting neon lights have been replaced by shuttered businesses, the cacophony of voices has long been silenced and congested
streets once brimming with energy are now desolate. While all of the city is struggling amid the COVID-19 crisis, among the hardest hit by the virus economically and socially is Chinatown. “It kind of feels like we’re living in a movie,” said Jennifer Tam, who works in corporate communications at Foursquare. The unfortunate truth is, this is not a movie. This is Chinatown’s bleak reality. The decline began in January,
The Association to Benefit Children has moved to the front lines in the pandemic. p. 5
PANDORA’S BOX
Ben Kallos’s cat appeared in the first-ever remote meeting of the City Council. p. 6
Amy Klein’s sincere guide to getting pregnant provides women a roadmap to infertility and obstacles. p. 9 Victoria Lee and friend at a drop-off. Photo courtesy of Welcome to Chinatown
OurTownDowntown
@OTDowntown
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ABC: NOT AS EASY AS 1-2-3
‘THE EMOTIONAL JOURNEY IS ALWAYS VERY SIMILAR’
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O OTDOWNTOWN.COM
around the Chinese New Year, as the coronavirus gained traction in the American news media and it was announced that the virus originated in Wuhan, China. President Trump’s referral to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” only heightened xenophobia. “I think Chinatown was the first to suffer because of the racist connotations associated with the virus coming from China,” said Alice Wong,
INSIDE
Voices City Arts
6 10
15 Minutes Real Estate
11 12
HISTORY OF A FINE GUITAR How an instrument guided the writer through “the decades of my life.” p. 6