The local paper for Downtown MY PANDEMIC HAIRCUT ◄ P.6
WEEK OF JULY
2-8 2-8 2020
DR. MASK MONITOR
PUBLIC HEALTH
An Upper East Side pediatrician chronicles facecovering failures on her Facebook page Screenshot of NY1 primary debate with (clockwise from top left) moderator Errol Louis, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Peter Harrison, Suraj Patel and Lauren Ashcraft. Patel has accused Maloney of voter suppression; Maloney called Patel’s tactics “out of Donald Trump’s playbook.”
THE LONGEST PRIMARY NIGHT POLITICS
Counting of absentee ballots begins this week as tensions flare BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM
New York’s primary election took place one week ago but the results likely won’t be known until July, exacerbating tensions between candidates in close races. This year, New York received an unprecedented number of absentee ballots as thousands of voters elected to vote by mail rather than their local precinct amid the coronavirus pandemic. All of those absentee ballots have yet to be
counted, and are not expected to be counted until Wednesday of this week. The delayed process has left candidates in tight races hanging, most notably in New York’s 12th Congressional District. Rep. Carolyn Maloney is holding onto a lead of just 648 votes over challenger Suraj Patel after the initial count on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. There are about 31,000 absentee ballots yet to be tabulated, with 23,000 coming from Manhattan, 6,400 from Queens and 1,300 from Brooklyn. Pundits believe the breakdown of ballots looks good
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I believe if something is simple and it works, use it.” Dr. Laura Popper
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Voices City Arts
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50% Lemon
18% Citrus flower
WHAT SCENT SHOULD THE SUBWAY BE? Poll: We asked our readers what scent of coronavirus-killing cleaning product they would prefer. p. 3
A NIGHT OF VIRTUAL LAUGHS
Feed the Frontlines supports comedians through a Zoom comedy show. p. 2 Dr. Laura Popper. Photo courtesy of Dr. Laura Popper
century way to use a smartphone and social media to fulfill what she describes as her role as “medical town crier” on behalf of public health. This began in the early days of the outbreak when, like many New Yorkers, she found herself walking everywhere, particularly to her practice in the East 60s. To break up the monotony she began keeping a count of people as they
OurTownDowntown
O OTDOWNTOWN.COM
19% Pine
13% Mint
BY MICHAEL ORESKES
She calls it the Peter Pandemic: “I Won’t Grow Up. I Don’t Wanna Wear a Mask.” Few people have more right to throw this shade than Dr. Laura Popper, a prominent Manhattan physician, critic of government leadership (that is, the lack thereof), Mount Sinai Medical School professor and, in recent months, chronicler of how way too many of us are failing to follow instructions to wear a mask. “The only way to save America is for everyone to wear a mask,” she said the other day. “That’s the new government position. I was saying that before when the government was saying ‘don’t worry, don’t wear a mask.’ It’s a simple, simple thing. I’m a simple person. I’m a pediatrician.” Popper also has found a 21st
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15 Minutes Real Estate
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passed: “Mask, no mask.” The latest data projections say that coronavirus transmission can be cut by a third if most people wear a mask, as happened in Hong Kong. Popper’s census was coming up disturbingly short of that. “I started walking and being so sad,” she recalled. But sadness began transmut-
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THEY WRITE POSTCARDS, DON’T THEY?
Markers for Democracy creates postcards to send to Democratic voters across the country. p. 6