Our Town - June 25, 2020

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The local paper for the Upper East Side USING AI LEARNING FOR COVID CARE ◄ P.18

WEEK OF JUNE-JULY JUNE

25-1 25 2020

AN INCLUSIVE PRIDE MARCH

INSIDE

ACTIVISM

The Reclaim Pride Coalition will put a focus on Black LGBTQ issues at their upcoming demonstration BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

Last year, a group of organizers came together to reimagine what a Pride celebration could be, feeling that New York City’s parade had become an overly corporate, and overly policed, event over time. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, they created their own march without a police presence and without corporate sponsors that would match their values. “The march was supposed to be inclusive of everyone make people feel comfortable,” said Francesca Barjon, one of Reclaim Pride’s organizers. “A lot of Black people don’t feel comfortable around police and a lot of LGBT people don’t either because we’ve all had issues of being harassed for our identity.” About 45,000 people showed up to make the march from Stonewall to Central Park. Organizers want to duplicate that success with this year’s march

SHOPPING FOR SENIORS DURING COVID-19

We’re marching against the mistreatment of people, and so we center the people who are mistreated the most like Black people, [transgender] people.”

Elizabeth Murray of Health Advocates for Older People partners with C-Town to deliver groceries to UES elderly residents. p. 8

Francesca Barjon, Reclaim Pride organizer Fiorello on the Upper West Side gets ready for outdoor dining. Photo: Jeanne Straus

on Sunday, June 28, with Black LGBTQ folks as the focal point of their demonstration. “We’re marching against the mistreatment of people, and so we center the people who are mistreated the most like Black people, [transgender] people,” said Barjon. “We’re horrified by the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Layleen Polanco, Rayshard Brooks and untold numbers of others, and we’re mourning the endless violent deaths of Black trans women and men like Dominique ‘Rem’mie’ Fells and Riah Milton.” Barjon and the rest of the Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) has a long list of goals that they will be pushing at

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STAYING SAFE IN PHASE TWO

REOPENING

How to keep the virus at bay as New Yorkers start to return to offices, restaurants and shops BY MICHAEL ORESKES

New York City embarks this week on Phase Two of its great experiment to see how much of our previous life we can resume without the protection of a vaccine against the coronavirus. Instead of the “moon shot” science of a safe vaccine, whose arrival, effectiveness and acceptance are all still a matter of speculation, the

safe reopening of New York rests for now on following simple science, some of which has been in practice for a century or more. To succeed at this, New Yorkers need to shed distracting myths about themselves and their city. Last week, the New York Times wrote: “The very factors that made the city an epicenter of the pandemic — its density, tourism and dependence on mass transit — complicated efforts to return to a state of normalcy.” Not really. Density and mass transit have been largely debunked as sources of the pandemic (indeed, infection rates are higher in rural areas and other

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mass transit dependent cities have not had New York’s viral spread). It is true that someone brought the virus here from Europe. But we have no idea if it was a tourist, a returning New Yorker or a business traveler. In any case, we should be so lucky as to have tourism as a challenge. Right now there isn’t any. Shedding these myths will help New Yorkers to see that a “return to a state of normalcy” is largely in their own hands, which they should wash frequently.

No Magic Bullet Vast amounts are being spent around the world to cre-

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IN THE WHIRL OF ZOOMTOWN BreakALeg Production company’s play competition, no kids in the park, plus new foods and entertainment in our lives. p. 6

HERE’S TO MEN WITH KITCHEN SKILLS “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook” on the Food Network with husband chef Chris Fischer. p. 6

Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, June 26 – 8:13 pm. For more information visit www.chabbaduppereastside.com.


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