Vaccination Rate Lags in N.Y.C. as Disparities Persist |
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Alternate-side parking: In effect until May 13 (Solemnity of the Ascension). |
 | | James Estrin/The New York Times |
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New York City's reopening is on the horizon. But as hopes of vibrant summer grow, the pace of vaccinations against the coronavirus is now lagging. |
By Wednesday, about 55 percent of adult New Yorkers had received their first dose, according to city data, with 41 percent of them fully vaccinated. But in recent weeks, the number of daily doses administered has fallen from more than 100,000 on some days in April to below 40,000 on some days this month. |
Stark disparities have also persisted with vaccinations for Black and Latino New Yorkers. |
Here's what you need to know: |
Asian-Americans have become the city's most vaccinated demographic group, city data shows. Sixty-eight percent of the city's adult Asian population, which is over 680,000 people, has received at least one dose. (White adults in the city are the next highest at 49 percent.) |
The numbers may reflect the hard work of community-based organizations, which have shouldered much of the outreach. |
The staff members who work at Mekong NYC, a small nonprofit that serves the Southeast Asian community in the city, for example, taught themselves how to explain medical terms in Vietnamese and Khmer. The group has helped over 100 people, many of whom are Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees, get vaccinated, my colleague Amanda Rosa reported. |
Despite those successes, vaccination efforts have faced obstacles in some immigrant neighborhoods, and experts worry the data obscures widening disparities between specific communities. |
Black and Latino New Yorkers also remain behind: Only 30 percent of Black adults and 37 percent of Latino adults have received at least one dose. |
Similarly, Brooklyn and the Bronx report lower vaccination rates than Manhattan. In one ZIP code that includes Canarsie, for example, 35 percent of adults have received at least one dose. In some areas of the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen, the total is over 75 percent. |
In an effort to reinvigorate the pace of vaccinations, city- and state-run coronavirus vaccination sites have begun allowing people over 16 to walk in for their first dose without an appointment. |
And city officials have continued to enlist the help of community organizations and attempted direct outreach to unvaccinated people. |
New York banned single-use plastic shopping bags in the fall. Though some stores ignore the regulations, only a dozen violation notices have been issued. [The City] |
A 91-year-old woman died, at least one man was in critical condition and several others were injured after a fire tore through an apartment building in the Bronx. [ABC 7] |
Bills to establish minimum staffing requirements for hospitals and nursing homes — a concern magnified in the pandemic — await Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's signature. [Gothamist] |
And finally: Broadway shows signs of life |
The stage lights are still months away from turning back on. |
But there are now signs of life for one of the city's crown jewels: Broadway shows will start selling tickets today for full-capacity shows with performances starting Sept. 14, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced this week. |
Why the wait? With as many as eight shows a week to fill, and the tourists who make up an important part of their customer base yet to return, producers need time to advertise and market. They need to reassemble and rehearse casts who have been out of work for more than a year. And they need to sort out and negotiate safety protocols. |
Broadway's emerging timeline, which is constantly being re-evaluated, serves as a reminder that New York's rebound from the pandemic will be slow and gradual. The recent edicts from elected officials are only one factor in reopening: every economic sector will have to figure out when and how to restart. |
About 30 shows including "Hamilton," "The Lion King" and "Wicked" are currently planning to begin performances on Broadway before the end of 2021, with about half starting in September and the rest spread out across the year's final quarter. A handful of shows are not expected to return until 2022. |
There remain many uncertainties: Will masks be required for patrons? Will performers sign autographs at the stage door? Will vaccinations be required? Even the frequency of performances is still to be determined. |
Individually and collectively, producers are also trying to imagine when large numbers of people are likely to feel comfortable traveling to Times Square, funneling through cramped lobbies and walking down narrow aisles to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. |
"We've never done this before," Victoria Bailey, executive director of TDF, the nonprofit that oversees the TKTS ticket-selling booth in Times Square, told my colleague Michael Paulson. "The last time the theater industry opened from a pandemic, Shakespeare was still writing new plays." |
It's Thursday — break a leg. |
Metropolitan Diary: Cash dash |
When my husband and I moved to New York, we spent an exhausting week looking for an apartment. Eventually, we found the perfect place for us: a sunny and lovely one-bedroom on the Upper West Side. |
The realtor told us that in order to secure the apartment we needed to give him a cash deposit as soon as possible. So right after as we left his office, I raced down the street looking for an ATM. I was determined to get him that down payment before anyone else could. |
As I dashed down a side street toward Columbus Avenue, I was feeling rather self-conscious and silly about running in the street. Just then I saw a middle-age woman running my way at full speed. |
She must have known that we were both on urgent missions, because she grinned as she passed me. |
"We're gonna make it!" she yelled. |
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