To schedule a COVID vaccination appointment:
TELEPHONE:
NYC Health &Hospitals site, 1-877-VAX-4NYC (Seniors get free transportation on request)
VaccineFinderNYC.gov – 877-829-4692 (Seniors
get free transportation on request)
Ryan Center: ryanhealth.org/news/covid-19-vaccine
Call Denise Fontanez-Rodriguez, 212-316-7906, 347-964- 3253
BY COMPUTER OR SMART PHONE:
Drugstores for people 65 or older:
Rite Aid: https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier
Walgreen/Duane Read:
https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/covid-vaccine.jsp
For all eligible people, regardless of age:
TurboVax.info –.This puts together
information from the City and State
public sites. Follow our
Twitter @turbovax) to be instantly notified when appointments open up.
Columbia, NY
Presbyterian, Weill Cornell: Go to the myconnectnyc.org, its Connect patient portal. (https://www.myconnectnyc.org/MyChart/Authentication/Login?)
Abyssinian Baptist
Church members: drayton676@yahoo.com
COVID has changed our usual VALENTINE’S
DAY fundraiser too.
BUT
we still need money –to keep all tenants informed with tenant handbooks, a
website, flyers and more, and to fight the expected “Major Capital Improvement”
increase we’re expecting for the rent stabilized tenants.
SHOW YOUR LOVE FOR THE TENANT ASSOCIATION BY
· Joining or renewing your
membership ($10/apartment each year), and
·
Contributing
to our Legal Fund ($100 yearly or whatever you can afford).
Bring your check to your floor captain, or bring it (or send your
electronic check) payable to Central Park
Gardens Ten.’ Assn. to Joan Browne in Apt. 12F.
Laws that protect us during
the pandemic
I. STATE RENT RELIEF PROGRAM –
deadline to apply: FEB. 1, 2021.
Previous applicants for New York State’s COVID
Rent Relief will not have to reapply to be reconsidered.
NY State Housing and Community Renewal (HCR)
will re-evaluate all applications that were denied
according to the new criteria and issue revised
determinations to applicants.
The COVID Rent Relief Extension
eligible households with a one-time rental subsidy
that will be sent directly to the household’s landlord.
Applicants will not need to repay this assistance.
The COVID Rent Relief Extension
first come, first served. Applications will be accepted
throughout the application period. HCR will prioritize
eligible households with “greatest economic and social
need."
Eligible households must meet all of the following
criteria:
· Must be a renter and have a primary residence
in New York State;
· Applicants must have lost income during the
period of April 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020;
· Before March 7, 2020 and at the time the
application is submitted, household income
must be at or below 80% of the Area Median Income,
adjusted for household size; and
· Households must be paying (or asked to pay)
at least 30% of their income in rent during the
months they are applying for assistance between
April 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020.
Applications will be accepted through
Monday, February 1, 2021.
The subsidy for eligible applicants will be calculated as:
the difference between the household’s rent burden on
March 1, 2020 and the household’s rent burden
the months of April, May, June and July of 2020 (coverage
period), except that for applicants whose rent burden was
lower than 30% on March 1. The subsidy will be sized to
reduce their rent burden to 30% for the lowest month
during the coverage period.
EXAMPLE: You were paying 15% of your income
in rent on March 1. Then you lost your job but have
found some small gigs to pay part of the rent. Your
rent, if you were able to pay it in full, would come to
40% of your current income. So the subsidy would
be 25% (the difference between 40% and 15%) of
the rent amount, paid directly to Stellar.
For help, applicants can contact HCR’s COVID Rent Relief
Extension
1-833-499-0318 or covidrentrelief@hcr.ny.gov.
II. Eviction Moratorium
If you fill out hardship declaration!
The COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and
Foreclosure and Prevention Act of 2020 says no one can be evicted (except for creating a nuisance or hazard) before February 26, 2021,and
offers eviction protection until May 1st for those who fill
out this tenant hardship declaration form(English
and Spanish available). It can go to fschiff@stellarmanagement.com.
Anyone who is behind on rent and falls into one of the two protected categories listed on the form itself should fill out the form as soon as possible, even if you don’t currently have a case in housing court. That will
(1) shine a spotlight on how many people are suffering nearly a year after the pandemic began, and
(2) guarantee you two more months of eviction protection.
Free Legal Help
GET HELP TO SIGN UP FOR A COVID VACCINE APPOINTMENT from the
VACCINE APPOINTMENT ASSISTANCE TEAM (VAAT).
Phone: 501-510-0251
By computer: https://forms.gle/
For older adults living in NYC struggling to secure a COVID vaccine appointment, the Vaccine Appointment Assistance Team (VAAT) is here to help! VAAT is a grassroots effort, unaffiliated with any organization or agency, to help adults age 65+ struggling to secure vaccine appointments. VAAT consists of highly dedicated, fast-typing, quick-clicking, tech-savvy juniors looking to help seniors. After you submit a request, one of our Appointment Specialists will reach out to you to discuss your needs.
Requests are preferably submitted online. Sue can do it for you if you give her your information (see below).
Please note that VAAT does not have special relationships with any vaccination sites, so it cannot guarantee success in securing appointments.
The Central Park Gardens Tenants’ Association
mourns the loss of our long-time neighbor and former board member, floor captain and treasurer of our tenant association
MARIA ACEVEDO
who passed away on January 18, 2021 at the age of 77 of kidney failure.
We extend our condolences to her brother Tom, with whom she lived.
There will be a short memorial on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021
from 9:30 to 10:30 AM
at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 180 West 76th Street.
SUE’S VACCINE
EXPERIENCE
On Tuesday, I got vaccinated at a City site in the
Bronx. I was given the Moderna vaccine and although my arm was a bit sore and I
had a headache (it went away with Tylenol), I was fine on Wednesday. My
husband got vaccinated through his employer (Columbia) Wednesday morning with
the Pfizer vaccine, and he's had no reaction at all. You can schedule an
appointment at https://vaccinepod.nyc.gov/
The technology that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use ("mRNA") has been studied for years and has gone through all the proper safety trials. These vaccines are NOT the virus itself, so you cannot get COVID from the shot. Instead, the vaccine primes your body to recognize (and then attack) just the spiky outside of the virus.
While many people have a 1- or 2-day
reaction to the second shot (you need
two shots to be protected about 95%), COVID is way worse. Many people
with COVID are hospitalized, and many of those die. Risks are higher for those
who are older - the very people for whom vaccines are now available. But
even younger people who have mild illness or are asymptomatic have experienced
heart and lung damage - as tested in some college athletes. Some
people are still sick from COVID months after.
Dr. Fauci estimates that about 70% to
85% of the population has to be vaccinated (or have had documented COVID) for
life to return to some semblance of normal. That's a lot higher than for
the flu shot. And vaccines work!
Viruses die out when there are not a lot of other people conveniently available to get infected. That's what "herd immunity" is about: when MOST people in a population are immune, the virus just dies out. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines work for 95 out of 100 people. But you won't know whether you're one of the 5 unlucky ones. So even after you get vaccinated, wear a mask and observe social distancing until some 85% of us have been vaccinated and we get herd immunity. Then we'll all be able to breathe safely again! Click on "read more" to see if you're eligible.
Sue Susman
