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JENETTE GISBERT OF VOLUNTEER NEW YORK ON THE WESTCHESTER NEED FOR VOLUNTEERS NOW 
JENETTE GISBERT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VOLUNTEERNEWYORK WATCH HER “PEOPLE TO BE HEARD” INTERVIEW ON www.wpcommunitymedia.org
CURRENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED BY ORGANIZATIONS LISTED BELOW CLICK ON TITLE OF ORGANIZATION TO VOLUNTEER, MORE INFORMATION:
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WPCNR GRILLMAN GAZETTE. By The Grillin Gourmet. ReInternetted from The CitizeNetReporter Archives of the Ancient Past. April , 2018:
No matter whether you’re a New York Liberal, a Michigan Wolverine, A Trump supporter, A Desantisman, BIDENET or California free spirit, there’s still one phenomenon the country still believes in AND IS SOLIDLY ALL IN– the American grill.
Thanks to the chimney charcoal starter and its glowing orange coals, the backyard American barbeque DNA macho in the amateur chef was inordinately delayed by the coldest WETTEST spring in memory.
But today its 71 degrees in White Plains New York USA, CLIMBING TO 77 WABCCCCCC DEGREES. The immortal deejay Big Dan Ingram is telling you to “Roll Your Bod,”Beach and the grill is READY!
Steak was raised outside!
It was born to be cooked outside.
The outdoor charcoal grilled steak puts the steakhouse in its place!
In this griller’s opinion, outdoor grilling proves once again to be superior to the overpriced artificial-tasting steak.
Sleek decor and atmosphere cannot duplicate backyard origins. The economy may be slogging, your home equity shrinking, but take heart even the hobo can grill! It’s part of American DNA. It’s Democracy!
To do real steak right , you have to do it outside on charcoal.
The instinct of generations of the American backyard grilling tradition passed up from the cave, enjoyed at Valley Forge. Lewis and Clark bit into venison discovering the Northwest.
Cowboys sunk teeth into rare beef around chuck wagons on the prairie and up from the Southland , barbecue inbred and passed on from American father to American son – cutting across nationality and station – gives you real steak – not $100 technology enhanced cuts.
Flaming charcoal makes steak a living thing in your mouth!
Why go out for dinner when you can tap your inner griller and say I can cook steak better!
The difference is the air, the smoke, the way marinade just drips down into the coals and gets into the meat. It’s chemistry, Americans!
What is it about the American Grillman that’s so special that his or hers backyard cuts beat the insider professionals’ inflation-friendly ostentatious steaks?
It’s the unique chemistry of being American and believing in the charcoal flames. The campfire. The Longbranch saloon.
On Memorial Day weekend, it’s a must. On Independence Day Weekend, it’s not July 4 unless you’re grillin’. On Labor Day, if you’re not workin’, you’re grillin’.
There’s just something about the searing intensity of glowing charcoal combining mystically with the testosterone and instinctual synergy between red meat and the dedicated outdoor griller – it beats in taste, juiciness and texture the contrived technology of the most expensive restaurant equipment.
No matter how tasty the megabuck meat is in the swank sticker shock steak palaces of the expense accounters, there’s always that artificial packaged taste that betrays the indoor steak. The butter softness. The soft crust of the black topped surface of the indoor steak just does not have the nubile grizzled roughhewn ruggedflamed reluctant yield of the outdoor one-on-one grilled steak that fights your bicuspids with spirit, and sealed in juiciness.
The Chimney Starter the Secret.
Pour in a helping of those ultimate black beauties, Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the chimney top.
Fifteen minutes before the wife has the sides ready, take a wooden match to the aperatures in the base of the starter and light up the edges of the newsprint. Within 10-15 minutes you’ve got coals a firey orange red. You’re ready to outcook the pros.
After the Griller’s wife has marinated the meat – the bone trimmed Porterhouse is sizzzzzzzlllllllllling in the caressing deep searing heat of glowing orange briquettes – 4 minutes a side in 400 degree heat and deft turning and surgical “rareness checks” – the seasoned grilling caballero simply has a feel for the meat – passed genetically down from generations of American grillers.
The combination of cauldron, flavored steel grill rods and perfect flames creates the grillmark “brand” lets you know just by looking at the cut, you’re going to get the natural taste of the backyard steak – No one can do a great cut like you can!
As any redblooded American Grillman will tell you when doing a steak – you can’t deliver a steak by manual or instructions.
You have to feel the meat. Feel it cook. You just know its time. Hearty smoke promising juicy meat that melts in your mouth creates an experience only the grillman or GrillGal knows.
Every cut is not the same.
Each deserves a surgeon’s attention to cooking timing and detail. And surgical checks are necessary.
The American Grillman becomes one with the meat. With eye and knowledge of the hue of red – you just know by instinct when she’s done.
Cooking is slowed down by moving the meats to the side off the heat to keep the American beauties warm
With the wife’s deft presentation, sweet potato fries, corn pudding, fresh beans and mushrooms the Grillman’s natural art creates the taste of traditional American 3-Day Weekend.
Get those grills handy and ready to fire up to get that taste of American unity once again.
When you’re over the grill, you’re King of the Hill.
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We survived the end of the public health emergency. Here’s the state of affairs.
SARS-CoV-2 is nosediving across all metrics in all regions of the U.S.: hospitalizations, deaths, emergency room departments, and wastewater. Wastewater is still higher than in 2020 and 2021, though.
We’ve been hitting new lows in death counts, too. In fact, excess deaths are hovering at only ~1% above pre-pandemic rates (at the height of the pandemic we were at 47%). In other words, things are looking good right now.
It will be interesting to watch what happens this summer, as the South has consistently faced a COVID-19 wave. Most scientists (including me) are betting that we will continue to see wavelets, at least until winter.
Virologists continue to identify “cryptic lineages” in wastewater, though.
These are highly mutated COVID-19 variants that randomly pop up on our radar. The latest (right below) was detected ~12 hours ago. None have taken off yet, but are a lingering reminder that a variant of concern could be brewing in the background. We still have many unanswered questions about cryptic lineages: What is the health status of the person? Do they have long COVID? Where in the body is the virus replicating?
We are in for a few quiet weeks (or months? who knows). In June, we should have clarity on the fall COVID-19 vaccine plan in the States. Stay tuned.
Love, YLE
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JOHN BAILEY AND THE NEWS THIS WEEK EVERY WEEK ON WHITE PLAINS WEEK FOR 22 YEARS.
FIRST MIGRANTS COME TO WESTCHESTER COUNTY. WHAT WE KNOW, DON’T KNOW AND WHY WE DON’T KNOW–THE LEADERS DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
PLAYLAND OPENS, JOHN BAILEY TAKES YOU THROUGH THE NEW PLAYLAND.
SHOCKER OF THE WEEK : PRESIDENT’S NEW ASYLUM GUIDELINES WILL BAR THOUSANDS FROM ASYLUM
COVID CASES EASING DOWN SLOWLY NATIONWIDE LAST THREE MONTHS
GOVERNOR HOCHUL ASKS WASHINGTON TO SEND JUDGES, CLERKS AND MONEY TO HOUSE NEW YORK CITY’A 71,000 MIGRANTS.
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Later this summer, I’ll mark the one year anniversary of Force of Infection. As I think about the year that has passed and the second year ahead, I want to take a moment to explain why I write this newsletter. This past December, there was a period when everyone in my household except me was laid up with strep throat. Miraculously, I was spared—which earned me the privilege of overseeing four visits to the doctor’s office, five trips to various pharmacies, and the role of chief caregiver during multiple days out of school and work. On top of everything else, the antibiotics prescribed to treat my family’s bacterial infections were in short supply. The same inelastic supply chains that couldn’t provide enough masks and at-home tests during COVID-19 waves put common antibiotics in shortage. I had to make multiple phone calls to our doctor and various pharmacies to find a suitable replacement that was actually in stock. Even now, months later, certain amoxicillin products remains in short supply. If all this sounds familiar, it’s not just in your head. Similar dramas played out in millions of households this winter. Such is the nature of epidemics — it’s everywhere, all at once. And of course, it wasn’t just strep throat that went around. First RSV, then COVID-19, influenza, adenovirus, and finally stomach bugs all took turns making us miserable. It’s a carousel that families couldn’t seem to get off. Infectious disease activity has finally quieted down, but it was a tough school year (again) for many families. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022 and the first months of 2023 were as challenging for childcare issues as the early years of the pandemic. Let me say that again: disruption to childcare has been ongoing for three straight years. In fact, October 2022 was the worst month for childcare issues across the entire pandemic, and this February was on par with pre-vaccine levels. Even last month, when both flu season and covid had died down, was worse than the height of flu season in the years before the pandemic. Not all of these childcare issues are attributable to illness, of course. But, given the successive waves of infections, I suspect that many are.
Labor Force Statistics: Employed with a job, Not at work, Childcare problems. BLS. The impact of these illnesses was felt not just in homes, but also in schools and workplaces. When kids are home sick from school, parents have to miss work to care for them. And even in households without small children, infections can wipe days or even weeks of work off the calendar. It creates a ripple effect, as businesses struggle to maintain productivity and people are forced to make impossible choices about how to keep all the balls in the air. The backlash to pandemic-era measures would have you believe that there are two modes: all or nothing. Either you spare no thought to what’s going around, or you “live in fear.” This is a false dichotomy. We can make decisions about avoiding infections just like we make any other decision about managing risk. There is a sustainable middle ground for staying healthy that I think is worth incorporating. When a storm is forecasted, I pack an umbrella or cancel plans at the park. When my budget is tight, I spend less. When I know there’s a lot of flu going around, I wear a mask on the metro. If I’m not feeling well, I work from home. For older adults or people with health conditions, precautions during flu season or a COVID-19 wave may be more strict. But without any awareness of what the current outbreak situation is, there is nothing to base sound decisions on. The first step is knowing what’s going around so you can adjust accordingly — and helping people access that information is one of the main goals of this newsletter. I want people to have quick, digestible information about what’s going around their communities so they can make those informed decisions. My hope is that readers will miss fewer days of work and school, need fewer trips to the doctors office or pharmacy, and enjoy overall better health. I also hope that if and when there is a severe public health event, you’ll have a place to turn for trusted information. As Your Local Epidemiologist and I wrote recently, public health did not always succeed at connecting with the public during the pandemic. “People do not turn to media companies for their news,” we wrote. “They turn to anchors and reporters whom they come to know and trust—warm bodies that they can relate to and who appear consistently over time. We don’t give the public enough opportunities to see and trust warm bodies in public health. Messages must be delivered by real people, preferably the same people, in a style that feels human.” I hope to do some of that here, too. So thanks for joining me here at Force of Infection. I hope you stick around for year two. Quick summary of outbreaks this weekCOVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline. Trends in wastewater data are also stable. I’m watching the Southern region of the country most closely, as that is where previous summer waves have started. But so far there are no signs of increase. Influenza-like illness and RSV are still declining. We are now well out of flu season, thankfully. Norovirus is falling in all four regions of the country. Gerber Good Start formula has been recalled. This time of year, events like potlucks and block parties where food sits out in the hot sun too long are a big source of foodborne illness. FDA has some good tips for food safety when eating outdoors. One highlight is not to keep food out for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if it’s more than 90 F outside). Also take care when handling raw meats. Mpox case counts remain low, but CDC is warning of a probable increase this summer. CDC has some good information about how to protect yourself from mpox, especially as we head into Pride month.
Photo by Laurentiu Iordache on Unsplash
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WPCNR Migrants Today. May 24, 2023:
Being interviewed on WOR Radio Tuesday, County Executive George Latimer in a statement implied he would accept New York City migrants placements in Westchester County:
He said: “Our attitude isn’t as severe as some of our neighboring counties. If we’re trying to help release a little bit of the pressure valve in New York City, we’ll help out. We’ll do a certain amount, and we’ll manage it, and we’ll try to make sure that it goes well.”
On WVOX Tuesday morning he said there was no “sanctuary” towns or cities in the county and no other locations other than the Yonkers Ramada Inn where 50 rooms are allocated and paid for by New York City to house migrants currently, at this time.
At the end of last week, the county has not yet responded to WOR questions as to how the county was mobilizing with Westchester organizations, businesses, hotels and cities since last week to line up possible migrant housing locations in the county.
WPCNR has learned that a number of non-profit organizations have been meeting and discussing needs and logistics as to how their organizations can respond to help and provide for New York’s 71,000 migrants needing housing.
The Hudson Valley Gateway Association of Realtors, asked by WPCNR if the realtors discussing a policy to find housing available for migrants in a statement wrote:
” HGAR does not have a statement about housing at this point. As for foreclosures (as housing locations) that would be up to individual brokers.” (The Regional Realtors are having a conference the first week in June where how real estate professionals could help the region respond to the migrant crisis by discussing possibilities, but it is not planned to do so at this time.)
Modayn NY Governor Kathy Hochul in an appearance in Brooklyn with Mayor Eric Adams, said the state is coordinating locations to house the migrants. She did not prohibit counties from responding with their own local location suggestions. She called on the Biden Administration to provide Judges, Clerks and Money to expedite the asylum procedure.
in her address to the state Monday, she said:
“Right now, we have members of my senior team literally embedded working shoulder to deal with finding space, just emergency shelters, wherever we can find it. We have over 1,500 National Guard members. What are they doing? Building cribs, running out for food, making you feel secure, helping people apply for their asylum status, becoming a friend to people. And I want to thank our National Guard. This is a hurricane of sorts and they’ve been out there since for many months, and I want to thank them for what they’re doing.
And we are identifying additional shelters.
“The city is overflowing. The mayor has used every ounce of creativity with him and his team to find space, and we are asking for more space. We’re looking at hangers at JFK.
We’ve asked for Floyd Bennett Field to stand up a major operation. We have other facilities we’ve been talking about. We’ll be announcing more on that briefly.
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TODAY is the one-year anniversary of the Uvalde mass shooting. Nineteen fourth graders and two teachers at an elementary school were murdered. As a mom, a Texas resident (at the time), and a public health professional, this shook me.
Mass shootings continue to shake me.
Gun advocates claim that the probability of dying from a mass shooting is rare. And, compared to other firearm deaths, they are right. But these deaths are preventable. We also fail to recognize the ripple effects—the detrimental impact on the survivors and the communities for years to come.
The impact is enormous and far-reaching.
As you can imagine, survivors suffer from mental health problems following mass shootings. This is particularly the case among children with direct exposure (heard gunshots, saw bodies, saw the gunman) or risk factors (pre-event traumatic exposure). Scientific literature shows school shootings result in:
These traumatic experiences can bleed into children’s education and employment years later. After school shootings, children experience:
Then there are the parents of the survivors. Those who get a call or text message that there was a mass shooting without knowing whether their child is okay. They are tasked with helping their child cope with this trauma. Parents of survivors report:
Then there are the helpers—the firefighters, FBI agents, police officers, other teachers, volunteers, hospital staff, therapists, and everyone who helps in the immediate aftermath and thereafter.
Unfortunately, this has been explored very little in the scientific literature. One study reported increased fear, hypervigilance, and sleep difficulties among the helpers.
Then there’s the community. Neighbors, grocery store workers, bus drivers, and more are impacted indirectly. The deadlier the mass shooting, the stronger and longer lasting the community-level effect. This is particularly the case in small communities because the psychological proximity to victims is strong.
After a mass shooting, community members report:
There are tremendous costs to mass shootings, even for those not directly involved. These tragic events, like in Uvalde, set off a cascade of collective traumas that result in physical, mental, and emotional impairment for thousands; far more extensive and for far longer than critics portray. If you’re feeling it like me, you’re not alone.
Love, YLE
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, data scientist, wife. During the day she works at a nonpartisan health policy think tank and is a senior scientific consultant to a number of organizations, including the CDC. At night she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support this effort, subscribe below.
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(From the Governor’s Press Office;)
In a news conference in Brooklyn this morning, Governor Kathy Hochul set procedures in place to house, expedite status, train the 71,000 migrants flowing into New York City to be employed while they stay awaiting decision on their status. Here is what she said:
Governor Hochul: “They’re eager to work. They want to work. They came here in search of work and a new future, and they can become part of our economy and part of our communities, and people are ready to start training them right in facilities like we have here today.”
Get them shelter. Get them food. Get them legal services. And then help them get to work. And so these are yet challenges, but what a great opportunity for us here in New York. And I have to say, over the last many months, a year ago, longer than a year ago, Mayor Adams and his team have been asked to do the impossible.
But he rose up. He put so much muscle behind the effort to find homes for these individuals any way he could. Leaving no stone unturned. And he recognized, now that we have over 70,000 people fleeing difficult, terrifying circumstances. Whether it’s an oppressive regime in Venezuela, economic circumstances, great poverty, oppression, gang violence, decades of this have forced people who otherwise would be just as comfortable living at home in their own communities to have to flee those circumstances.
And so, mayor, I want to thank you again. On behalf of the people of this State for the way you just stood up to this challenge, didn’t run away, didn’t shirk it, and said, “let’s figure this out.” And that is the kind of leadership that is so critically important. That is why your partnership on this is so important.
And you recognize these are individuals who deserve compassion and dignity.
And I’m talking about Yvert who talked, who just crossed the border from Texas three weeks ago with this one-year-old and a six-month-old child, how terrifying could that have been? How terrifying not knowing when you’re traveling with an infant, what the next day’s going to bring.
Will there people on the road who want to do your harm? Will there be enough food and water the next day? Imagine the terror of what he went through, but he was unrelenting in his pursuit of giving his little daughter a better life. It’s an extraordinary story. And now he’s applying for asylum to be part of the New York family.
And New York has been working so hard to provide individuals like this what they need.
New York City is the number one destination for asylum seekers who have been released from federal custody, who are waiting their next steps in the process.
Now we know why. New York is an incredible place to live. But it also has conferred a lot of responsibility and the fact that right now there are over 42,000 people sheltered, safely sheltered, in this city shows the effectiveness of the mayor’s operation, but also the compassion of the people here in New York because this is a humanitarian crisis, not created by this city, not created by this State, but it doesn’t matter.
Blaming doesn’t help.
We’re in executive positions where you have to just manage and that’s what we have to do. But we’ve helped. I want to thank my partners in state government. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the leader of the Senate, Carl Heastie, our Speaker, the entire legislature for seeing that more resources would be needed, and that’s why just a few weeks ago, we passed $1 billion in our budget to provide for supportive services, housing and legal services.
I’ve committed to the mayor. I’m sure that’s not the end of it. We’ll just leave it at that right now. But we’re going to make sure you have what you need, mayor, we’re going to make sure you have what you need because we are committed to getting this right and we’ll continue to work closely with you.
Right now, we have members of my senior team literally embedded working shoulder to deal with finding space, just emergency shelters, wherever we can find it. We have over 1,500 National Guard members. What are they doing? Building cribs, running out for food, making you feel secure, helping people apply for their asylum status, becoming a friend to people. And I want to thank our National Guard. This is a hurricane of sorts and they’ve been out there since for many months, and I want to thank them for what they’re doing.
And we are identifying additional shelters.
The city is overflowing. The mayor has used every ounce of creativity with him and his team to find space, and we are asking for more space. We’re looking at hangers at JFK.
We’ve asked for Floyd Bennett Field to stand up a major operation. We have other facilities we’ve been talking about. We’ll be announcing more on that briefly.
But we need all levels of government to respond to this.
We truly do. And I’ve been working with our partners in Washington since last summer with the mayor trying to find how we can be more flexible in ensuring that these individuals can get a quicker path to a legal work status. I visited Washington again just a few days ago and was in constant communication yesterday with the White House. They know what we need. We need money, we need new places for shelter, and we need support.
But more than anything in why we’re united here today with business and labor and advocates – and I do want to mention the New York Immigration Coalition is here as well, what an extraordinary job they’ve been doing. More than anything, we need changes to the work authorization policies that will let these individuals not have to wait months and possibly years for that legal status, but let’s get it in on an expedited basis.
Shrink the wait
So, we think it’s possible. Right now, you have to wait 180 days after you file for your legal asylum status. That is the big unknown. People come here, they’re desperate, they’re trying to figure out how to just get on their feet, they don’t know the language and the burden of trying to properly fill out the asylum papers.
And then if you’re missing something that someone’s actually going to find you to update the application, then at some point you’re going to go see a judge, we don’t have enough judges here in the State of New York, so start sending some judges up and the clerical staff. Give us the support we need so they can start properly filling out the asylum process.
But, once that’s done under the current rules, they then have to wait 180 more days in limbo, not able to work legally in the State of New York. That’s not working. That’s not a solution. They’re ready to work. They’re willing to work. And they’re not able to work. So, we’re spending a lot of money. We’re dealing what we can, but we need this help from Washington.
And again, I want to thank our partners, and I’ve been in constant communication with Majority Leader Schumer almost daily on this issue for many months and our Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and all the members here and the entire delegation. We need this change in policy from Washington to allow Mario Cilento and Danny Meyer and Kathy Wylde to go back to everyone they represent and say, “We’ve solved this crisis. We have people.”
WHERE THE OPEN JOBS ARE RIGHT NOW
So, when you think about what we have open right now, I know upstate, I know exactly where it starts too – there are over 5,000 farm jobs, 5,000 farm jobs open as we speak. The cows don’t wait to be milked, the plants need to be maintained and harvested in a few months, the crops.
We have more than 5,000 food service jobs right now. I’m a former waitress. I made pizzas, chicken wings, waited tables, cleaned floors, did pots and pans – doesn’t take a lot of skill, I was 15 years old. Those jobs are available.
4,000 openings for janitors, cleaners, and housekeepers. As I mentioned, the jobs for farm workers as well.
So, we’re grateful that the Biden Administration has instituted a new border process, starting with the suspension of Title 42 on May 11th. We all know that date well. And that’ll allow asylum seekers from other countries to seek sponsorship and to apply from their home countries. And if they don’t, they will be turned back. So that is a shift in policy, which we hope will be successful and mitigate the flow of new arrivals here.
But in the meantime, we know who we have.
They’ve been coming in daily, and we have to deal with the number of individuals with us now, whether it stays 71,000 or it’s up to 80, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we have to deal with it.
And also, one thing we’re doing is having our Department of Agriculture and Markets connect with Cornell University and finding people who do have work authorization because some people have applied successfully, they’re already able to work on our farms. But, that doesn’t help the problems we have right now.
So again, this is an ask.
We’re asking again, we’re pleading, saying, this is a great opportunity here in the State of New York to solve two problems: how to help these people get on their feet and support their families – and my God, who in this city has not come from somewhere else, their family?
And I took note of the Statue of Liberty in Ellis Island as I came here this morning, a reminder of my teenage grandparents who fled great poverty in Ireland over a century ago. Grandpa found a job working on a wheat field in South Dakota as a migrant farm worker, and they were domestic servants in the city of Chicago until they found jobs as union workers making steel in Buffalo.
Their children, eight children packed into a tiny house, became business leaders, school superintendents, educators, and a granddaughter even became a governor. That’s what happens in one generation, one generation. People’s lives are transformed, they are changed. That is the story of New York.
And let us have the power to give that same right, that same opportunity to people to say, “Yes, you are part of our family. We welcome you. And you’re going to help us get through a crisis, the shortage of workers.”
We can solve for it. And that is the great opportunity we have before us today.
And no one knows that better than our mayor and we are working so closely together. And I also want to say to parts of our country and our state who are enacting bigoted policies based on fear and intimidation, join us.
Join us. Let people know the true story of what New York is.
It was not putting out those signs, even though Grandpa saw “Irish need not apply.” Eventually those signs came down and people were welcoming.
At the start of the event Governor Hochul acknowledged the support of labor, restaurants, hotels, and community groups supporting the effort:
Danny Meyer, you sure know how to host an event on short notice, and I want to thank you for welcoming us to this training center. 30,000 square foot kitchen and all sorts of facilities. And the operative word is on ‘training,’ training workers, which is why we’re here today.
I do want to acknowledge, and I’ll be presenting him in a few minutes, but having our mayor here, a great teammate, a great partner. And I want to thank him for his continual communication and working together and just rolling up our sleeves. Let’s give another round of applause to our mayor, Eric Adams.
Thank you. We also have the dean of the Congressional delegation. Jerry Nadler has joined us – a strong, important voice for us in Washington D.C., joined by Congressman Dan Goldman. We are in your house. This is your district as well. And thank you for all you’re doing for us and your focus on helping us solve problems.
Kathryn Wylde, the President of the Partnership for New York City. I want to tell you, whenever there’s a crisis you are there to roll up your sleeves with all of us and to bring the business community to bear and the influence that you have. So, thank you Kathy, for working on this issue with us as well.
Andrew Rigie, I want to thank you. We’ve seen each other at many events. But, when you harness the power of the restaurants and the hotels and all the employers, there’s a great story you’re going to hear unfold here today about great possibilities, great opportunities that thus far have been on overlooked, and we’re looking to capitalize on them today and put a lot more people to work in your facilities as well.
We are so fortunate to have the leader of the New York State AFL-CIO, again, bringing labor to the issue as well. And I want to thank Mario Cilento for his. Support for us as well, and you’re going to hear from Yvert Rafa, an asylum seeker who traveled a great distance, who came with his little child from Venezuela and literally arrived here just a few weeks ago. He is going to tell you about the experience of being one of those individuals who found their way to our great city, in our great state. So you’ll be hearing from him momentarily. Thank you, Yvert. Thank you.
Union Square Hospitality Group. This is extraordinary and I want to thank you again, Danny, for hosting us here. And you think about some of the greatest establishments we have in the city. They have Danny’s name associated with them, but one of the barriers holding back even more success is the challenge of finding workers.
Danny and I had this conversation literally just a couple days ago, and this is going to affect the future and the viability of our restaurants when people, and I’m hearing not just in the city, but all over the state, only being able to have shorter hours, reducing the days they’re open, having only serve half of a dining room instead of the whole dining room, because there are not enough workers here in the State of New York.
VOLUNTEERING
