Month: April 2020

Yonkers Assemblyman Nader J. Sayegh is encouraging the City of Yonkers and the Yonkers Parking Authority to suspend on-street meter parking enforcement for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The City of Yonkers already makes accommodations for residents who have to park their vehicles overnight under the presumption that they’re home,” said Assemblyman Sayegh.

“Now more than ever, Yonkers residents are staying home to help flatten the curve. Suspending parking enforcement for the duration of this outbreak is an extension of longstanding courtesy that has always been made to our residents. More importantly, it’s the right thing to do.”

Assemblyman Sayegh noted that many other major cities in New York State have also suspended on-street meter parking enforcement including Syracuse, Rochester, and Albany.

Other cities in Westchester that have also suspended their enforcement include New Rochelle and Mount Vernon.

“We’re hearing from constituents who are trying to be responsible citizens and do the right thing but unfortunately being penalized for it,” said Assemblyman Sayegh.

“One essential worker reached out to my office after they parked in the vicinity of St.Joseph’s Medical Center to get tested for COVID-19, only to return to a parking violation on their windshield. Some things are more important than revenue, this is one of them.”

Assemblyman Sayegh also urged the City of Yonkers to retroactively dismiss tickets which were issued from the beginning of Governor Cuomo’s PAUSE Executive Order on March 20th, 2020.

“During this unprecedented crisis, we should be coming together to do everything in our power to make the lives of all residents easier.

In a time of sudden economic insecurity, social isolation, and great anxiety, this is one less concern our residents should have to think about.”

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A City Hall source says that more than 15 percent of the Yonkers Police Department are are out sick amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the city of hills.

The city hall insider working from home says approximately 90 Yonkers PD officers and other department workers are unable to come to work

Last week Yonkers Tribune publisher Hezi Aris wrote that 30 YPD officers have now tested positive for the potentially deadly virus.

During a Q&A session streamed live from police headquarters on Facebook Yonkers Police Commissioner John Mueller said he has ended two man patrol cars.

Yonkers’ top cop also noted that Mayor Mike Spano’s Health Advisory Board Chairman Dr. Ammir Rabadi had provided each precinct with thermometers for daily officer readings in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus.

As reported last week in the Yonkers Free Press, the short staffed YPD is able to perform with less officers, because crime is down now that more and more people are off the street.

The Police Commissioner also disclosed that calls to Yonkers Police Department dispatchers are down.

The Yonkers PD has not been tough on officers calling out sick amid the coronavirus crisis.

Keith Olson the President of the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association said in a YouTube video that one officer will be cleared to return to work in a couple of days.

During the Facebook Q&A session, Yonkers Police Commissioner John Mueller said YPD officers were practicing social distancing protocols in the precincts and if possible asking civilian complaintants to meet officers outside of buildings.

Just south of Yonkers Five NYPD officers have already died as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Meanwhile, the Yonkers Office of Emergency management is asking for donations of masks, gloves and packets of hand sanitizer for the police department and other first responders in the city of hills.

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Yonkers Assemblyman and Gambling Committee Chairman J Gary Pretlow hopes for a “hail mary” that would include sports betting in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s final budget but understands that it may be 2021 or beyond before the topic comes up again for negotiation.

Before the two parties failed to reach an agreement, Gov. Cuomo and the New York Legislature were urged to find a path to mobile betting by a local city council on the behalf of two casinos.

MGM’s Empire City in Yonkers and Resorts World in Queens are two downstate casinos that could potentially benefit from a sports betting bill. The Yonkers City Council passed a resolution in the days leading up to Gov. Cuomo’s decision hoping to influence the two sides to find a middle ground.

The council’s resolution stated that legalizing mobile betting could create an annual tax revenue base of roughly $90 million and create thousands of jobs for the surrounding areas near the casinos.

Yonkers City Council Minority Leader Mike Breen expressed a commonly heard frustration around the New York legislature about the money leaving the state for neighboring New Jersey and their flourishing betting market.

“We’re asking that people can come to the MGM Casino and place a bet on sports rather than driving over the bridge and spending that money in New Jersey,” Councilman Mike Breen said

All casinos in New York are currently closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

With the state facing a $6 billion dollar budget deficit plus the additional financial strain of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, New York lawmakers were hoping that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his administration would lessen their objections over sports betting.

New York online sports betting suffered, in part, due to an accelerated legislative schedule. Normally, both the Assembly and Senate in the state would have a proposal ready for the middle of March, but due to the coronavirus outbreak, both legislative bodies were forced to narrow their budget requests.

Instead of proposals, the two chambers began negotiations directly with the governor’s office but with continued opposition in the Assembly and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reservations, the hopes for mobile sports betting fell short.

With the coronavirus hitting New York City particularly hard, the legislature’s attention is understandably on building and supporting response teams until the cases peak and first responders and the healthcare system begin to recover.

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