New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo depicted with Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut. On June 24, 2020, the three governors jointly announced an incoming travel advisory.

 

Museum of Jewish Heritage employees set up fundraising campaign to help former coworkers: A team of employees remaining at the Museum of Jewish Heritage has established a mutual aid fund to assist their colleagues who are now facing unemployment, heightened food insecurity, and the inability to pay rent. Funds raised will be distributed equally among staff affected by the job terminations and hour reductions. The goal is to raise enough money to give each of these colleagues $2,000 to help them pay their bills as they transition to unemployment.

The fundraiser state that "Your gift will help almost 40 people transitioning to an uncertain future know that there are people in the world who care and who will help. A contribution of any amount will make a big difference to many. We have also set up a Resource Page to support our colleagues' search for new employment. Click here to share job postings that you find. If you have a connection to a job or place of work, please consider leaving your contact information in the Google Doc to serve as a point of introduction or reference for our colleagues affected by the terminations."

 

To contribute to the GoFund Me campaign for Museum of Jewish Heritage employees who have been laid off or whose hours have been reduced, click here.   

 

"NYC shoe repair shop that survived 9/11 now bouncing back from COVID-19 lockdown," New York Post, 7/9/2020. "Asimenia Polychronakis was determined to reopen Minas Shoe Repair in June, the 50th anniversary of the business her late father founded," the New York Post reports. "Before the pandemic, the devoted daughter, 37, was planning a fitting tribute to her dad, Minas, an immigrant from Greece, who became internationally known after September 11 when his shop was destroyed in the World Trade Center. His story was told in countless articles now plastered on the walls of the relocated business at 63 Wall Street. She had hoped to celebrate with some hoopla and special promotions, like a shoe shine for 75 cents - the cost in 1970. Instead, Polychronakis quietly opened the doors on June 15 despite the Financial District's empty streets and office towers. There are no shoe shiners on duty yet, because 'no one is dressed up' and too few people are back in their offices, she said. But seeing her old customers has been one of the brightest spots of her new day." For the complete article, click here.

'SNL' star Colin Jost reveals his mom's 9/11 nightmare story," New York Post, 7/11/2020. "On the morning of 9/11, 'Saturday Night Live' star Colin Jost's family was doing a lot of live updating - but not the satirical kind," says the New York Post. "They were worried about Jost's mother, Dr. Kerry Kelly, who had left a patient's bedside on Staten Island to race to downtown Manhattan after hearing that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower. Colin was then a sophomore at Harvard University; his younger brother was in class at a Staten Island high school, and his father was at home. They feared the worst, according to Jost in his new memoir, 'A Very Punchable Face' (Crown), out Tuesday, July 14, about his middle-class upbringing on SI, life at Harvard and his storybook-smooth hiring at 'SNL' when he was only 23. With phones out of order, Jost frantically emailed his father from Cambridge: 'Dad! What's going on?? Are you home? Assuming mom is OK???' Dr. Kelly was the chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department - and ended up being the longest-serving chief of any department in city history - according to her son. Some nights she'd tuck her boys into bed on Grymes Hill, a neighborhood populated with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, and tell them she was off to a 'huge fire in the Bronx.'" For the complete article, click here.