Good evening,
I hope this email finds you well as we head into the weekend. For all those celebrating "Good Friday" and Easter on Sunday, I hope as you pray, from home, you draw strength from your faith during these difficult times. I extend the same wishes for those continuing to celebrate Passover.
It feels like every night is unlike any other lately, but, unlike the Talking Heads, I'm not
"getting used to it now"
. Yet, not being used to this surreal moment in time, is about as good as it currently gets. I'm very fortunate, and I hope you are too, as there is much pain and suffering around us.
As was announced earlier today, we have now lost
7,844 people across New York State to COVID-19 and 777
over the last day. Fortunately, despite these heartbreaking numbers that represent our fellow New Yorkers, there is continued optimism that social distancing is working.
However, a side effect of social distancing is record numbers of people becoming unemployed. For those applying for unemployment insurance benefits, there is information here and below for the application process, which has now been streamlined a bit. The main difference in the process is that applicants will no longer need to call the Department of Labor if a follow-up phone call is necessary. Instead, the Department of Labor will call the applicant within 72 hours.
There are various resources, including information on how to celebrate Easter remotely across our community, and other items of interest, below my email signature.
Have a good weekend, stay safe, share this information however you'd like.
Michael Racioppo, District Manager
Brooklyn Community Board 6
P.S Please forgive any typos or brain freezes in the text as I get these updates out in haste at the end of the day, and if there is a community-centric item you think I should know about
please reach out.
