On Sunday, Mayor de Blasio announced a series of panels and task forces to focus on recovery and restarting the city.

He questioned those who maintain the city may not ever regain its full glory lost due to the coronavirus.

“We’re going through a lot of pain but we will unquestionably come back,” the mayor said.

 

 

 

He added that restart talks will happen over the next few weeks. It will be driven by science and public health data. How to restart will entail protection, cleaning and social distancing. And, he said there will be a series of advisory councils beginning May 1st.

A Task Force on racial equity will be led by First Lady Chirlane McCray and Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson. There will be separate task forces focused on reopening each industry, and there will be a new  Fair Recovery Task Force whose members include:

  • Patrick Gaspard who served in the Obama administration
  • Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch who helped steer the city through the financial crisis of the 70s
  • Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO of Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies
  • Carl Weisbrod, a Senior Advisor
  • Henry Garrido, Executive Director of District Council 37
  • Maria Torres Springer, VP for US Programs
  • Liz Neumark, CEO, Great Performances
  • Fred Wilson, Partner at Union Square Ventures.

The preliminary report from this task force is due June 1st.

The mayor also said that key indicators continue to trend downward, including hospitalizations for coronavirus.

 

 

 

The mayor also responded to Saturday’s news from the Cuomo administration that $8 billion will be cut from aid to localities in the state budget. De Blasio says he’s “very, very concerned” about these mid-year cuts.