The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Tag: COVID

Signs Seen Around The Neighborhood

Posted on by Harlem Shill

These signs speak for themselves.

And to sum it all up, a great list from Astor Row:

Events at the Harlem Rose Garden

The Harlem Rose Garden (East 129th Street at 5th Avenue) is hosting a number of events in October. Garden members thought it would be a great idea to host a series of laughter filled movie nights and their annual Halloween bash! 

The events are limited to 25 people. All events will be first come first served and you are required to wear a mask unless eating or drinking. 

To stay COVID friendly we are encouraging members to bring their own personal snacks or dinners. 

Here is the schedule of upcoming events:

Friday 10/16 – Crazy Rich Asians

Seating 6:30 PM.  Start 7:00 PM

Saturday 10/17 – Garden Halloween Decoration  (Help decorate for our upcoming Halloween Bash) 12 PM-2 PM.

Thursday – 10/22  – Movie: We will do a pick of the week, more than likely something scary in the spirit of Halloween!Wednesday

Seating 6:30PM Start 7PM

10/28 *Kids Movie Night *Seating 6:30PM Start 7PM 1HR Movie – Addam’s Family 
Saturday10/31

Halloween NIghtmare on 129th Street *Candy handout for trick or treaters * Covid friendly games * Custom contests 

Please let the garden know if you are free to volunteer for Halloween, we will also need candy donations!  

Schools+COVID+Apps…

Posted on by Harlem Shill

For everyone, not just families with children, the potential for schools to be vectors for the explosion of winter COVID cases is huge. The DoE has a useful map to help everyone, but parents in particular, learn about COVID impacted schools.

🔴 A red dot indicates a building that has been closed.

🔵 A blue dot indicates one or more classrooms in a building that has been closed.

Unfortunately, as you can see on the map, Harlem and East Harlem have been been severely impacted. Below is a more detailed view of our community:

To keep up and stay informed, use the link below. Note that the map is updated Sunday through Friday (not Saturday):

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-year-20-21/return-to-school-2020/health-and-safety/daily-covid-case-map

New York’s New COVID Alert App

The New York Department of Health has launched a new, free app that will tell you if you’ve come in contact with a COVID-positive person. COVID Alert NY is available as of today for iPhone and Android. Using your phone’s Bluetooth technology, it will alert you if you’ve been within six feet of an infected person for more than 10 minutes.

In a press conference call yesterday, Governor Cuomo said he believes the app is the first of its kind in the nation. It cost $700,000 to develop and was paid for through a combination of federal dollars and support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Bluetooth technology–which senses proximity to other phones–was developed by Google and Apple in conjunction with MIT. The Linux Foundation and Tech:NYC also collaborated on the app.

The technology works to sense “close contact”–that within six feet and for at least 10 minutes (it ignores people who you just pass by or were farther than six feet from). When your phone senses close contact, it exchanges a secure random code with the other person’s phone, and your phone stores this close contact code in a list. If a person tests positive, the Department of Health contacts them and gives them a password that they can enter into the app that will then alert people moving forward. The DOH will also ask the positive person if he or she is willing to share their app’s list of close contacts to alert those they’ve been in contact with previously. It’s completely voluntary and no names or privacy information will be shared, which is the reason the app was developed with Bluetooth technology instead of GPS.

COVID Antibodies

Posted on by Harlem Shill

As you likely know by now, the presence of COVID antibodies indicates people who have had COVID (knowingly, or completely asymptomatically). The DOHMH for NYC has released a map of COVID antibody testing. Our (East Harlem) data is based on 6,258 tests:

The city on Tuesday released the results for roughly 1.5 million coronavirus antibody tests conducted since mid-April. The new data confirms earlier reports that the virus has hit people of color and low-income communities harder than more well-off neighborhoods in New York City. At 33 percent, the Bronx saw the highest rate of people who tested positive for COVID-19; in Manhattan, 19 percent of antibody tests were positive. A new map and table released by the city’s health department break down antibody testing rates by ZIP code, age, borough, sex, and neighborhood poverty.

As you can see, our community is somewhere in the middle of Manhattan’s range. Many more people in Washington Heights have had COVID, and many people south of is in the upper East Side, for example, have not had COVID.

The lowest rates in Manhattan, which had the lowest overall rate of positive antibodies, were found on the Upper East Side and Upper West, both at 12.6 percent positive. No neighborhoods south of Harlem saw rates higher than 20 percent. In the ZIP code 10036, which includes Midtown West, 19.6 percent of those tested had antibodies.

Some researchers say those with COVID antibodies are likely protected from getting the virus again or as severely, possibly offering some relief to those neighborhoods hardest hit early on in the crisis. But there are still too many unknowns, and the city wants everyone, antibodies or not, to consider themselves at risk for infection.

See: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data-testing.page