Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

state of emergency

state of emergency

  • A CLEAR Path Forward on Emergency Preparedness

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    Mayor de Blasio holds an emergency management briefing (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    I’m writing this from my living room. My three-month-old daughter is across the room, sleeping in her activity gym. My wife is watching television. This should be another normal day, but all of us, including you reading this, knows it's not. Our daughter has barely seen her grandparents since February. My wife hasn't seen the outside world in almost two months. Aside from a few stressful trips along empty streets to the grocery store, neither have I.

    Nothing about this

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  • Coronavirus Crisis Again Shows New York Must Ensure Long-Term Support of Grassroots Emergency-Response Groups

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    Community groups can organize other community groups (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    Every day, New Yorkers are faced with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented public health and economic crisis ravaging our city. As the federal government continues to recklessly shirk responsibility, state and city governments strain to support hospitals and those impacted by the pandemic with their depleted budgets, leaving low-income and marginalized communities more vulnerable than ever.

    In their wake, mutual aid and nonprofit

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  • Cuomo v. De Blasio: Who Has the Last Word on Reopening New York City?

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    Cuomo and de Blasio at a March briefing (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)


    This guest column is part of Citizens Union Speakers, a regular series of op-eds written by members of

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  • The State Legislature in a State of Emergency

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    A near-empty chamber conducts Senate business (photo: NY Senate Media Services)


    As New York has become the country’s epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo has stepped onto the national stage as New York's (and the region's) captain, coordinating the state's response to the outbreak with a profusion of executive orders and fireside chats from the State Capitol, streamed daily and with PowerPoint.

    The governor has signed 11 executive orders, suspending dozens of laws, as he, his top aides, and public health officials

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