He smiled widely as a J. Cole song played in the background, laughing at some joke as he weighed out half an ounce of weed, a blunt hanging from his lips. However blasé he may seem, counting out dime bags, he is steadfast and serious when he talks about the risks he faces dealing. He dropped his charismatic grin as he talked about his worries about how marijuana legalization will impact his income or legal wellbeing.   

“Back up in California when weed was first legalized in 2016 I saw how quickly the process completely changed the dealing game,” said Short, whose name has been changed to protect his identity. “Immediately small time dealers like me and my friends were cut out so we had to start selling our products for way cheaper in order to compete with dispensaries, which obviously didn’t make us a whole lot of cash.”

While the recent news about New York State’s decision to start penning legislation to legalize and decriminalize cannabis may seem like a victory for users, some individuals, like Short,  believe that the start to this legislation may not be a reason to celebrate just yet. As of today, the legislation is not formalized. Meaning while there are laws in place protecting those who possess smaller amounts of marijuana won’t be arrested, those who deal in large quantities illegally are not protected. And those who currently illicitly deal don’t think they have the means or support to transition to distributing weed legally.

“It seemed like it was so impossible for people who had been dealing illegally to start joining the legal process of distribution,” said Short. “It was clear to me that only people who were already wealthy had the ability to acquire the permits and stuff that would allow them to open up shop and that was just something myself and my homies couldn’t afford to do.”

Current laws, some activists believe, still over-police cannabis users and dealers especially if they are people of color. Currently, Black and white individuals use marijuana at the same rate, but Black individuals are four times more likely to be arrested for a cannabis-related crime.

Once the legislation was announced on March 31, the NYPD was given blanket instructions to stop arresting individuals for marijuana use or possession, however they can still issue arrests for drivers who are under the influence, or individuals with intent to distribute cannabis, but only if they also have large amounts of cash with them.

“At any given time I could have up to seven years prison time in my backpack,” said  Short. “I have been dealing ever since I moved here from California a couple years back, and it is my only source of income at the moment.”

Short works with an underground marijuana distribution service. 

“It’s kind of like Doordash but for weed,” he said . 

The service allows users anywhere in the city to text a number for a daily “menu” of cannabis products – ranging from flower, to edibles to dab cartridges. 

Each day the delivery personale, in this case Short, goes to a main distribution center to pick up a daily supply of product. Then, throughout the day Short and the other delivery personnel will receive text messages with addresses for delivery and will serve customers. 

“Because of the distribution and intent to distribute law, we can’t carry any cash with us. It is a  huge liability,” he said. So the service he works for deals solely with virtual transactions through apps like Venmo or Cashapp. “That has made it a bit trickier because now we can’t hide behind the anonymity of cash, so all our transactions are digitally logged and we could get in trouble for mass distribution of a still unregulated product.”

While decriminalization and legalization of marijuana is a big step in restorative justice – especially if New York State expunges the records of those with petty marijuana related arrest records – there are still obstacles in the way of those who want to get involved legally in the cannabis industry.

Another dealer, Marcus Smith (name changed for anonymity), works on a much smaller scale than Short. He and a few friends of his get their cannabis shipped directly from California. and distribute on a much smaller scale. He said he is really interested in continuing to work with marijuana, but the requirements needed to sell legally are nearly impossible for people like him.

“I’m a Black man in Bedstuy with two prior arrests,” said Smith. “There is no way they are gonna give me a license to sell and even if I can get my records erased, purchasing a legal selling license, getting a storefront, finding distributors is impossible for someone like me who doesn’t have the connections or the money to do that. So it is looking like I’ll just have to keep selling illegally, even though I don’t want to.”

A similar issue occurred in both Colorado and California when both states independently legalized marijuana distribution and consumption. 

“I had been trying to get my marijuana license for so long when weed was legalized in 2016, but it seemed impossible,” said Reese Benton, owner of Posh Green Retail in San Francisco, California. Posh Green Retail is the first Black-female owned and operated cannabis dispensary in the city and just recently had its grand opening on April 20. 

“The licensing process was so convoluted and so expensive and there were so many times I just wanted to give up my dream,” she said. 

But Benton said that all changed in 2018 when California enacted the Cannabis Equity program which gives licensing priority to those who had been affected by drug-related arrests or incarceration. Benton’s father served time for marijuana distribution when she was in high school, so this meant she would be eligible for the equity program. 

“Everything changed for me right then and there,” Benton said. “I was able to get some financial help, people to help me with my licensing process and just a couple of weeks ago I finally opened up shop.” 

While New York state legislators continue to hash out the details of the bill, many remain cautiously optimistic that the state will adapt similar record expunging and equity programs other states have. 

“I just hope that I can continue to break through and do what I know best,” said  Smith. “And I hope that I can do it legally, and I hope that people like me are included in the conversation while this law continues to get written, because my people are the ones who have been hurt the most by the criminalization of this plant.”

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At 4:50 pm at Young’s Asian Massage in Acworth, G.A. Delaina Ashley Yuan, Paul Andre Mitchels, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng were murdered. At 5:47 pm at  Atlanta, G.A’s Gold Massage Spa Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Kim, Suncha Kim and Yong Ae Yue were similarly massacred. Of the eight murder victims, six were of Asian decent – four were Korean. Like me.

It is impossible not to grieve. If you are a human being, any loss of life, even a stranger’s, and especially any loss caused by violence is heartbreaking. But the coverage of this particular atrocity was as predictable as ever. Reasonable questions are always asked; how could this have happened? Why did this happen?i Who did this? But then – inevitably – come the other questions. The ones that humanize the perpetrator. The questions that attempt to remind us that once (or maybe still) this young man had value, was important, was loved. Like the eight people he slaughtered weren’t. 

Eight lives were blasted off this planet, and all because they could have been affiliated with sex work – which somehow makes their murders more publicly palatable. And all while his name, his age, his potential motivations are blasted on the cover of every single noteworthy publication or broadcast – news anchors struggle to pronounce the names of the very victims he made. Erasing them further. Cloaking them in further obscurity or anonymity. 

The shooter had assumed that the Asian-affiliated massage parlors he attacked were inexplicably linked with sex work and that justified his masacre. This is a common popular culture belief. While it is true that some Asian-affiliated massage parlors or spas are also covertly used for sex work, it does not diminish the lives or experiences of those who work in these facilities and it certainly does not give agency to anybody to kill these workers simply because they were consumed with sexual “temptation”.

Asian women in particular have historically been sexualized. The assumption that Asian women have been sexual commodities stems from the fetisization of them and their race. Because Asian women can be seen as simultaneously hyper-sexual and also hyper-docile and submissive, we face unique and overt violences and violations simply because of inaccurate and degrading racist assumptions based on pop culture depictions.

The mass shooting addresses many of the fears in this country that Asian and Asian American individuals face today, particularly those who identify as women and those who are sex workers. According to a study by Stop AAPI Hate, since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly 3,800 instances of discrimination, violence and harrasment have been reported in this country. “Probably more,” said Jeehae Fischer, the executive director at the Korean American Family Service Center in Queens, N.Y. “People are afraid to come forward to even say ‘hey something happened to me and I’m scared’’.

When I lived in Tübingen, in southern Germany for a year, I was the victim of numerous verbal and physical hate crimes. The area is more conservative than neighboring states, but I still experienced hatred and othering in nearly every town I visited throughout the country. Ranging from a hollered slur out the back of a car window speeding by, to beer bottles being thrown at my legs (resulting in scarring), to waking up one day to plastered graphic images of Holocaust victims covering the common area in my dormitory. I had many bad days there. But never once did I use those experiences, those bad days to harm a German individual physically or verbally. Not even those who were repeatedly perpetrating crimes against myself and my peers. I didn’t report every instance, but the ones I did were met with less than lukewarm responses. I could have done more to advocate for myself, but I was scared.

Today, and every day, I think about the beautiful people whose lives have been taken away from us through violence. Through selfish acts of cowardice, ignorance and falsely-perceived superiority. I’m thinking about Hyun Jung Kim and her life as a single mother, wondering if we both liked jjajangmyeon or if it was too salty for her. I’m thinking about Xiaojie Tan, who was only two days away from her birthday. I’m thinking about all of them. Wondering if they had anything they were looking forward to that day. Wondering if they were tired of this pandemic just like me. Wondering if they were scared.

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Experimental performance art takes place by the Washington Square arch. Viewers were encouraged to paint on a white dress worn by the artist as she remained completely silent. Photo by Isabel Beer

Masked friends hug by an ongoing clothing drive adjacent to the drained fountain at Washington Square Park. Photo by Isabel Beer

New York natives, Chrissy Santiago and Liberty Lehr both 19, draw with chalk in the sun near the Washington square arch as a skateboarder zips by. Photo by Isabel Beer

Spring time brings vibrant colors back into what was just recently a bleak scene at Washington Square Park. David James wears “MAC viva glam” lipstick to match his bright red top. Photo by Isabel Beer

An impromptu band practice begins as skateboarders join in to improvise springtime tunes. Photo by Isabel Beer

The infamous “stick dancer” performs atop a platform with “Respect the Meek Love Fools” in the drained fountain in Washington Square Park as a couple kisses in the foreground. Photo by Isabel Beer

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Instead of visiting potential housing opportunities in person, I had to conduct impromptu meetings with other tenants or landlords through Zoom a couple thousand miles away from my future home. Because of the unprecedented housing circumstances caused by COVID-19, I – like far too many other young people looking to live in New York City – fell prey to an extremely predatory and illegal housing situation.

Upon finding what seemed to be an idyllic metropolitan solace in the very first Bed-Stuy brownstone I virtually toured, I naïvley moved in sight-unseen on July 15th. Initially it seemed like a perfect fit; the property itself was a traditional Brooklyn brownstone first constructed in the late 1880s. There was immediately some obvious structural damage to the building, but I was charmed by the Tiffany-blue interior, the 13-foot ceilings, the bay windows in my room and my five wonderful roommates. Because of these cosmetic, surface level attractions, I thought I would be able to ignore the sagging floorboards or the occasional sparking electrical outlet.

“The house has always been something we stopped and looked at for as long as we lived on this street,” said Tio Hernandez, one of my neighbors. “But after a while it wasn’t because the house looked good no more. It was because it was starting to crumble.”

In August of 2020, I had my very first encounter with the dangers the house on Willoughby Avenue posed. I was taking the trash out and inadvertently stepped on a rotted piece of plywood painted the same terracotta shade as the concrete surrounding it. Instantly my foot burst through the structure and I collapsed down the flight of stairs leading to the basement that the decomposed basement cover had concealed. Luckily I only sustained superficial injuries, but the incident itself led to a series of confrontations from our hostile landlord. Initially he accused me of tampering with the basement in order to lead to my fall, then claimed I had never fallen down in the first place, before finally saying he would fix the damages. 

After enduring months of endless new property damages and a second personal injury – where my bedroom window gusted into my room at a high speed hitting me in the face – my household decided to call 311, a NYC citizen hotline of sorts that allows individuals to seek help for numerous types of disputes, COVID related questions, report power outages and other public issues. We contacted the hotline to request an inspection of the property to be conducted in order to document the lack of repairs and inaction on the part of our landlord.

Following the inspection, on Dec 22, 2020 my household awoke to several alarming notices attached to our front door. The most glaring of them all reading in bolded print “The City of New York has deemed this property uninhabitable and all residents must vacate the property within seven days”. 

On Dec 29, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed and approved an eviction ban or moratorium, essentially establishing that no one in the state could be evicted from their homes on the basis of COVID-19 related non rental payment. Tenants must show documentation of a “COVID related hardship” that led to their inability to continually pay rent in order to qualify and benefit from this moratorium. However, this new eviction ban doesn’t protect many populations of New Yorkers who are facing housing instability or homelessness. 

New Yorkers – like me – who were forced to vacate their homes due to unsafe living conditions documented by New York City’s Housing Preservation & Development office (HPD), are not protected by Cuomo’s eviction moratorium because they don’t meet the criteria necessary for federal protection. Because of this, thousands of tenants are threatened with homelessness if they cannot or do not have the means to relocate or find new dwellings by the allotted time frame. 

“It is really a frightening prospect for many tenants who maybe don’t have the means or options to live in safer homes or are being threatened by predatory landlords,” said Alexander Morris, a volunteer with the mutual aid group, Brooklyn Eviction Defense (BED). 

One perhaps unforeseen silver lining in the struggle for equitable housing and defense against exploitatory landlords is the increase in community organization and aid. When I first moved to NYC, it was my expectation that I wouldn’t necessarily be embraced by my surrounding community. Perhaps there would be polite interactions and daliences, but I subscribed to the belief that New Yorkers simply weren’t neighborly and didn’t concern themselves with the everyday goings of the strangers around them. However, I was entirely mistaken.

The day we woke up to the vacate notice I called several mutual aid groups and free legal service hotlines to see what, if anything, could be done to advocate for myself and my roommates. Immediately I was met with an outpouring of support, concern for my well being, and an abundance of help.

One day my landlord threatened to come and illegally change the locks before Dec 29, the day we were supposed to leave the premises. Fearing for my safety and my belongings, I contacted Brooklyn Eviction Defense and within 30 minutes, nearly 15 volunteers arrived to physically block anyone from Smart Equities or my landlord himself from entering the premises. This constant circulation and rotation of strangers were not only putting their own health and wellbeing at risk, but doing so because they knew we needed help and didn’t have any other options or resources. And BED is only one of dozens of similar organizations in the five boroughs that offer similar services. 

“When I was being illegally evicted from my home on Dean street this summer, I couldn’t believe the sheer amount of people who showed up for us,” said Scout Gottfried, a tenant who was this past summer similarly embroiled in a tenant-landlord housing dispute. “I mean, our community raised thousands of dollars for us during the whole ordeal, brought us meals regularly, and stood guard in front of our house to make sure we were ok. It was something beautiful during such a horrendous ordeal”.

While the dramatics of my own housing dilemma are drawing to a close – squatters recently occupied the vacant hull of the building I used to call home and we have attended our last virtual NYC housing court proceeding – it is obvious that the coronavirus pandemic will only continue to intensify the dire housing situation in this city. With thousands of tenants facing eviction come May when the eviction moratorium is lifted, it is imperative that we continue to serve the needs of those facing housing insecurity and enact a more exhaustive eviction moratorium for the duration of the pandemic. 

The post Willoughby Avenue housing nightmare appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

According to Maya Wiley – one of the candidates – the meeting was so important that day because the NYC public schooling system “wasn’t working before COVID, and isn’t working during COVID,” and that it was important for New York students to “not only catch up, but to exceed expectation.”

The Association of Black Educators of New York (ABENY), the Eagle Academy of the Bronx and Black Edfluencers United (BE-U) hosted the virtual town hall to discuss educational reform in NYC, particularly within public schools with predominantly Black, Brown, and students of color. 

“Parents are an important component and parents also need to be empowered and engaged in understanding what it is their children are learning and how to come alongside them in development,” said Schenay Augustin, a parent, during the forum. 

Participating mayoral candidates included former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, activist and educator Maya Wiley, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, mother and non-profit executive Dianne Morales, NYC controller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams and NYC businessman Ray McGuire.  

Seven community members were allowed to direct questions to candidates with a focus on equity and accessibility, educational quality and safety in the classroom.  

Some candidates, including Yang, advocated for immediately reopening schools to allow students to catch up on the curriculum they might have missed due to the pandemic. 

“We need to reopen schools as soon as possible,” said Yang. “The simple truth is that we should be fighting harder to reopen schools right now, and that is doubly true for communities that are falling behind and young children in particular.”

However, other candidates strongly disagreed with this proposal to improve student performance. 

“The first thing we have to do is keep our Black and Brown families from dying,” said Morales. “Right now, the idea of rushing back to schools without first providing our families and our teachers and our children with the adequate [coronavirus] protections is highly problematic.”  

One solution proposed to improve online learning was to increase accessibility to broadband internet and devices in order to engage and participate in virtual classrooms. According to Pix News, 77,000 NYC students don’t have access to devices or reliable internet. 

“The issue of accessibility to [working] devices is also compounding the difficulty of remote learning.” said Dr. Jawana Johnson, chief achievement officer of the Eagle Academy Foundation. “It can be hard to prioritize remote learning when families are focusing on just meeting basic needs during this pandemic.” 

These sentiments were echoed by many candidates including Adams who emphasized the importance of technology to learning saying “equity is the key to education.”

The forum touched on other priorities like the importance of having a school administrative and teaching environment that reflected the students that attended the schools themselves. 

“I went to PS 119 and IS 278 in Brooklyn, both schools with a pretty high demographic of Black, Latino and Middle Eastern students,” said former student Maya Layne, 23 who is Black. “When I went to middle school it was a pretty huge shock for me because all of a sudden my teachers didn’t really look like me and I didn’t feel personally connected to any of them.”

Several attendees believed that it was incredibly important to have administrators and teachers that have shared racial experiences or identities with their student body but also be more equipped to educate students of color on their heritage and histories. 

“We need equity in hiring processes,” said participant, Melissa Cisco. “The teaching and administrative staff should reflect its [student] population.”

Candidate Scott Stringer proposed a solution to hiring and recruiting 1,000 diverse teachers a year and to “aggressively recruit from communities of color”, but the problem arose that there is often little incentive for many teachers to work at schools with lower high stake standardized test scores. 

Another issue discussed was high stakes testing which was suspended in NYC in November of 2020.Yang argued that there was still value in utilizing standardized testing as “data points show how badly New York City is doing.”

 But school principal Marc Medley of Patterson, New Jersey disagreed,

“I can tell you that children have the ability to show what they know beyond a high stakes assessment,” he said. “Some children verbalize and conceptualize better than they write. It is just that some students don’t do as well on these tests, and I don’t think they should suffer because of that.”

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For those who are fortunate to still live in a larger household, the ability to congregate around a kitchen table is simple pleasure we can still enjoy. I followed the residents of 726 Willoughby in BedStuy and showed just how versatile their kitchen has become. Far from being a place to just enjoy meals, the pandemic has forced the residents to convert their kitchen table to serve their needs. It has become a makeshift tattoo parlor, art studio, homework study, movie theater and a place to enjoy what little company is available.

2. Jackson Engeman, Courtney Miller and Anthony Tucci at 726 Willoughby ave prepare for breakfast. Nov 20, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

3. Breakfast waits for Courtney Miller as the house cat, Caccia overlooks the area. Nov 20, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Print and engraving artist, Jackson Engeman, 22, etches a wood print in the Myrtle-Willoughby neighborhood in Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Engeman has had to repurpose his room and his kitchen in order to accomodate for his artwork. Nov 14, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Print and engraving artist, Jackson Engeman, 22, etches a wood print in the Myrtle-Willoughby neighborhood in Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Engeman has had to repurpose his room and his kitchen in order to accomodate for his artwork. Nov 14, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Print and engraving artist, Jackson Engeman, 22, etches a wood print in the Myrtle-Willoughby neighborhood in Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Engeman has had to repurpose his room and his kitchen in order to accomodate for his artwork. Nov 14, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Cadence Wright tattoos Grace Mooney, 24, with her sketchbook as a reference in her apartment in the Myrtle-Willoughby neighborhood in Brooklyn. Nov 14, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Cadence Wright tattoos Grace Mooney, 24, in the Myrtle-Willoughby with a mask in the background in Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with her partner, Engeman, Wright has had to move from a traditional studio to tattooing at home in order to serve clients. Nov 14, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Tattoo artist, Cadence Wright, 22, tattoos a client in her home in the Myrtle-Willoughby neighborhood in Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nov 13, 2020, Photo by Isabel Beer

Tattoo artist, Cadence Wright, 22, cleans her tattoo needle during a session in her home in the Myrtle-Willoughby neighborhood in Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nov 13, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

Courtney Miller, 23 zooms late at night at her kitchen table in Brooklyn, NY. Oct. 24, 2020. Photo by Isabel Beer

The post One kitchen’s transformation in the age of isolation appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Virzi had been celebrating the end of her final exam period and had gotten “drunker than [she] normally would have.” She doesn’t remember much else from the night after downing a shot with her group of friends. What she does remember is waking up the next morning naked in bed with someone she’d had no intention of having sex with. 

“As someone who has experienced sexual harassment and survived sexual assault, I have no interest in advancing the political or power agendas of people who have perpetrated assault,” said Virzi. “Both of the leading candidates in this year’s Presidential election have been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault. I feel like it would be a disrespectful disservice to any of their accusers to help elevate their potential abusers.”

Virzi like millions of others are not expected to cast a vote this election. While some have personal reasons  others  feel as though their vote or voice wouldn’t change anything.

In a recent FiveThirtyEight study, 25% of those polled believed that their votes “don’t count” or “don’t matter”, and of this 25%, many are under the age of 35. And according to a study done by the Pew Research Center following the 2016 election, personal dislike of candidates was cited as one of the leading reasons individuals don’t participate in Presidential elections.

At this time of publication, 19 women have come forward to accuse President Trump of sexual misconduct, ranging from rape to non consensual kissing and physical touch.  Several women  have come forward alleging inappropriate workplace sexual advances by formal Vice President Biden, with Tara Reade accusing Biden of overt sexual assault. Both candidates have vehemently denied these accusations, but nonetheless the allegations of abuse may have rattled some voters like Virzi who have experienced sexual violence or harassment. 

“This just goes to show you how allegations like this do nothing to hinder the ambitions of rich, white, powerful men.” said Virzi. “I feel like voting for either of these people would just further emphasize how little we care about survivors and about vulnerable people.”

Martin Zamarripa, 22 a resident of Pico Rivera, California, won’t be voting either. He is the son of two undocumented parents, and doesn’t believe that either candidate has advocated strongly enough for the undocumented community. Their responses in the last debate was a huge disappointment.

“The Biden Administration and the Trump Administration couldn’t answer definitively answer how they are even going to reunite the undocumented children that have been ripped from their families and separated in US detention centers by ICE,” said Zamarripa.

In the last Presidential debate, some viewers criticized the candidates for being unable to specify their own policy tactics to reunite the 545 migrant children to their separated families.

 “They supposedly are ‘working hard’ to reunite families but it has been too long.” said Zamarripa. “How does this inaction prove that either candidate’s administration is going to care and prioritize immigrants and immigrant needs? Especially during this pandemic?”

For Deven Chevannes, 24, of Brooklyn, lack of enthusiasm stems from the candidates responses  to police brutality. 

“Neither candidate has made a strong enough effort to protect and empower the Black community, especially following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other victims of police brutality,” said Chevannes. “After everything that went down in May, I realized just how badly we need to dismantle police forces and change our ‘justice system.’ I’m going to be voting in local elections, but I can’t participate in this Presidential election, because I think we deserve so much more from our candidates.”

Some complaints Americans have regarding both candidates is how they consider – or don’t consider – certain policy issues. 

“I disagree with both candidates on a lot of policy items, especially on issues regarding climate change and fracking. I’d never vote for Trump, but Biden is way too moderate,” said Daniel Pemberton, 23 a graduate student living in Brooklyn. “I live in Bushwick and I just know that both my district and my state are going to vote for the democratic candidates, so I don’t really think my vote is necessarily going to sway or change anything.”

The electoral college is also a source of frustration. Some Americans have voiced doubts regarding the efficacy and fairness of using the electoral college to decide winners during modern-day elections. 

“If I lived in a state like North Carolina or in Pennsylvania, maybe I’d feel differently about casting a Presidential vote.” said Pemberton. “But I don’t. I live in a state that has consistently voted for the democratic candidate and leftist causes in general. But we have the same electoral sway as a state like Kansas. Since I live here in New York, I know my state won’t go red. And since I disagree with both candidates and their ideologies, I’m not going to vote knowing my vote doesn’t matter.”

Others are turning to other parties, like the Green Party because of their dislike of Trump and Biden.

“Since I live in the Bay Area in California, which is an extremely liberal area, I just don’t feel like my decision to not vote is going to change much.” said Madelyn Dolan, 22 of Moraga, California. “ I’m going to be voting Green Party instead and participating in voting for local propositions. I know how my district isn’t going to vote for Trump, so I don’t feel a great pressure or obligation to vote for the other Presidential candidate, who I also dislike and disagree with immensely.”

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“The problem with the 25 percent  capacity cap is that it simply isn’t enough even when combined with outdoor seating.” said Mark Fox, owner of Sapien Foods and president of Fox Lifestyle Hospitality group, one of the head organizers of the march. “Fiscally, the vitality of the city will be gone. Thousands of restaurant workers will be unemployed all over again with no possibility of re-employment.”

President of Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group and owner of Sapien Foods, Mark Fox. Photo courtesy of Mark Fox

On Sept. 25, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on the Brian Lehrer Show that outdoor dining in New York City will be made “permanent and year-round”, to ensure safe eating experiences during the pandemic. But those familiar with the restaurant industry who are participating in the march say that city and state officials are not aware of the repercussions the restrictions will have.

“Should the restaurant industry be only allowed to operate at 25 percent t capacity, the majority of businesses will be closed for good by December.” said Brian Morrissey, general manager and food director at Bobby Van’s steakhouse in Manhattan. “The ripple effect of these economically irresponsible and detached decisions reach much farther than the common eye can see. My hope is that someone starts doing their homework.”

Since the mayor’s outdoor dining decree began on June 22, restaurants have been able to serve patrons and continue to remain open by installing more outdoor seating areas on sidewalks and curb ways, so long as neighboring businesses allow.  This solution worked in many capacities because the warm weather allowed it, however with winter fast approaching, not everyone in the restaurant industry is convinced that they will be able to thrive. 

“I don’t really think people are going to want to come in and eat outside in December when it’s cold out.” said Cadence Wright, 24, a server at Banter café in Greenwich Village. “We are a small place and I just don’t think operating at 25 percent capacity is going to be survivable for us. If we close, I don’t know where I can find another job.” 

Restaurants will be able to enclose outdoor seating in tents, but if the tent is fully enclosed the business will be under the same restrictions for restaurants using indoor dining.

Many restaurant owners and employees want their workplaces to resume the pre-pandemic business model, but with the recent reports of COVID clusters in some NYC communities, not everyone is convinced jumping immediately to 50 percent capacity indoors is the safest option. 

“Indoor dining hasn’t even begun yet, but I’m already worried.” said Maddie Taylor, 22, a server at a Manhattan restaurant. “I mean, we are outdoors and people will try and come in to use the bathroom or order and just not be wearing a mask at all or will say they have forgotten theirs. Who forgets a mask in the seventh month of a pandemic?” 

Those planning on marching on Monday are demanding that financial support be provided to restaurants and cafes in NYC, as well as more realistic restrictions, but make it clear that they support safety and health precautions during the pandemic. 

“We fully supported the lockdown and would fully support additional measures in the future if necessary.” said Fox. “But if mom and pops don’t receive financial assistance within the next six weeks, then between 60 and 80 percent will close permanently. The repercussions from this would be devastating.”

The post NYC Restaurant owners worry about maintaining business during winter  appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“I know many people who watch his rallies or read what he tweeted are angry, but I’m actually just really really scared and sad.” said Gabrielle Thompson, 21, of San Francisco, Calif.. “It just feels dystopian, like it’s so evident he doesn’t care about people, not even his own supporters. He doesn’t care that these rallies can kill people

Gabrielle Thompson22, wears a mask while walking on a San Francisco, California beach. Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Thompson.

Earlier this month, journalist Bob Woodward released audio recordings of President Trump discussing as early as February that the COVID-19 pandemic is airborne and “is deadly stuff”. Despite having this knowledge and despite all states taking coronavirus precautions, the president has held several rallies in preparation for the November election. 

“I voted in the last presidential election, but I didn’t know much other than that I didn’t want Trump in office.” said Alexis Parra, 22, who identifies as Latinx, of Coachella Valley, C.A. “Now, I know much more about specific issues and policies I want enacted. Especially when it comes to protecting my community members from COVID.”

 According to a CDC study, the pandemic has disproportionately affected Black and brown communities.

Alexis Parra, 22, stands in her front yard in the Coachella Valley in California. She is not supportive of the Trump rallies. Photo courtesy of Alexis Parra.

But his supporters feel that, although the virus has struck 7 million Americans,  Trump has done a fine job handling a once in  a lifetime pandemic.

“The lockdowns and shutdowns are just creating more Trump supporters who are eager to see him in person,”  said Joshua Newman, 34, who currently resides in Bali, Indonesia. “Democrats are using this as an election game and want to keep things shut down and are destroying more and more cities.”

When Trump held his latest rally in Fayetteville, many of his supporters who attended chanted “four more years” and “fill that seat” in regards to the recent death and subsequent Supreme Court seat vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

When asked directly about the safety and repercussions of holding indoor rallies during a pandemic, Trump responded “I’m on a stage, and it’s very far away.”

To some of his supporters attending a rally is no different than attending a protest.

John York, 26, flies a “2020 Keep America Great” Trump flag while kayaking with his dog in Texas. Photo courtesy of John York.

“I view the rallies as a peaceful protest.” said John York, 26, of Dallas, Texas “Why are people at the Black Lives Matter protests allowed to gather and actually destroy property, but we can’t go to an arena and watch our president speak?”

Meanwhile voters have to accept that Trump rallies will continue, despite the mounting death toll, until the campaign season ends

“Trump will do whatever it takes to have the loudest supporters in the room, even if he has to sacrifice lives to get there.” said Parra.

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