Roosevelt Island Mom Observes Horrible Non Social Distancing And People Not Wearing Face Coverings At Lighthouse Park On Beautiful Day Yesterday, Asks For Solutions - NY State Senator Jose Serrano, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer & Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright Request Mayor de Blasio Schedule Face Covering Distribution For Roosevelt Island

Yesterday, Roosevelt Island NY State Senator Jose Serrano, who also represents areas in the Bronx and Manhattan, tweeted upcoming free NYC Coronavirus face covering distribution locations in his 29th District. But they did not include any location for Roosevelt Island.

I saw the police giving out masks by Cornell tech today

— ˗ˏˋA local tipster ˎˊ˗ (@iamjessklein) May 7, 2020

Today, Senator Serrano, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright sent this letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio requesting Roosevelt Island be included in the free face covering distribution. Here's the letter.

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

We thank you, your staff, and every New York City agency for their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic. We particularly appreciate recent efforts to provide face coverings for New Yorkers and your flexibility in exploring new sites for distribution.

As such, we would like to request that Roosevelt Island be included for scheduled mask distribution at a central location. Roosevelt Island is home to more than 11,000 New Yorkers, many of whom belong to populations vulnerable to COVID-19. We understand that Roosevelt Island is a special case, with a unique City and State partnership. Despite an absence of New York City parks on the island, Roosevelt Island has a great deal of parkland and other open spaces for distribution.

We understand the need to move quickly and distribute face coverings as broadly as possible, but it is critical that no neighborhood in our city is left out of these efforts. As always, we appreciate your collaboration and we look forward to continuing to work together to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers. If you would like to further discuss this matter, please reach out to my office at (917) 708-2050 or at serrano@nysenate.gov.

A Roosevelt Island Mom reports yesterday on observing a high percentage of people not wearing face masks on Roosevelt Island:

I was out on RI today with my son, it was beautiful and so of course a lot of people out and about, and I noticed a huge decrease in masks compared to the last few weeks, also really horrible non-social distancing going on.

So as we sat on the grass by the Lighthouse I spent about 10 minutes counting the people going by on bikes, jogging, walking, etc. Out of 32 people only 13 were wearing masks.

 I don't know what the solution is but I'm really fearful that we're tipping towards a critical mass of non-mask wearers and there is no enforcement at all. Given this is a new norm, new rules, etc it's totally understandable that there is a whole spectrum of opinion as to whether "it applies to me" but without some kind of enforcement, the "I'm not going to bother" brigade will be emboldened and eventually this whole effort we're all making will be in vain.

I see folks out without masks who probably live in the island. What I find funny is that when I went to Manhattan last week the scene was so different. People not wearing masks were being actively harassed!

Maybe we're just too polite. I wonder if an online campaign would be effective to get RIOC and PSD to react. I will say that the lack of clarity, or changing language, is catastrophic. Anything left open to interpretation will be interpreted in a 1000 different ways. I see that playing out on many RI FB threads right now. But for the first time today I really felt like the level of non-compliance is a real health risk.

It would be great if you could talk to PSD and figure out what their strategy really is to deal with it. Clearly throwing people in jail for not social distancing is insane...but then what are they mandated to do? I'm at the point where I think zero tolerance (by way of a fine or penalty) is the only way to ensure compliance. Sorry for the rant, I just know you engage with a lot of the decision-makers and law enforcers on RI and wondered if you have heard anything that inspires confidence that this will be properly addressed.

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):

Maintain Social Distancing

We want everyone to enjoy our public spaces as long as they wear a mask or face covering and practice responsible social distancing procedures. If you see a group of people who are not complying with these guidelines, please contact PSD immediately at 212-830-4545.

As previously reported RIOC closed Southpoint Park late in the afternoon of Saturday April 25 because people were not social distancing or wearing face coverings. Last weekend there were no Roosevelt Island Park closings for lack of social distancing and RIOC Public Information Officer Terrence McCauley adds:

We did not issue any summonses for failing to comply with social distancing or face covering protocols this weekend. As per NYPD guidelines, PSD officers issue a verbal warning to those not complying with the face cover/mask order. However, if the person does not feel they can wear a mask due to medical reasons, they cannot be compelled to do so.

Here is more info:https://t.co/iSAFAZmASc

— Andrea Sboner, PhD (@asbonerw) May 8, 2020