COVID-19 update: Cuomo launches ‘Mask Up America’ TV campaign featuring Robert De Niro, Kaitlyn Dever and others

July 16, 2020 Editorial Staff

Tables will be required to be 6 feet apart and customers must wear masks while not at the table, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP

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On the front lines of the war on COVID-19, there are many civilian heroes going out of their way, as volunteers and contributors. Also, many who are elected to serve are going the extra mile. In this column the Eagle hopes to give our readers an ongoing update on those fighting in the front lines.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spreading fast in many states across the country, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today launched the national “Mask Up America” education and awareness campaign to urge all Americans to wear a mask while in public. Eight 30-second television spots, which will be rolled out throughout the month of July, have been produced by Jane Rosenthal of Tribeca Enterprises and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. They feature Robert De Niro, Kaitlyn Dever, Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, and others.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has released a new analysis of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), established through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). It found that New York City lags far behind in its share of eligible businesses that received a PPP loan. “New York is contributing more to the federal government than nearly any other state, but Washington continues to return the favor at pennies on the dollar.” said Stringer. “In our time of need, Congress is failing to step up.”

On Thursday, the Crown Heights Service Industry Workers, the Crown Heights Tenants Association, and the Red Bloom Communist Collective as part of the New York City Fight For Our Lives Coalition organized the March to Cancel Rent for Black Lives, beginning in Grand Army Plaza and marching to several sites of ongoing rent strikes. “Racial justice and housing justice are deeply intertwined, as the violence of gentrification and displacement disproportionately impacts Black tenants,” the groups wrote.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Wednesday announced that they will be expanding their joint homeowner protection initiative, the Protect Our Homes initiative, to include protections for renters in New York City. The initiative, launched in January 2020 to educate New Yorkers about deed theft and other housing scams, will now include support for New Yorkers threatened with illegal evictions and other issues plaguing renters amid the COVID-19 pandemic.