Hi Neighbor,
What’s it going to take to convince Staten Island anti-maskers that there’s something to wearing them during this plague called coronavirus?
You know who they are. The ones who mock face masks — and the people wearing them. Who call masks a political statement. Say they’re a ploy by Democrats to politicize the virus to their advantage, to damage Donald Trump’s chance of reelection.
Those who wanted to throw the doors open to everything and everyone, who held rallies and filed lawsuits, who wanted Staten Island “opened” before the other boroughs because we were doing so well.
Or argued Staten Island Covid deaths weren’t really as high as the New York City Health Department reported.
Everyone who just had to cozy up with friends, shoulder-to-shoulder around a restaurant table, no masks, or cheek-to-cheek for those all-important selfies. Or scoffed at physicians, and not just any physicians but infectious experts, who pleaded with America every day to realize a second wave was not just likely, but unavoidable.
Staten Island is seeing Covid cases spike in every zip code but one. Tottenville — 10307 — is approaching a staggering 7% when experts say we can be comfortable with it under 2.
Schools are closing on-and-off at an alarming rate and the mayor, who put his stake in the ground as the only big city to reopen schools, is now talking about closing them.
Hospitalizations here are rising and more of our neighbors are dying. We haven’t seen spikes like this since mid-May. We are the least-populated borough, but second highest in rate of infections — just behind the Bronx.
Bill de Blasio sent an army of workers across Staten Island this week — a “Day of Action” he called it — to distribute face masks, and is setting up more free testing centers.
Is any of this a surprise? It shouldn’t be. Dr. Anthony Fauci — the guy President Trump grouped in with the scientists he labeled “idiots” — predicted a fall/winter spike all summer.
No one wants to see another total lockdown, here or anywhere. Despite what the anti-maskers on Staten Island think, those advocating caution get it. They know out-of-work families are struggling. Businesses are dying. We hear about restaurants all the time, but there are so many smaller businesses on the brink — or over it.
We let our guard down on a lot of things and get away with it. We let it down not very long after Sept. 11, curtailing random stops at bridges and tunnels. Demanding easier access to airlines.
We let it down after major storms that KO power for days and days, forgetting the chaos that ensued — until the next storm hits.
We let it down after Hurricane Sandy. Who knows the status of the East Shore seawall?
And we’re letting our guard down in the Covid-19 war. “Caution fatigue,” the experts call it and that says it all.
A ton of Staten Islanders made it clear who they place their trust in last week when 110,094 checked off Donald Trump on their ballot, dwarfing the 67,223 who trusted Joe Biden. And we know how most of Staten Island feels, including the Dems, about Bill de Blasio.
But if you believe in numbers, and Trump supporters must because so many take glee in telling me how many here voted for the president, but if you believe in numbers, please listen to at least those two Democrats when they implore you to you to do the right thing to control the virus.
The numbers tell us a lot more Staten Islanders will die and the economy will shut down again if we do not wear face masks and social distance. It’s as simple as that.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden takes off his face mask as he arrives to speak, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)AP
“It doesn’t matter who you voted for, where you stood before Election Day,” Joe Biden told America the other day. "It doesn’t matter your party or your point of view. We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months.
"Do it for yourself. Do it for your neighbor. A mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling the country together.
Here at home, “we can stop a second wave if we act immediately,” Bill de Blasio told New York. “But we have one last chance and everyone has to be a part of it.”
Everyone means just that — everyone.
Our soon-to-be-congresswoman, Nicole Malliotakis, doesn’t think Staten Island’s “anti-mask” sentiment is a Donald Trump thing. It’s a Republican thing, she told The New York Times.
“I think it’s probably that Republicans don’t like mandates as much. That could be some of the reluctance,” she told The Times.
A face covering can be construed as a “mandate,” I suppose, if you’re not allowed on a city bus without one. Or in a supermarket, deli or department store. But so is “no shirt, no shoes, no service.” Do Republicans have a problem with that, too?
This is not a Republican thing or a Democrat thing. And no excuses should be made. It’s also not the time to take the adage, “This Too Shall Pass,” seriously. Oh, it might pass after a proven vaccine takes hold and more get vaccinated than don’t. But that won’t happen any time soon.
Look around you. How many of our neighbors will die before we get there, neighbor?
Brian
Oh by the way: While we’re talking about masks and social distancing, our Democrat friends should have done the right thing and called out the thousands and thousands of people across the country in each others' faces celebrating Joe Biden’s projected victory Saturday. CNN pundits celebrated right along with them until one finally saw the hypocritical nature of it all and commented. Admittedly, many wore masks. But social distancing? Hardly. Where was Gov. Cuomo or Bill de Blasio? I’ll tell you where Bill was — out there celebrating with them. Taking selfies and all. Sure, a Trump rally is bad. A Biden rally is good. Just a little more reason to divide America even more.
People celebrate in Times Square after former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was announced as the winner over Pres. Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, Saturday, Nov. 7. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)AP
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