Holiday Headwinds & the Coming New Year

Most Folks Won't Miss 2020, but There was a Silver Lining in the Dark CoVid Cloud, 2nd Stimulus Package Passed & NYS Rent Relief Program Reopened

December 22, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

As we head into the holidays, which for many begins on Wednesday evening, there doesn't seem much bounce in folks steps when I travel the city.

For many 2020 has been a devastating year. Over 320,000 Americans lost their lives to CoVid, over 18 million contracted the virus [tested positive], and about 30,000 or more people have been in the hospital with CoVid - every day - since April of this year, with double that amount in two separate spikes in April / May and July [see chart].

CoVid Pandemic Health & Hospitalization Impact. What's worse, is that as of just a few days ago, there were nearly four times that daily hospitalized patients amount [113,000 according to an NPR report on December 17th] as I write this. So if you're one of the 310 million Americans who haven't caught the virus, consider yourself lucky and you have something to be thankful for. And if you haven't lost someone close to you, then you're not among the roughly estimated three million Americans who have.

• CLICK here to read the rest of the report on the recent surge in CoVid infections and hospitalizations and some measures of the ongoing economic impact of the CoVid pandemic.

Holiday Headwinds & the Coming New Year

Most Folks Won't Miss 2020, but There was a Silver Lining in the Dark CoVid Cloud, 2nd Stimulus Package Passed & NYS Rent Relief Program Reopened

December 22, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

CoVid Pandemic Economic & Housing Impact. But the pandemic impact reaches far beyond mortality and health, as many people's livelihoods have been turned upside down. An estimated 40 million are looking at possible eviction when the regulatory hiatus on evictions ends. An estimated 10.7 million people are unemployed and the labor force participation rate dropped 1.9% since the pandemic began and it is now 61.5%. This means that in addition to those unemployed who are currently looking for jobs [an estimated 10.7 million plus], another 1.9% of the population [6.3 million] has given up even looking.

Can Trumpsters really look people in the eye and tell them with a straight face that Trump has made America Great 'Again' with these kinds of results? And this doesn't even take into account that Trump gave away trillions in tax cuts, trillions more in government stimulus, and pumped trillions more into the economy in Federal Reserve liquidity?

To 80 million plus voters, the silver lining of 2020, was that Donald J. Trump will no longer be president, come January 20, 2021. The COUNTDOWN to a Trumpless Presidency begins - 30 days and counting.

The Holidays & Good New$ Arising Out of Stimulus Bill ...

More good news is that the holidays are here. Things slow down and we'll all get a chance to catch our breath. In spite of warnings by government officials many folks I know are planning small get togethers with immediate family and a few close friends. It's the struggle between human longing and behavior, and rational discipline that's playing out. Most folks I know appear to be making compromises in both directions. Rituals and traditions are hard to let go.

Speaking of compromise, the Senate and House passed a second stimulus package. It contains $4 billion for our MTA [$4 billion], $15 billion for the culture / entertainment industry nationally, $15 billion more in bailout money for the airlines, some money for the airports, apparently another $600 stimulus check for taxpaying Americans making less than $75,000, and some money - but not a whole lot - for the states and municipalities to help cover increased expenditures arising from CoVid.

Update 12/22. But Trump has yet to sign it, and whether he's using this 'fake news' to distract from his pardoning of his criminal-like cronies, or really won't sign it, remains to be seen. See prior post on 12/18/20 for an early look at potential pardons of Trump's seemingly criminal-like family and friends.

NYS Reopens Rent Relief Program. Perhaps the best news for the folks facing the most stressful circumstances is that the rent moratorium was extended to January 31, 2021 and $25 billion was allocated toward rental assistance. Thus NYS reopened its CoVid Rent Relief program. The program is designed to help folks with their primary residence in NYS, who were making 80% or less of the household size adjusted median income prior to March 7, 2020, and are rent burdened. The deadline for relief applications is February 1, 2021. You can find details at www.hcr.ny.gov/rrp.

I have a fair amount more to add about the economy, but much of it isn't exactly cheerful, so I'm going to save it for sometime between after Christmas and the end of the year.

There's a bit of good news in that I'm beginning to receive more notices about small and / or outdoor events being planned in NYC [the relatively warm weather helps] beginning in January, so I expect [assuming all hell doesn't break loose surrounding CoVid after the holidays], as we move into 2021 more activities will start springing up, and the city will begin coming back to life.

I hope to post something more cheerful in time for Christmas weekend. So if you have a few minutes, feel free to check back in. In the meantime, best wishes to you and yours. Only one more week to go on 2020, so manage it well and treat yourself to something special like a drink, a sweet or favored food or a nap. Cheers.