[Road New York\Hester Street]
“Excluded in the Epicenter,” presents data from a quantitative and qualitative survey of 244 New Yorkers, primarily Latinx immigrants, and finds that one in six has lost a family member to COVID-19.
Photo: YouTube
New report highlights the negative impact of COVID-19 on Black and Brown New Yorkers.
Make the Road New York and Hester Street will hold a video press conference today to release a groundbreaking new report highlighting the extraordinary damage on working-class immigrant, Black and Brown New Yorkers by COVID-19.
The report “Excluded in the Epicenter,” presents data from a quantitative and qualitative survey of 244 New Yorkers, primarily Latinx immigrants, and finds that one in six has lost a family member to COVID-19, nine out of ten have suffered household job or income loss, and nine out of ten worry about being able to pay rent.
Despite the concentrated impact of the crisis in these communities, residents have been overwhelmingly excluded from government solutions. While 84% of survey respondents over 18 reported being out of work (88% due to COVID-19), only 5% had received unemployment insurance in the past month, and only 15% of respondents reported receiving any government support at all during the crisis.
The report provides policy recommendations at the state, federal, and local level to ensure a recovery for all. At the state level, the report highlights the importance of passing a tax on New York’s 112 billionaires to create a $3.5B fund for excluded workers, taking immediate action to cancel rent, and freeing incarcerated and detained New Yorkers at grave risk of contracting the virus. At the federal level, the report urges Congress to take dramatic action to support all workers and tenants, regardless of immigration status, with urgently needed economic recovery funding.
