Briefing 4/29: About 2,500 Mourners At Funeral, Another Cafe Shut Down & Mental Health Hotline Available

Zainab Iqbal -
Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds teams conduct a flyover New York City to honor medical workers. (Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Happy Wednesday! There are some new numbers and some more deaths, so let’s get right into it.

  • As of 2 p.m. yesterday, there were 1,613 new positive confirmed coronavirus cases in NYC, compared to the 2,896 new cases from Monday, bringing the total to 157,713 positive confirmed coronavirus cases in the City. In Brooklyn, there were 417 new positive cases, compared to the 734 cases from Monday, bringing the total to 41,744 cases in the borough.
  • There were 528 new hospitalizations yesterday, compared to the 415 hospitalizations from Monday, bringing the total to 40,578 hospitalizations in the City.
  • There were 112 new confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in NYC, compared to the 248 deaths from Monday, bringing the total deaths in NYC to 11,820, with 5,395 probable deaths. In Brooklyn, the number of deaths is 3,516.
  • There was a crowd of about 2,500 people at a funeral last night in Williamsburg for a rabbi who died of the coronavirus. The Mayor went over to oversee the NYPD disperse the crowd, and was not at all pleased.
  • Thunderbirds and Blue Angels (Navy jets) flew over the City yesterday to honor frontline workers and scare the living daylights out of unsuspecting residents.
  • Greene Grape Annex, a cafe in Fort Greene, has shut down permanently due to the coronavirus, Brownstowner reported. “It began as a small coffee shop across the street where Yours Truly, Brooklyn is now. After the grocery moved up the block to its current location, I saw an opportunity to build a meeting place, a spot to sit and sip, a place to meet and congregate in the heart of Fort Greene. In light of current events, that mission no longer seems critical, and in fact goes against best practices,” the owner wrote.
  • The NYC Health + Hospitals system has a 24/7 mental health helpline for its staff, the Helping Healers Heal Program, which includes one-on-one and group support + wellness rounds within facilities. The helpline can be reached at (646)815-4150.
  • “New Yorkers who live in communities that are predominantly black and brown are the hardest hit by coronavirus – but police are slowest in addressing complaints about crowding in their neighborhoods,” the Daily News reported.
  • Brooklyn factories are producing up to 65,000 isolation gowns per week, we reported yesterday.