*New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that his wife, Chirlane McCray, will co-chair a coronavirus Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity as the city plans its eventual reopening.
“The economic and racial disparities that have been made so clear by this crisis, we knew about them before,” said de Blasio. “A powerful, painful exclamation point has been put on them by this crisis.”
De Blasio said he formed the task force to ensure New York’s most vulnerable aren’t left behind in the recovery.
“We’re seeing a really disturbing disparity where people of African descent are being hit very hard by this disease, disproportionately hard,” he said on the New York Amsterdam News podcast. “And it goes back to a lot of things we all know too well, it goes back to massive disparities in health care predating this crisis.”
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“The primary function of this task force cannot be to engage in a long, protracted process of deliberation and study, dwelling on how we got here,” said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in a statement. “We know this disparity was created by a long history of systemic inequities and injustices. Additional delays waste time that the people being devastated by this crisis– those who are deemed essential but treated as expendable– just don’t have. Ultimately, we need results, not a report, and the work of this task force must have a voice in and be supported by the city’s budget.”
Meanwhile, city lawmakers on both sides are giving the side-eye over the appointment of McCray, most especially amid the controversy over of her billion-dollar mental health program, ThriveNYC.
“Chirlane doesn’t have an impressive track record running task forces or agencies,” said Councilman Joe Borelli (R-SI). “This is too serious an issue to use it as profile raiser,” he added.
Councilman Robert Holden co-signs, calling McCray’s appointment “political,” as Mayor De Blasio is pushing his wife as the next borough president of Brooklyn.
“This is political. I wish de Blasio would stop doing this,” said the Queens Democrat, per Fox News. “Let her win the Brooklyn borough presidency on her own merits.”
“Her track record on Thrive and the statue commission hasn’t been so good,” he added.
“ ‘Putting @NYCFirstLady in charge of the newly created task force on racial inclusion and equity is a great idea,’ -said No One Ever,” Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) tweeted Sunday. “By the way, what ever happened to all that money for ThriveNYC?”
The goals of the coronavirus task force will be ensuring that the hardest-hit communities as well as Black and women-owned businesses get their fair share of relief as the city rebuilds from the global health crisis.
“She’s exactly who New Yorkers want in their corner and will help us rebuild this city stronger than it was before,” said City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein.
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