- Restrictions End in New York Due to Health-Related Improvement
- The iconic La Nacional building reflects its history
- Riots take over the Big Apple overnight
New York, Jun 23 (EFE News) .- New York will end the state of emergency this Thursday more than a year after its imposition due to the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic due to the improvement in the epidemiological situation and progress in vaccinations. “We are beginning to write a new episode for a post-covid New York, the state of emergency due to disaster is ending and we can focus on reimagining, rebuilding and renewing our state,” Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today at a press conference.
Cuomo ordered the state of emergency in March 2020, when the region became the epicenter of the pandemic, giving it extraordinary powers to decide on the closures of the activity, the regulations of the health system and facilitate the arrival of aid funds. “New York has gone from having one of the worst infection rates to the lowest infection rate in the country and it has all been thanks to the efforts of New Yorkers who were strong, came together and did what was necessary throughout the entire pandemic,” explained the Democratic leader.
The people of New York are already protected against the threat
At the beginning of the month, Cuomo already lifted most of the restrictions to contain infections, especially capacity, cleanliness and distance within the establishments, upon meeting the goal of 70% of the adult population with at least one injection of the vaccines anticovid. Cuomo said today that he will not renew the state of emergency, which expires tomorrow, and offered infection figures that show a downward trend for more than two months, with an average weekly positivity rate – positive on tests – of 0, 36%.
In the state, according to the official count, almost 43,000 people have died from the coronavirus, but the death toll has dropped significantly and in the last day only 6 people have perished. This evolution coincides with the high implementation of vaccines, since according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 52% of New Yorkers of all ages have completed their regimen, and 71% of adults have at least one dose. EFE News
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New York’s iconic Spanish center La Nacional tells its story
New York, Jun 19 (EFEUSA) .- The emblematic Spanish center La Nacional, located at 239 14th Street in the New York neighborhood of Manhattan, today tells its own story in a documentary film which premieres as part of the Manhattan Film Festival. “Once Upon a Place” (Once Upon a Place), by the documentary filmmaker Cèlia Novis, narrates the evolution of this center that was always linked to the Spanish immigrant community, especially around 14th Street, where the one known as “Little Spain”.
Novis, who is also the film’s writer and producer, spent eight years investigating the past of what was the largest Hispanic community in the United States already develop her project. The film locates the origin of La Nacional in the founding of the Spanish Charitable Society in the autumn of 1868, one of the many centers that emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries to shelter immigrants of Spanish origin, such as the Círculo Colón Cervantes, the Asturian Center of New York, the Spanish Circle and the Commission of Hundreds, among others.
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In the 1920s
Although it would be until the mid-1920s, when the businessman José Camprubí, founder in 1918 of the Spanish-language newspaper La Prensa, bought the building in which La Nacional has been located since then, right next to the Church of Guadalupe, a temple which also became one of the axes of the Spanish emigrant community.
The female voice with which Novis has characterized La Nacional in his documentary, also leaves space for the testimonies of descendants of Spaniards linked to “Little Spain”, the Spanish cultural center and the restaurants, grocery stores and all kinds of stores founded and run. by Spaniards who plagued 14th Street in those years.
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The biography
Through all these voices, the documentary also tells the history of New York and immigration, from the development of the city at the beginning of the 20th century with numerous Spaniards working on the construction of the subway, passing through the First World War, the Dry Law or the consequences of the Spanish Civil War in the migrant community. “A lot of effort has gone into telling a story that has become unknown. We hope that it will become the historical record and the sentimental story of La Nacional for future generations, ”said the executive director of the Nacional, Robert Sanfiz in a statement about the documentary.
La Nacional survives, although far from the splendor that together with the Spanish Quarter of Manhattan experienced in the decades of the 20s, 30s and 40s. The recession that the city experienced in the 70s, with the proliferation of violence and drugs in many from their neighborhoods signed the death warrant for “Little Spain.” Like many other New Yorkers, the Spanish community began a slow exile while the abandoned premises were left empty or were replaced by others that ended up changing the image of the neighborhood forever. But La Nacional and the façade of the adjoining Church of Guadalupe continue to recall the emigrant and Spanish origin of that neighborhood of the Big Apple. EFEUSA
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Chaos takes over the nights of popular park in the Village of New York
New York, Jun 13 (EFE News) .- The popular Washington Square Park in New York’s Village was the scene of another violent and out-of-control night that included two stab wounds, a cook bloodied from a beating, a man beaten to steal his mobile phone and anti-police graffiti message. The chaos that is characterizing the nights in this park lately led the police last week to impose a curfew at ten o’clock at night in this usually quiet place although visitors refuse to evict it, which occurs after the town begin to to end the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
This Saturday night ended in general with six injured and a 27-year-old man arrested and charged with serious assault, indicates the New York Post. “The criminals they rule this city, ”a disgruntled police officer told the Post who was not identified. Albert Vera, 60, a resident of the East Village, said: “The quality of life here has gone down the drain. I know that I would never dare to come here at night. . . Is not safe. We absolutely need more police patrols. More police presence ”.
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Night activity
Even street boxing fights are taking place in the park and there is deafening music that residents of the area have denounced without success. According to data from the Post, a Queens County resident, who he identified as 28-year-old David Ortiz, is one of the late-night Washington Square Park party planners who have been out of control. It also indicates that, according to Ortiz, neighbors who complain about noise should move. “This is my answer to residents: if you have a problem with amplified sound and you live in the center of the city, you live in the Washington Square Park area, then you should move,” says the newspaper.
“I’m not going to let anyone steal our joy,” declared Ortiz, one of those who coordinates boxing matches without a license. A video on the networks shows two men with gloves fighting near the emblematic arch of the park while listening to the uproar of the public. In addition, residents have denounced drug use in the park, motorized vehicles, the sale of alcohol without a license and even fireworks, which led to the imposition of a curfew. “Now there are no rules. Even with public drug use, there are no rules. Everything is in the open air. It’s chaos, ”said Adam Weprin, also a resident of the area. The outraged neighbors have said “that they will not go anywhere” and that they will stand firm fighting for their neighborhood. EFE News
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