NYC Headlines: Dolphin Sighting, Racial Justice Commission

Here are some brief summaries of trending stories around NYC.

Mayor de Blasio has announced that approximately 80,000 municipal city employees will begin to return to their offices on May 3. At a Tuesday press release, the mayor said ““We’re going to make it safe, but we need our city workers back in their offices where they can do the most to help their fellow New Yorkers.”

The mayor has also announced the formation of the New York City Racial Justice Commission, which is the “first commission of its kind in the country,” according to a press release, which outlines its goal of “targeting and dismantling structural and institutional racism across the City.” The mayor has asked the newly formed commission, made of 11 members, to provide a report along with recommendations by the end of the year. A write-up by the NY Times says some members of the commission have supported ideas including baby bonds (savings accounts for every child), some form of reparations, police reform and changes to the voting system. The mayor, according to the Times, also indicated the need to diversify the FDNY while ensuring “the landmarks commission preserved the history of all New Yorkers.”

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New York City has reversed budget cuts to public schools which have had struggling enrollment numbers over the last year, Chalkbeat New York reports. According to the report, this reversal will cancel $130 million worth of cuts from 877 schools whose enrollment numbers have dropped below the city’s projections.

Council Member Mark Levine tweeted that while 27% of adults in NYC have received at least one vaccination shot, other numbers – some of which are stemming from coronavirus variants – have been troubling, with infection rates at over 10% in 25 NYC neighborhoods.

The race between vaccination & the variants in NYC is in a dead heat.

Big progress on the vax: 27% of adults have had at least one shot.

But:
* 3,700 cases/day…65% from variants
* 25 zips at 10%+ positivity
* 200 hospitalizations/day

It’s up to us which side wins this race.

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) March 21, 2021

An Upper West Sider named Cailin Doran spotted three dolphins swimming in the East River while visiting Greenpoint’s WNYC Transmitter Park on Tuesday. “They were just playing and just hanging out, and they got really close to the rocks,” she told Gothamist. “I couldn’t believe what I was actually seeing. It just felt so weird.”

Dolphins, in the East River. What. pic.twitter.com/Lxakfkz9Oz

— Cailin Anne (@cailinanne6) March 23, 2021