Paying rent isn't getting easier for some Long Islanders

Long Island renters: 'We’re just hanging by our pinkies'

An out-of-work bartender in Lindenhurst borrows from friends for rent. A furloughed furniture store manager from West Islip digs into her retirement savings. And despite working 40-hour weeks, a single mom from Lake Grove doesn't know how she'll come up with it.

Housing courts closed early in the pandemic and the governor issued a moratorium on evictions March 20. The state court system announced Aug. 12 that warrants of eviction cannot be executed until Oct. 1.

But months into restrictions on business operations, struggling renters are growing anxious as they scour sparse job listings and watch the government curtail aid.

“I pay my rent. I borrow money from every one of my friends,” said Sue Anne Konkle of Lindenhurst, a single mother who worked two part-time jobs until the government began limiting business operations in mid-March. “We’re just hanging by our pinkies.”

The chart below shows the number of unemployment claims filed on Long Island this year. Search a map of cases, and view more charts showing the latest trends in economic data, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.

The number of new positives reported today: 53 in Nassau, 37 in Suffolk, 270 in New York City and 636 statewide.

NY reaches another record-low infection level

The state reached another record low infection rate, and the percentage of positive virus cases on Long Island dipped below the state figure, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Friday.

Statewide, the infection rate was 0.65% on Thursday — the lowest since the start of the pandemic. Thursday also marked the third consecutive week that New York's rate stayed under 1%, he said.

Cuomo noted that New York reached another milestone Thursday, topping 8 million total tests conducted across the state. Hospitalizations were down by 12 to 478, and intensive care patients dropped to 122. Three people died from the virus Thursday, including one in Nassau.

"We're continuing to expand our ability to test and contact trace as we pursue a phased, data-driven reopening, and that's why we've reached 8 million tests conducted in the state," Cuomo said. "Yesterday's data also shows that we aren't necessarily finding more positives with more testing, which is a good new development."

Stony Brook has fewer international students, enrollment down just 200

Universities across Long Island and the nation have grappled with planning and preparations during the pandemic. 

For Stony Brook University, it began its fall semester this week with enrollment only slightly under last fall’s — but with fewer students living on campus, and remote instruction accounting for more than 80% of class registrations.

“We’re so glad to be back together, the energy has returned to campus and we’re thrilled to have them here,” said the university’s first-year president Maurie McInnis.

In an interview this week, she said 26,130 students are enrolled for the fall semester — only about 200 fewer than last fall. The university tapped more than 10 times the number of New Yorkers off the waiting list than the previous year to make up for the anticipated 17% drop in the enrollment of international and out-of-state students. Read more.

Nassau residents rally to bring back high school fall sports

The chants of “Let Them Play!” echoed through the Hicksville Athletic Center on Thursday — and virtually — as Nassau County residents demonstrated and signed online petitions against the decision to postpone high school sports there.

“Many of these kids have been playing all summer long, independently or in groups, even travel,” said Oyster Bay councilwoman and demonstration organizer Laura Maier. “Everything has been done in an efficient and safe manner [there]. So why should we cancel fall ball?”

Section VIII, the governing body for high school athletics in Nassau, held a meeting of its superintendents board on Wednesday, resulting in a unanimous vote to delay playing sports until 2021. That decision came two days after Cuomo's guidance that would allow lower-risk high school sports to practice and play on Sept. 21.

The board issued a statement on Thursday that said the opening of schools would “provide us with valuable data” and that “based on this data, Section VIII is committed to reassess its position prior to the Governor’s starting date of Sept. 21.”

But Section VIII executive director Pat Pizzarelli said “nothing has changed in terms of where we stand — we’re always open to new information.”

More to know

The Long Island and Suffolk County marathons, which were scheduled for October, will be competed virtually this fall, according to their websites.

New jobless claims on Long Island dropped slightly last week to 6,280, a decrease of nearly 4.5% from the 6,580 claims filed the week before.

The credibility of the FDA and CDC — two of the nation’s leading public health agencies — is under fire after controversial decisions experts say smack of political pressure from President Donald Trump.

News for you

The reopening of NYC museums. The city’s museums have begun to reopen. Occupancy is capped at 25% and there are mandates for mask-wearing, staggered entry and social distancing, but there are plenty opening the doors again. See a list.

Turning shopping into video entertainment. A Manhasset boutique owner is known as the life of the party, and he found a way to virtually bring the party to customers. He started “The Unboxing" during the pandemic, a video series that connects customers shopping at home. 

An outdoor space for live theater. Live theater is coming to Long Island this summer after all. On Sept. 4, Guild Hall in East Hampton will present "The Gin Game" as an outdoor performance the venue has lined up at its newly created garden space.

Renegotiating your bills to save money. You’ve probably heard about how you should renegotiate your bills to try to save money, but that can be easier said than done. Check out these tips to come up with a plan.

Plus: Spending more time at home and wondering how to boost its natural light? Here are seven decorating and cleaning tricks that can make your home look brighter.

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Commentary

Has anyone asked the children about pandemic schooling? Six-year-old Leila Maki has an idea, writes Julie Spray and Jean Hunleth for the Chicago Tribune. Instead of online or in-person schools, she would set up an outdoor camp, called the "I'm Growing Club," where kids could come and learn through games — after their temperature check. As Leila explains, it could be "a place kids can go, so their parents don't have to be with their kids while they work."

Leila's parents have struggled to cover eight-hour work-from-home days with Leila and her 3-year-old brother at their St. Louis home, and Leila has noticed. In a 10-minute Zoom conversation, she repeatedly emphasized, unprompted, that her club would allow parents to work. She's also aware of the risks of attending in-person school. At the I'm Growing Club, "it's kind of easier to not get sick from anyone. Because it's outside."

Kids across the country are now experiencing in-person classrooms, online learning or some shifting combination of both. As we continue to weigh the risks along with new outbreaks, new evidence and new strategies, it's right that we should be hearing most from the key stakeholders — those experiencing the consequences of ongoing decisions. Leila's parents and teachers, like parents and teachers across the country, are caught between a rock of earning a living and the hard place of health risk.

But we have heard very little from one important group of stakeholders — children themselves.