Closer look at those troubling COVID ZIP codes

Daily Point

A tale of COVID-19 rates in two LI ZIP codes

When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo released a list of the ZIP codes across the state that had the lowest vaccination rates, two Nassau County communities seemed to be among those that fell short.

It seemed, just by looking, that Hempstead and Greenvale were doing poorly when it came to vaccinating their residents.

And Cuomo called them out on Monday, along with the dozens of other communities in the bottom 10% of vaccination rates, as being those with less than 38.8% of residents vaccinated.

"I want local governments to pay attention to these ZIP codes," Cuomo said.

But perhaps the state has to pay attention to its own list. On Tuesday, one of Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s top deputies, Health Commissioner Larry Eisenstein, blasted the state for producing data he said was "erroneous and misleading."

The Hempstead ZIP code Cuomo cited — 11549 — is actually the ZIP code that covers the campus of Hofstra University, Eisenstein said. As for Greenvale’s 11548 ZIP code, which the state said had 34.6% of residents vaccinated, Eisenstein said he thought the community’s data were "similarly skewed" by Long Island University’s CW Post campus.

"Neither takes into consideration that there are significantly fewer students on campus," Eisenstein said.

There are numerous potential explanations for the 11549 ZIP code’s lower rate — which stood at 27%, according to the state. The college-age population only qualified more recently, giving them less time to get the vaccine. And many of those who might be considered residents of the ZIP code might not be living there at all, or may have gotten their shots in their hometowns. Many of them might have been vaccinated out of state, which wouldn’t be captured by the state’s data.

Nassau officials noted that while Cuomo made it seem as if Hempstead had a low vaccination rate, the reality was different. The vaccination rate for the Village of Hempstead (ZIP code 11550), the county said, stands at 59%. While that’s lower than the county’s overall rate, it’s "not anywhere near the lowest-performing 10% of ZIP codes in the state," Eisenstein said.

The county’s critique comes as Curran has been more willing to push back against Cuomo on other policies, or to urge him to go in different directions, most recently asking the state to ease mask-wearing guidelines.

But on this issue, county officials clearly took umbrage at being lumped with other communities that have had difficulty vaccinating their residents.

"With more than 77% of adults having received at least one dose of the vaccine, Nassau County is far outpacing the entire state and the nation — including for vaccination among Black and Latino residents and residents under 25," Eisenstein’s statement noted.

The state, Cuomo announced Tuesday, just reached 70% of adults having received at least one vaccine dose, a milestone Cuomo said the state would celebrate by lifting COVID-19 restrictions — and holding fireworks displays Tuesday evening.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

Ritual goes virtual at NYC Hall

New York City’s annual Inner Circle Show, a reporters’ political roast, is known best for the climactic annual appearance of the incumbent mayor in a self-abasing "response" sketch, usually in costume.

These things can prove iconic. The most famous example: In 2000, Rudy Giuliani appeared in drag and presented a video clip of Donald Trump purporting to accost him in a department store. Nobody could have guessed then at all that would follow.

Due to COVID-19, the springtime black-tie charity event was canceled this year and last. Now, with early voting in the mayoral race underway, a very modest form of the musical revue returns on the Web only for a relatively modest $6 per virtual "ticket."

The title of the short performance is "Rank Choice," a spoof on the first-ever ranked-choice voting that has citizens selecting multiple primary candidates in order of preference. (Some worry that tallying the ballots after next Tuesday could prove as painful as watching the full version of the show).

Soon-to-depart Mayor Bill de Blasio makes an appearance at a surprising point. Billy Joel’s "For the Longest Time" provides the frame for the Inner Circle lyrics, "Maybe this race for mayor will be fun; There’s Yang and Garcia, Adams gonna run … Morales and Stringer, Wiley and McGuire; Matteo and Sliwa, down to the wire …"

Jillian Jorgensen, a reporter for Spectrum News NY1, who has served as the organization’s president since before last year’s cancellation, expressed hope in the video that the real thing returns next year.

Timing is everything in show business. And, Tuesday is Primary Day.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison (an Inner Circle member)

Pencil Point

Knocking

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Final Point

Pause for public banking

Earlier this year, activists and supporters of the New York Public Banking Act were fairly enthusiastic about their chances in Albany. Their effort to create a regulatory framework for local public banking in New York had the support of more than 100 groups including labor, advocates, and social services. The legislation had lots of co-sponsors in the State Assembly and Senate. The idea of public banking, which could support local projects and community initiatives in ways that commercial banks might not, has some popularity with progressives nationally at a time of great income inequality.

But like a lot of other bills every year, and particularly this year, the legislation didn’t take off.

Supporters like David Sprintzen of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island and Andy Morrison of the New Economy Project suggest that Wall Street opposition was one problem, and state lobbying filings show that the New York Bankers Association has lobbied about this issue. And though the effort had decent Long Island support in the Assembly, no State Senate co-sponsors from Nassau or Suffolk County were listed on the bill in the chamber’s online database. "All the Democratic State Senators on Long Island have been very cautious," said Sprintzen.

To that end, supporters of the bill are hoping to widen their outreach and hold regional meetings on Long Island and elsewhere around the state to build momentum for the bill next session.

"This was always going to be a fight," said Morrison.

It’s just one more example of activists seeing Long Island’s Senate delegation as a crucial bloc in getting bills across the finish line in Albany, an on-and-off reality since Democrats took control of the chamber in the 2018 elections.

One possible bonus for the region: It’s possible the bill could help create a public bank of Long Island — which could help with regional planning and addressing the Island’s issues from the environment to the economy across counties in a "coherent fashion," said Sprintzen.

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

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