Adjusting to life in the pandemic

Daily Point

Here's a book to read to your kids

When Port Washingtonians Lauren and Adam Block first settled in to the new normal of the coronavirus, sticking to home as much as possible, they were spending a lot of time reading to their kids, twins Elise and Brandon, 7, and Jordan, 5.

“I couldn’t help noticing there was nothing to read them to explain what was going on in their lives right now,” said Adam, 42, an economist and assistant professor of public health at New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. “I mean, I love reading them books about dinosaurs, but it doesn’t have much relevance.”

Lauren, 39, is a primary care physician and an associate professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, so the couple had plenty of insight and expertise to throw at the problem. 

Read on to see how the couple created their own children's book about returning to schoola and download a free digital copy.

—Lane Filler @lanefiller

Talking Point

COVID-19 results in East End real estate boom

Evidence that the East End has become a coronavirus refuge for New York City residents is voluminous – from a sharp increase in post office changes of address from the city to the North and South forks, to surges in power usage, to swelling enrollments in public and private schools out East, including the tony Ross School in East Hampton and a new East Hampton branch of a Chelsea-based private school called Avenues Studio Hamptons.

Now add this: A huge spike in revenue raised from a 2% tax on East End real estate sales. The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund reported revenue of $60.1 million through the first seven months of 2020, the highest figure ever for that period in the 22-year-old program’s history. It also was 30.6% better than last year, a relatively lackluster year because of the new federal income tax cap on the deductibility of state and local taxes. The market strengthened in the first three months of this year and surged when the pandemic hit hard in March, driving city dwellers to look for places to escape.

See why the market shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

—Michael Dobie @mwdobie

Pencil Point

Which one?

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

Final Point

Walking a fine line on transitional housing

Nassau County Legis. Rose Walker took part in a protest and press conference Tuesday morning in front of the Nassau legislative building, with a group called Concerned Jericho Parents.

The group has been protesting plans to develop transitional housing for homeless families at a former Hampton Inn on Jericho Turnpike in Jericho. A GoFundMe the group set up already has raised more than $86,000, and the group’s online petition has garnered more than 2,000 signatures.

Despite her participation in the event, Walker told The Point in an interview Tuesday afternoon that she wasn’t trying to link herself to the group, and that she didn’t have a position on the housing itself.

“I am not associating myself with this group,” Walker told The Point. “We were not there to discuss the shelter.”

Instead, Walker said her focus was on the lack of communication from county officials to community members and local elected officials, and her concern as to whether the project had proper permits and approvals.

“I was emphatic that we weren’t there to talk about whether the shelter was appropriate or not appropriate,” Walker told The Point. “It was about the lack of notice and oversight and input the project had while it was moving forward.”

Walker said she participated in the event to tell Jericho residents and others that she was looking to gather information and find out details about the project, its beginnings and where it stands now. The hotel isn’t in Walker’s district, but her interest, she said, stemmed from her role as chairwoman of the county legislature’s health and social services committee. 

Walker told The Point that she hadn’t yet reached out to Nassau County Executive Laura Curran or to County Department of Social Services Commissioner Nancy Nunziata, but said she held the press event in an effort to show residents she was committed to getting answers to outstanding questions.

Walker said that while she wasn’t taking a stand on whether the new proposal was a good idea or not, she did recognize the need for additional housing for the county’s homeless families.

“We have many, many homeless families in very unsuitable situations and unsuitable housing,” Walker said. “I do believe … we have to do better.”

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall