Poverty in Upstate Metropolitan Areas: Myths and Realities

We live in an era in which long-held attitudes about race have been heightened by political campaigns that attempt to mobilize fears among white voters about minority group members and immigrants.  These appeals have ranged from claims that President Obama is a Muslim who was born in Kenya and claims that criminal undocumented immigrants endanger […]

New York’s Explosion of COVID Cases and a Flawed Vaccine Roll-Out

When Covid-19 first appeared in New York in March of this year, the state, like other locations, faced a novel disease against which there were few defenses. New York faced a dire situation in March – hospitals in the New York Metropolitan area were overwhelmed.  With cases and hospitalizations skyrocketing, the State imposed a lockdown, […]

COVID-19: The Harsh Tradeoffs

COVID-19 created a series of dilemmas for policymakers at the state and federal levels.  Actions that would reduce the frequency of infection involved measures that would limit personal interactions, causing the loss of jobs, while reopening the economy proved to result in higher levels of infection, hospitalizations and deaths. But, the difficult policy choices were […]

Positive COVID Tests and Hospitalizations More than Doubled In New York After September 1st

The number of COVID-19 positive tests and hospitalizations in New York State has sharply increased since September 1st.  The number of daily positive tests identified on October 28th was 1,739, compared with 677 on September 1st – an increase of 157%.  Current hospitalizations increased from 457 to 1,042 during the same period – an increase […]

Covid-19 Cases Increase Unevenly in New York

Through this Summer, Covid-19 case numbers remained low in New York State.  Though the numbers remain far below the levels of March and April, the rate of infection statewide is increasing.  In July and August, the state averaged between three and four cases per 100,000 residents per day.  By October the number had increased to […]

Covid-19: The Cost in Lost Jobs

With more than 190,000 lives lost and millions infected, Covid-19 has imposed a tragic toll on residents of the United States.  New York State was hit hard early on, and has lost 32,600 residents to the disease as of early September  But strong controls that shut down much of the state’s economy for weeks during […]

Covid-19: Rapid Growth in Cases Exposes Vulnerabilities

Although the Northeast, particularly New York State, was the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in March and April,  states like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts imposed stringent measures that limited personal interactions, such as closing all non-essential worksites, limiting gatherings to groups of 10 or less, and requiring people to wear masks in settings […]