Mask Wearing / Not Mask Wearing

[CaptainFlannel]

i would argue most parts of queens / the 5 boroughs are tough places to be able to remain 6 ft apart from each other.

It's not hard at all in this neighborhood off the commercial streets to maintain 6 feet from each other. Especially if you head on over north of Northern Blvd, where the neighborhood isn't quite as dense. I do it for at least an hour every day - morning, noon and evening. Many of the sidewalks actually are wide enough to do it, and when you see a group of people coming, you either put your mask on or on a residential street with light traffic, you can step out on to the street to let people pass. I can see why some people wouldn't be comfortable with doing that (I am though). Most people are decent and will move over to their respective edge of the sidewalk to make the space, though some don't.

Every neighborhood in New York City does not look like the streets leading towards Penn Station M-F, 6 pm.

[jo3boxer]

i would argue most parts of queens / the 5 boroughs are tough places to be able to remain 6 ft apart from each other.

that's where the confusion lies. some people agree, some don't.

imo the message should be: 'going outside? wear a mask. nyc is too crowded to remain 6 ft apart from people'

from there people can use their own judgement. ie, if im walking down the street at 3PM i'm likely running into no one.

the problem is that ppl have their masks at the ready but then pass by someone / a bunch of people and mean to put it on, but since they've hardly worn a mask in all their years of living, they don't have the reflex to put it on their mouth and nose.

once again, 34th ave is not the place to not wear a mask. i've yet to see a runner ducking each and every person walking down the street in favor of their straight line, so it should be mandatory that everyone does.

i imagine some won't agree.

I agree that in our area, walking on the sidewalks means you should wear a mask 100% of the time. But I still don't think Cuomo's message is confusing. He's a governor of an entire state, some of which includes huge amounts of farmland and emptiness. He's not an elected official of a small, densely populated neighborhood. So his instructions make sense. If you live in a densely populated area like ours, you should know you're going to pass people on the sidewalk repeatedly and without warning, and therefore wear your mask all the time.

perhaps confusing is not the right word. however, the fact that you agree with me and people don't tells me it's open to interpretation.

and i don't trust people to interpret things properly, ever, let alone in our covid world.

[Shelby2]

i would argue most parts of queens / the 5 boroughs are tough places to be able to remain 6 ft apart from each other.

that's where the confusion lies. some people agree, some don't.

imo the message should be: 'going outside? wear a mask. nyc is too crowded to remain 6 ft apart from people'

from there people can use their own judgement. ie, if im walking down the street at 3PM i'm likely running into no one.

the problem is that ppl have their masks at the ready but then pass by someone / a bunch of people and mean to put it on, but since they've hardly worn a mask in all their years of living, they don't have the reflex to put it on their mouth and nose.

once again, 34th ave is not the place to not wear a mask. i've yet to see a runner ducking each and every person walking down the street in favor of their straight line, so it should be mandatory that everyone does.

i imagine some won't agree.

I agree that in our area, walking on the sidewalks means you should wear a mask 100% of the time. But I still don't think Cuomo's message is confusing. He's a governor of an entire state, some of which includes huge amounts of farmland and emptiness. He's not an elected official of a small, densely populated neighborhood. So his instructions make sense. If you live in a densely populated area like ours, you should know you're going to pass people on the sidewalk repeatedly and without warning, and therefore wear your mask all the time.

perhaps confusing is not the right word. however, the fact that you agree with me and people don't tells me it's open to interpretation.

and i don't trust people to interpret things properly, ever, let alone in our covid world.

Yes, very true!

[voelteer]

The "anec-data" in this thread from the JHLife commentariat is reflected in a nationwide mask-wearing survey reported on today, conducted earlier this month by Dynata for the NYTimes, ICYMI 
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/17/upshot/coronavirus-face-mask-map.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=The%20Upshot>

The US Census districts used to map results from the survey show mask-wearing prevalence in/around JH to be just over 80%.

[Shelby2]

The "anec-data" in this thread from the JHLife commentariat is reflected in a nationwide mask-wearing survey reported on today, conducted earlier this month by Dynata for the NYTimes, ICYMI 
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/17/upshot/coronavirus-face-mask-map.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=The%20Upshot>

The US Census districts used to map results from the survey show mask-wearing prevalence in/around JH to be just over 80%.

Interesting! For some reason the link wasn't working so I looked it up: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/17/upshot/coronavirus-face-mask-map.html

[jh_foodie]

I have a family member who has been on unemployment due to her not being able to work from home because of the nature of her job. Now her employer wants her to come in one day a week. She has health conditions putting her at at elevated risk of coronavirus and getting on a crowded bus can't be helping that. Plus her husband has similar health conditions (he's retired). Social distancing has worked out well for them. Is she out of options?

[lalochezia]

I have a family member who has been on unemployment due to her not being able to work from home because of the nature of her job. Now her employer wants her to come in one day a week. She has health conditions putting her at at elevated risk of coronavirus and getting on a crowded bus can't be helping that. Plus her husband has similar health conditions (he's retired). Social distancing has worked out well for them. Is she out of options?

That's awful. How far away is the job? Is it worth keeping the job by getting a Taxi/Uber/Lyft etc and wearing a fitted N95 to and from work??

[jh_foodie]

I have a family member who has been on unemployment due to her not being able to work from home because of the nature of her job. Now her employer wants her to come in one day a week. She has health conditions putting her at at elevated risk of coronavirus and getting on a crowded bus can't be helping that. Plus her husband has similar health conditions (he's retired). Social distancing has worked out well for them. Is she out of options?

That's awful. How far away is the job? Is it worth keeping the job by getting a Taxi/Uber/Lyft etc and wearing a fitted N95 to and from work??

Its in the LIC area. She's close to retirement anyways. I just don't understand the employers choice to force her to come in once a week. Obviously the work was nonessential enough that they were ok without her not coming in for four months. Why start now? Some employers are just super stupid.

[JHALUM]

I was on Northern Blvd in the 80's last night and lots of people not wearing masks and congregating.  There were also quite a few open containers.  I also don't understand why  all the diners  are so close to each other with no masks.  Four at a table,  close to the table next to them and literally back to back with other tables.  If wearing masks prevents the spread of the virus we are not in good shape.  I personally don't find anything appealing about sitting outside in the heat on asphalt breathing in car fumes.  This will  be even  less appealing  during the heat wave.  The video below  captures Astorians  out in force doing similar things to those on Northern.


https://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/4633142-new-video-shows-crowds-outside-bars-in-astoria-not-following-social-distancing-rules/

[dssjh]

i've wondered aloud about the table spacing as well. the rule is several feet of spacing between tables, but virtually every restaurant on 37th has tables so close together that people in separate parties are touching chairs. yes, i know "they can't space things out more." but is that really an excuse to create a dangerous situation?

[Beherenow]

I would not eat on Northern for reasons just articulated here. On the other hand, we just ate outside of Bistro Eloise.  Plenty of space between the tables.   Some kind of bamboo-like fence enclosed us.  Most people didn't wear masks, but there was enough distance for us to feel comfortable.Very pleasant experience, even though we were in the corner of a shopping mall.

[CaptainFlannel]

^My understanding is that the rule is that diners can remove their masks at their table, but need to put them on to get up, use the restroom, upon leaving their table for anything. Servers are supposed to wear their masks at all times. We put on our masks while the server is taking our order, placing plates, etc.

Bistro Eloise has the spacing of the tables right. They might even have more seats outside than in their dining room Plaka, the Greek place next door, well it felt a little tight to me.

[Beherenow]

Bistro Eloise has the spacing of the tables right. They might even have more seats outside than in their dining room Plaka, the Greek place next door, well it felt a little tight to me.

Agree. Unfortunately, other restaurants on 37th and Northern and Roosevelt don't have the luxury of carving out such a large extra space in a sidewalk that adjoins a parking lot.

[jh35]

I am surprised how things have deteriorated so fast. Today, on 35th and 37th avenues in the mid 70's many people were not wearing masks in the afternoon. On some blocks, almost 50% of the people were mask-less.

It does not take much to forget that grandma died a few weeks ago.

[bellabella]

Yesterday I saw police officers on Northern Blvd doing traffic stops while not wearing masks. I just don't get it!! It's not over folks-just beginning!!