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Above, conceptual rendering of the proposed Center for Climate Solutions on Governors Island. Photo from New York City

The New York City Mayor’s Office and the Trust for Governors Island may soon announce the winner for the global competition to create the Center for Climate Solutions.

In October, Stony Brook University was announced as a finalist for the ambitious project. Northeastern University and the City University of New York and the New School were the leaders of the other bids.

A multidimensional environmental effort designed to educate the public, offer climate solutions and ensure equitable climate solutions, the competition, which was launched in 2020 by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), is expected to create over $1 billion in economic impact and create 7,000 permanent jobs.

The winner or winners will create a space on the island that features views of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge with several key features. The center will provide a way to study the impacts of climate change, host a living lab that provides entrepreneurs and nonprofits that can test and showcase their climate solutions, serve as an urban center for environmental justice organizations, feature dormitories and housing and provide space for New Yorkers and visitors to discuss climate change.

Partners on the Stony Brook proposal include Brookhaven National Laboratory, International Business Machines, Georgia Institute of Technology, Pace University, Pratt Institute, University of Washington, Duke University, Moody’s Corporation, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Maritime College, Oxford University, URBS Systems, General Electric and other business, nonprofit and on-Island partners.

The proposals offered ways to support interdisciplinary research focused on urban adaptation, urban environments, public policy, environmental justice and public health.

At the same time, the finalists offered educational programs for students all the way from K-12 through graduate and adult education.

The center will provide workforce training opportunities, incubators and accelerator spaces for nonprofits and entrepreneurs working on climate and public programming.

The selection committee that is choosing the winners includes representatives from the Trust for Governors Island, Mayor Eric Adams’s (D) Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, the Mayor’s Office of Equity and the New York City Department of City Planning.

“New York City is facing some of the most complex climate adaptation challenges in the world,” Kizzy Charles-Guzman, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, said in a statement when the finalists were announced last October. “The Center for Climate Solutions will bring together actionable science, community-based partnerships and innovative and equitable solutions to communities on the frontline of the climate crisis.”

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Amid the religious holidays of Passover and Easter, Suffolk County is starting to see some trends that offer some hope to residents.

Some of the numbers have started to move in a favorable direction. The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus increased by 16 over the last 24 hours, climbing to 1,658. At the same time, the number of people entering the Intensive Care Unit only rose by 18 to 541.

In the prior week, hospitals admitted an average of 144 patients per day. The average this week has come down to 35 people per day.

“We’ll be looking forward to this week,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. “Hopefully, we’ll be seeing those numbers come down” even further.

Additionally, the number of people discharged from the hospital who had coronavirus reached 160, which is the highest number since residents with COVID-19 were admitted.

The combination of lower admissions and higher hospital discharges is “great news,” Bellone said.

Bellone said social distancing and keeping residents at home are having a dramatic impact and that it’s unclear whether hospitals in Suffolk County will need all the additional capacity in hospital beds.

Bellone cautioned that some of the recent positive numbers would likely move dramatically against the county if people let their guards down.

“By no means [do these encouraging signs] suggest we are changing course,” he said.

Indeed, the number of positive diagnoses has increased to 20,321, which is a jump of about 1,000 over a number the county adjusted after recognizing some double counting from the day before.

The county is providing new tests in hotspot neighborhoods, including Huntington Station, Riverhead and Brentwood. Later this week, Suffolk County also plans to provide by-appointment testing at Wyandanch and Amityville.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths connected to coronavirus rose another 44, bringing the total to 458.

Bellone offered his condolences to the survivors, adding, “we are thinking about your every day.”

He also thanked schools throughout the county for distributing meals during the public health crisis. Schools have distributed 770,000 meals since the pandemic reached the county, which includes 254,000 meals in the past week.

The county executive also thanked the technology teachers at William Floyd High School who made 550 face shields to protect health care workers who are on the front lines.

Bellone also was asked about the timing to reopen schools amid a back and forth between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). De Blasio would like to close schools for the rest of the academic year, while Cuomo believes that decision rests with his office and should be made in consultation with other officials in the state and schools in the region.

“We are one New York,” Bellone said. “The regional approach makes sense. We’ll be having those conversations in the coming days and beyond as we look at the data and see where we’re going to make the best informed decision.”

Separately, the 25,000 hospital gowns Bellone sent members of the Department of Public Works to retrieve from Allentown, Pennsylvania arrived yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Suffolk County Police Department has had 72 officers test positive for COVID-19, with 21 of them returning to work.

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Town of Huntington officials want to ensure that Italian-Americans can celebrate their culture with pride this Columbus Day weekend.

Supervisor Frank Petrone (D) and Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (D) made a vow to protect the Christopher Columbus statue overlooking  Huntington Village against a growing movement to remove what have been referred to as controversial historical monuments.

“The Town of Huntington took on the crusade of putting the statue here,” Petrone said. “We are not removing the statue. The town board feels very strongly about this; we are not removing it.”

Huntington’s Christopher Columbus statue has stood at the corner of Main Street and Lawrence Hill Road for more than 40 years. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

Huntington’s Columbus statue has stood at the corner of Main Street and Lawrence Hill Road for more than 40 years, according to Petrone. It was commissioned by Sam Albicocco, a Huntington resident of Italian-American heritage, and its costs were financed by contributions from local residents.

The supervisor said he felt it was necessary to make a public statement in wake of a growing movement at the national and state levels to remove public monuments to controversial historical figures, such as Confederate war leaders and Christopher Columbus.

In August, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) assembled a committee to consider possible removal of “symbols of hate” throughout the city, including statues of Christopher Columbus, as national debate raged over taking down Confederate monuments.

Shortly after the committee was announced, The New York Times reported the Christopher Columbus statue in Central Park was defaced with its hands stained by red paint and graffiti, which included the words “Hate will not be tolerated” on the pedestal.

“This is a political frenzy that’s been unleashed on the Italian community,” said Robert Ferrito, state president of the Sons of Italy. “It’s a frenzy of political correctness and a rewriting of history.”

Ferrito said his Italian-American fraternal organization is working with other organizations throughout the state to ensure that all monuments to Christopher Columbus are protected and the holiday remains unchanged.

“This is a political frenzy that’s been unleashed on the Italian community. It’s a frenzy of political correctness and a rewriting of history.”

— Rob Ferrito

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) recalled how his own father, an immigrant, was one of many Italian-Americans who faced strong discrimination during World War II and the years that followed and spoke of how it relates to the proposition of tearing down the statue.

“I was proud as a young boy to be an Italian-American,” Suozzi said. “We are going to make sure people realize Christopher Columbus gave so much to our country, just like Italian-Americans gave so much to our country, and we are not backing down.”

The announcement by Town officials comes on the eve of the annual Long Island Fall Festival in Heckscher Park, which is traditionally kicked off each year with a wreath laying at the Columbus statue.

“As anyone who has viewed the parade knows, it is not only about one man,
Christopher Columbus,” Petrone said. “It is about the millions of Long Islanders of Italian extraction who take pride in their heritage and their contributions to our town, our Island, our state and our country. Here in the Town of Huntington — a town that values diversity and inclusiveness, and, above all, history — we have no plans to cancel the parade. And we certainly have no plans to even consider taking down this statue.”

The wreath laying will be held Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. The town’s annual Columbus Day parade will be held on Oct. 8 starting at 12:30 p.m. and travel along the length of Main Street.

Petrone said that the town had not received any written objections to the parade or ceremony as of Oct. 1.

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