Be Careful But Live Your Life
By Dan Murphy
In the two weeks since the Coronavirus hit Westchester, and the City of New Rochelle, the overall response from residents, families, churches and community organizations has been positive, with outreach and assistance coming to those families under quarantine, or others needing a helping hand.
One way in which Westchester residents can help their local businesses is to continue to live their lives in a normal way, and continue to patronize, shop and eat in local establishments. County Executive George Latimer has effectively led by example in this regard, by eating last week with New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson at a Chinese restaurant in the Wykagyl section of New Rochelle, where dozens of residents have contracted COVID-19.
One of the unfortunate results of the Coronavirus has been the unfounded fear about eating at Chines restaurants, which have seen a significant decline over the past three weeks. Latimer and members of the Asian-American community joined together to remind residents we are all neighbors and we should not let fear shape biases against those of other ethnicities or religions.
“This country is stronger because we are diverse,” said Latimer. “We are stronger because we draw from all the different heritages and we gain from them. In a crisis like this, we have to draw from that diversity, trust in each other, and we will get through this and we will succeed.”
Latimer dined at a Hartsdale restaurant, O Mandarin, to underscore his point of helping our local businesses during this time of unrealistic fear.
“Business has dropped since the virus began in February,” said O Mandarin owner Peter Liu. “People have stopped eating at Chinese restaurants and shopping at Asian businesses. It’s a tough time for small businesses, especially restaurants.”
Director of Economic Development Bridget Gibbons said providing relief to these businesses is a top priority for the county executive. “It is our understanding that small businesses that have suffered may be eligible for financial assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration,” she said. “We are also working with community partners to explore the possibility of a program to provide relief to small businesses in Westchester County.”
Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission Tejash Sanchala added: “Fear does not excuse xenophobia.”
OCA-Westchester & Hudson Valley Chapter President Grace Pan thanked Latimer for supporting the Asian-American community and the local businesses.” It is encouraging in light of these difficult days and the incidents of the past weeks,” she said.
Fear of the Coronavirus should not affect the way you go about your daily business. It is still safe to eat in local restaurants and shop in local stores. To prevent the spread of disease Westchester County, residents should take normal precautions – wash your hands regularly, cough and sneeze into your elbow not your hand, and keep the surfaces of the objects you interact with clean.
Members of the Chinese-American community in Scarsdale criticized comments made last week by Dr. Harish Moorjani, medical director for the Infectious Disease Clinic at Westchester Medical Center, who was invited to speak at an informational meeting held by the Village of Scarsdale on March 10 about COVID-19 – which was shown live online to avoid a large gathering of residents. During the meeting, Moorjani said that most coronaviruses originate in the “wild animal meat markets” in mainland China, including Wuhan province, where COVID-19 was first identified.
Many Chinese-Americans residents of Scarsdale who were watching the meeting immediately condemned Moorjani’s comments, including some who were concerned about the safety of their children in school for fear of a backlash against the COVID-19 outbreak, which were exasperated by Moorjani’s comments.
In a letter to the Scarsdale community, Mayor Marc Samwick wrote about the meeting and Moorjani’s remarks.
“As we are now painfully aware, the information session went far afield, straying from its intended public education messaging and into divisiveness – precisely the sort of questionable information that I sought to combat in scheduling the event,” wrote Samwick. “Chinese and Chinese-American members of the Scarsdale community were understandably offended by the presentation’s content, which failed on many levels to comport with Scarsdale standards.
“The Village of Scarsdale deeply regrets having unintentionally provided the forum for such corrosive content to be publicly disseminated. I personally feel a deep sense of accountability for letting our Chinese and Chinese-American residents down. That will not happen again. I am particularly troubled by the potential for children to be impacted in connection with the presentation. I stand ready to work with Scarsdale Schools to convey a clear message that stresses inclusiveness and values diversity.”
Scarsdale Police Chief Andrew Matturro said that if there are any Chines-American residents of Scarsdale who feel unsafe, “please call us immediately and we will work with you.”
Three days before speaking in Scarsdale, Moorjani spoke at the Chappaqua Library in New Castle, giving a similar presentation and, unfortunately, making the same foolish comments. He said that he admired China for its ability to set up hospitals “at a rapid speed” and that it was “the one positive things out of China… the rest is all negative.”
As nervous laughter came from some in the audience, Moorjani joked that he hoped “there were no Chinese” in the audience.
Moorjani tried to explain his unexplainable comments, telling the Scarsdale Inquirer: “I did not say that the culture is right or wrong; I did not mean that. If somebody has taken that out of context, then I am sorry they feel that way… That was not my intention.”
The Westchester Medical Center said it was in the process of reviewing Moorjani’s contractual relationship with WMC.
These types of comments are as unfortunate as the comments this reporter has heard from readers, who foolishly lay the blame on Latimer and New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson for “not doing enough” to combat COVID-19, and other public figures who have accused Latimer of grandstanding by having public lunches in Chinese restaurants.
All of it is nonsense, and our fellow county residents should learn to “bite their lip” or “hold their tongue” during this time and instead use their time to help others.
We applaud the county executive, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Bramson and all of our public officials who, in our view, have acted appropriately during this time, with calm and with an effort to bring out the best in us, not the worst, which unfortunately we still see.
