Staten Island Advance

Decker's Nursery Deckers Nursery on Pulaski Road!!! NYPD and local departments asked them if we could use there parking lot for a hero’s funeral. The owner said NO. And then he blocks the parking lot with his trucks so no one can park there. His actions are unbelievable

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Flowers speak of feelings much more strongly than words. The combination of buds in the composition, their color - all this is endowed with a certain meaning🌸 Did you know that the language of flowers originated in the East? Women were forbidden to communicate openly with men, so they communicated using flowers. A bouquet of pink roses and white peonies will help to tell about the tenderness of feelings. Roses symbolize mystery, purity and innocence, and peonies are a symbol of shyness. Such bouquets are mainly given to young girls✨ You can place an order for a bouquet on the website theflowerslovers.com or by phone +1 201 241 6992📲 Create bouquets with love💓

Save the date Saturday June 19, 2021 from 10 AM to 3 PM. Join Roc-A-Natural along with a host of other Staten Island Community Partners and Organizations for a can’t-miss Juneteenth Celebration to take place at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, N.Y. 10301. Stay tuned for event details! @rocanatural #rocanatural #sijuneteenth #juneteenth2021 #juneteenthcelebration @snugharborccbg #snugharborccbg #empower #community #culture #connect #support #sinycliving #visitstatenisland #siarts #ilovestatenisland #sichamber #downtownsiny

Just for my own information, how many of you are watching the NFL Draft tonight or watched it last night? Thanks.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Roy Moskowitz Reciprocal Results (718) 370- 3977 (917) 992-1873 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abou Sy Diakhate Phone: (347) 951-3643 Email: [email protected] African immigrant Democratic Candidate Abou Sy Diakhate removed from Staten Island North Shore City Council ballot by petition challenge by people affiliated with African Immigrant Candidate Kelvin Richards (Staten Island April 30, 2021) African immigrant candidate Abou Sy Diakhate has been removed from the Staten Island North Shore City Council (CD 49) ballot. He was removed by petition challenges from Siaka Blake an individual fellow African immigrant candidate Kelvin Richards has tagged on social media campaign posts. Richard’s campaign attorney, Manuel Ortega made the formal objections. Diakhate was the only candidate for this seat to face petition challenges. Even candidates who qualified for the June 22 Democratic Primary while submitting even fewer signatures were not challenged. “Petitioning during a pandemic is dangerous for the petitioners and those signing, which is why relatively few candidates citywide were challenged this year”, said Diakhate. None of my other opponents’ petitions were questioned. Diakhate continued, “People affiliated with Kelvin challenged my petitions because we were competing for the African Immigrant vote and it speaks to his character. It’s obvious Kelvin is behind this. Otherwise, who is paying Manny Ortega.” “Knocking Abou from the ballot was a bad strategic decision by Richard’s campaign”, said Political Consultant and acting Abou for City Council campaign manager Roy Moskowitz.” “This is particularly true because of Rank Choice voting. No one supporting Abou is going to vote for Kelvin or rank him their top 5 after the challenge.” Moskowitz continued, “There are 9 candidates on the ballot. Other candidate supporters won’t consider including Kelvin under rank choice because of the mean spiritedness of challenging petitions in the age of covid”. “Additionally, New York City Campaign Finance Law sets fixed spending limits for Council candidates. Money Richard’s campaign squandered on challenging Abou, can not be spent on more productive activities.” “I would like to thank all those who donated to my campaign, volunteered time, devoted energy or gave me moral support before and after the petition challenges”, said Diakhate. “This includes some of my opponents besides Kelvin.” On the ballot or not, Abou will continue to be there for you… the North Shore and Staten Island.” While Diakhate is currently off the Democratic Primary ballot, the campaign is researching the possibility of being restored by having federal court rule that signature requirements during a pandemic violates voting rights regulations. -###-

Are you ready for your forkful? “The Dish” with Pamela Silvestri TODAY @11:30am #pamelasilvestri #foodeditor #danoi #thedish #restaurants #statenislandadvance

The Staten Island Branch of the NAACP presents NY City Council 49th District Democratic Primary Candidates Forum TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 from 7 - 9:30 PM Featuring Candidates (in alphabetical order): Amoy Barnes , Selina Grey, Kamillah Hanks, David Hernandez, John McBeth, Troy McGhie, Ranti Ogunleye, Kelvin Richards, & Mike Schnall Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/96234051503?pwd=enI5TTFtaHFUTGtDODR4K0VJMVdtdz09 Meeting ID: 962 3405 1503 Passcode: 602414 Join Zoom Meeting BY PHONE: (646) 558-8656

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As many of you may know, St. John's University has recently mandated that all students receive the vaccine and without it we are no longer welcome on campus come the fall. Additionally, they are not giving us an option to continue our education remotely. I have done a lot of research and while I support everybody who has received the vaccine, I believe that it should remain a personal choice, especially since it is still in the experimental phase. I would greatly appreciate it if you all would take 5 minutes to read what I have written. If St. John's is going to mandate the vaccine I believe we should at least have the option to continue our education remotely! Please share! My peers and I would appreciate it! St. John’s University Mandates their Students to get the Covid-19 Vaccine According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention a vaccine by definition “stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first.” (CDC) As we all know, Covid 19 is a new virus that has recently surfaced during 2020. Covid has become a worldwide pandemic and this outbreak has caused the death of millions of people. (NBC News) Thus, everyone has been doing everything in their power to try and combat this horrific disease. In Staten Island one measure being taken to prevent the spread of Covid are the three vaccines. According to the CDC the three vaccines that have been produced are Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen. (CDC) Individuals who are over the age of 18 can receive any of the three vaccines that are offered. While, young adults between the ages of 16 up until their 18th birthday can only get the Pfizer vaccine. Individuals across the nation have expressed concern regarding the potential effects of the Covid-19 vaccines in general, regardless of which one you choose. One question that people have been asking is whether or not the vaccine will cause infertility problems. The CDC responded to this concern by explaining that “there is no evidence that fertility problems are a side effect of any vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines''. However, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also explicitly states in their explanation that “there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination causes any problems with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta”. (CDC) “Currently” implies that at this present time there is no evidence supporting this concern. However, this is not to say that there is a definitive guarantee that the vaccines will not cause infertility. This disease is fairly new. These vaccines are fairly new. Regardless of the current research, we will not truly know the full effects of these vaccines for many years and just because there are no problems with infertility to date, does not mean that this will not become a problem 20 years down the line. This can be used to argue many of the concerns regarding the potential effects of these vaccines. For example, recently Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine has been placed on a temporary pause because “a small number of people who got this vaccine” experienced a severe type of blood clot. This is proof that as more research is conducted and more vaccines are administered, new findings will surface. The CDC describes this case as a “small number of people”. CNN reports that “among the more than 7 million people who’ve received the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, at least seven have experienced very rare blood clots”. (CNN) Some individuals may use those facts to argue that 7 out of 7 million are very good odds. However, what if you were one of those 7 people who now have a rare blood clot in their brain after being forced to take a vaccine that you did not want? When the Johnson and Johnson vaccine first came out the CDC could have reported that there was currently no evidence to suggest negative effects to an individual’s health and if they did that it would have been the honest truth. At that time there was not evidence to suggest otherwise. However, now 7 people have a rare blood clot and there is evidence to suggest that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine can potentially have a negative effect on an individual. This confirms that there may be unknown effects of these vaccines in the future. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible to protect people and ensure the safety of drugs, biological products and medical devices. (FDA) The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the Covid-19 vaccines. However, this does not mean that the FDA approved the vaccine. This just means that they approved the vaccines for access because it is a critical medical product. Emergency use authorization (EUA) and FDA approval are two very distinct things. EUA’s (FDA) permit authorization with “significantly less data” than needed for FDA approval. Additionally, the FDA can revoke or revise this approval as new data emerges. EUA takes weeks instead of months. However, what if the side effects take months to emerge and not weeks? Then the FDA can simply revoke the authorization for the use of the vaccine. What about all of the people who received the doses prior to this new information? There are still so many unknowns. The CDC reported that people who have already had SARS-COV-2, or Covid 19, can and have been reinfected. They continue to explain that “the immune response, including duration of immunity, to SARS-CoV-2 infection is not yet understood”. Therefore, if we do not maintain immunity from the actual virus, what is to say that we will maintain immunity from the vaccine? Or will people be forced to inject themselves with a vaccine, that is not entirely understood yet, multiple times? If there are repercussions from the vaccine in the future and we do not yet know of them, will the effects worsen because of a high number of doses received? The answer to this question also remains unknown. With so many unknowns and so many questions left unanswered I believe it is truly wrong to require students to receive a vaccine that has yet to be approved by the FDA, or even completely understood for that matter. St. John’s University required students to take 4 classes, a total of 12 credits on the Staten Island campus. They told students that if they did not follow this criteria then they would not be considered full time students, even though 12 credits in a normal school year is in fact considered full time. St. John’s then proceeded to inform students that they will be required to receive the vaccine if they want to be allowed back on campus. However, they waited until after my peers and I registered for classes. So, instead of giving students time to consider what they want to do come the fall, they waited until after registration to present us with an important decision regarding not only our education, but our health. While St. John’s is a private institution and can mandate the vaccine if they choose, it would be horrible to not give students another option. Especially, when the vaccine could potentially cause harm to our health in the future. You can argue that if Covid spreads there will also be negative effects, however there are other ways to prevent the spread. St. John’s has been offering online classes since Covid began and now they are telling students that “Covid” is no longer an excuse to not be on campus. When Covid is just as prevalent as it was in previous semesters. I am going into my senior year and St. John’s is going to present me with an ultimatum? Either I get the vaccine even though I fear effects in the future, or I am unable to complete the degree that I have been working so hard for. I understand that people support this vaccine and I am not denying that it may help to combat this virus, however with so many things left unknown I believe that it should remain a personal choice. If you want the vaccine St. John’s should support you. If you still have reservations because of the lack of information and data, then St. John’s should support you. If this school truly wants its students to succeed, then they should prove it. If you don’t want people who are not vaccinated on campus, then give us the option to take classes online. You are going to tie our hands? You are not allowed on campus. However, there is no online option. That is ludicrous. St. John’s is very adamant on forcing students to return to campus. However, is it wise to have everyone return to campus? More people on campus could cause an increase in the spread of Covid-19. Will they have a game plan on how to accommodate every student on campus and still abide by the CDC’s social distancing? Is there enough space in each classroom for that? The school has provided us with no information regarding the return of every student to campus. All they have provided us with is a tough decision and no options. If they force us to get this vaccine, in years to come if there are negative side effects, will St. John’s be taking full responsibility because if not, then they should not force us to inject our bodies with experimental vaccines. My peers and I have discussed this news and while some students are choosing to receive the vaccine a lot of us do not want it as of right now. If you don’t want us on campus, we are pleading with you to give us another option. Let us continue with online classes, but please don’t take away our freedom of choice. You teach us philosophy, you want us to think for ourselves and to decide what the best option is for us as individuals. So, please practice what you preach. Thank you! -Kaitlyn Kiefer Junior; Speech Language Pathology and Audiology Undergraduate Work Cited: CDC organization. (2021, January 15). Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/cio.htm Clinical questions ABOUT COVID-19: Questions and answers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html Cohen, E. (2021, April 19). Johnson & Johnson said blood CLOTS have been reported with all COVID-19 Vaccines. the author of the study they cited says they're wrong. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/19/health/johnson-vaccine-blood-clots-statement/index.html Commissioner, O. (n.d.). Covid-19 frequently asked questions. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=On%20December%2011%2C%202020,COVID%2D19%20Vaccine. Commissioner, O. (n.d.). What we do. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/what-we-do Different covid-19 vaccines. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines.html Murphy, J., & Wu, J. (2021, April 22). Map: Track coronavirus deaths around the world. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/world-map-coronavirus-deaths-country-covid-19-n1170211 News, E. (2021, April 06). How to get the Coronavirus vaccine in New York City, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://abc7ny.com/covid-vaccine-ny-nj-ct/9563077/ Recommendation to PAUSE use of Johnson & JOHNSON'S Janssen Covid-19 Vaccine. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/JJUpdate.html URL’s https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/cio.htm https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/world-map-coronavirus-deaths-country-covid-19-n1170211 https://abc7ny.com/covid-vaccine-ny-nj-ct/9563077/ https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/JJUpdate.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/19/health/johnson-vaccine-blood-clots-statement/index.html https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/what-we-do https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=On%20December%2011%2C%202020,COVID%2D19%20Vaccine. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html