NYC mayor aims to meet challenge of virus' disparate impact

NEW YORK (AP) — Racial and economic disparities in the coroanvirus pandemic's impact in New York City present a challenge for an administration that has sought to fight inequality, Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged Tuesday.

“There’s a lot we’re going to do right now but the big question is going forward: how do you create a city where these disparities don’t exist?” de Blasio said on TV station WPIX.

Data released by the city Monday showed that the coronavirus has hit hardest in low-income neighborhoods outside of Manhattan. The data showed that black and Hispanic New Yorkers were more than twice as likely to be killed by the virus as white people.

De Blasio, a Democrat who first ran for mayor in 2013 vowing to end the “Tale of Two Cities,” said the city is meeting the coronavirus threat in severely affected communities through beefed-up testing for the virus as well as outreach “to make sure people have the information they need to protect themselves and their families.”