Mayor de Blasio Offers $100 Incentives to Give Vaccinations to New Yorkers and their Houses of Worship, Small Businesses, Non-Profits, and Restaurants

By Yehudit Garmaise

     Last weekend, not only did 2,000 New Yorkers get vaccinated in houses of worship, but in a new “bonus referral program,” New Yorkers who got their shots received $100 not only for themselves, but also for the houses of worship, small businesses, restaurants, and the non-for-profits that brough the people in to get their shots, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning.

     “Every single one of those folks were able to get a bonus themselves, the $100 incentive, but it also means that every house of worship got a $100 for each person that it convinced to come in and get vaccinated,” the mayor explained. 

     In the city’s latest attempts to get everyone vaccinated, the mayor appeared with several citywide religious leaders to announce a weekend vaccine drive with 50 houses of worship throughout New York City, last weekend.

     “We have seen countless examples of faith leaders stepping up to support our vaccination efforts,” said Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi, MD, the city’s health commissioner. “Faith leaders do it out of care and concern for people who have been a part of their communities for years and decades.”

     The mayor emphasized that in addition to houses of worship, many types of organizations can sign up for the $100 bonus referral program.

     “We welcome small businesses,” said the mayor. “We welcome barbershops and beauty salons. We welcome restaurants. We welcome bodegas. Anyone who wants to be a part of this, encouraging community members to come in and get vaccinated, we want those small businesses to benefit.”

     Rabbi Joe Potasnik, who is the rabbi emeritus at Congregation Mt. Sinai in Brooklyn Heights and a radio talk show host in 1010-WINS, spoke at Mayor de Blasio’s press conference last week said, “How often have we heard people say going into a hospital, ‘If only I had taken the vaccine, and sadly, now it is too late.

     “As faith leaders, we believe in the sacredness of life, and therefore the safety of life.”

      Rabbi Potasnik then explained that the Hebrew word “L’Chiam” is always in the plural, “and never in the singular because we believe that if you really are invested in life, then when you say, “L’chiam,” it is really about saving other lives, which we will continue to do, and it is also about saving our own.”

 Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.