NYC May Follow Suit After DC Provides One-Time $1,200 Stimulus Payments to Those in Need

By Yehudit Garmaise 

   In a move that some say might inspire New York City elected officials to do the same, today Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that in the coming weeks, nearly 20,000 Washingtonians who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic will receive a one-time stimulus payment of $1,200.

   The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES) is providing the much-needed funds to residents who, before Nov. 30, had filed and deemed eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Insurance (PUA), which covers people who are not eligible for traditional unemployment insurance and whose federally funded benefits will expire at the end of the year. 

    “We know a stimulus like this will provide direct assistance to Washingtonians who are struggling to make ends meet,” said DOES Director Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes. “They need help now, and the Bowser Administration is answering the call.”

   Since the COVID pandemic struck in March, nearly 200,000 unemployed workers in Washington, D.C., have applied for unemployment insurance benefits to help pay for groceries, rent, utilities, and other essential needs.

   “The District is committed to using every resource at our disposal to provide support to residents who have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” said Mayor Bowser. “With federal assistance getting ready to end later this month, and as the public health and economic crises continue, this stimulus payment is one way we can get immediate and much-needed relief to more than 20,000 Washingtonians. 

   “But we also know that short-term relief is not enough. We urge our federal partners to pass legislation that recognizes the needs of millions of Americans who have made tremendous sacrifices and who are struggling to get by through no fault of their own.”

   In the past, Mark Treyger, member of the 47th District of the New York City Council in Brooklyn and Corey Johnson, who is Speaker of the City Council and who represents Council District 3 in Manhattan, have promoted stimulus payments for New Yorkers who have been hardest hit financially from the pandemic.

   “Elected leaders should be doing everything in their power to help people survive, and to keep businesses afloat,” said Chaim Deutsch, the City Council member for the 48th District said. “Everyone is suffering in some way during this pandemic, many - like business owners, for example - directly because of government policies. 

    “A stimulus package would be helpful, and so would removing certain restrictions that are needlessly hurting our fellow New Yorkers.”