Updated: Aug. 06, 2021, 8:44 p.m. | Published: Aug. 06, 2021, 8:36 p.m.
By Giavanni Alves | GAlves@siadvance.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Several Staten Island elected officials announced Friday that they plan to sue New York City over its coronavirus vaccine mandate, saying it infringes on citizens’ rights.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, state Sen. Andrew Lanza, state Assemblymen Michael Reilly and Michael Tannousis, City Councilman Joe Borelli, borough presidential candidate Vito Fossella, local business owners and others gathered in front of La Fontana restaurant in Oakwood to announce the impending lawsuit, which will call for an injunction against the recently announced vaccine mandate.
Beginning Aug. 16, all patrons and employees at indoor bars, restaurants, movie theaters, performance centers, gyms and other indoor entertainment venues will be required to show proof of receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter.
“We represent the people who say no. So if you want to come for their jobs, if you want to come for their business, if you want to come for their liberty, and if you want to come for their freedom, we’re here to say we’re standing in your way,” Fossella said.
“So if there is not compromise, if there is not a reflection and a withdrawal of this ridiculous, unconstitutional edict from the powers that be, then we will sue you, not for me, not for these elected officials, but for the hardworking United States citizens,” he added.
A majority of the people who spoke emphasized that they are not anti-vaccination; their interest is in allowing people to make an individual decision on whether to get vaccinated.
“The government’s job is to tell the community, tell our constituents why the vaccine is important, why it’s effective, show the science, show the facts and let individual Americans make a decision with their doctor and what’s in the best interest for themselves and their families,” Malliotakis said.
Reilly cited some of the reasons people are hesitant to get the vaccine beyond skepticism of the science, noting that people who have autoimmune diseases — including he and some of his family members — have been advised by their doctors not to get it. He argued that people should not be ostracized for that calculated risk.
“I’m here to tell you: if you want to be vaccinated, so be it, get vaccinated. You should if you feel it’ll help you. But if others don’t feel like they want to get it, they should not be ostracized. And we will not stand for them to be ostracized. No citizen of New York City or New York state should be second class,” he said.
Attorneys Mark Fonte and Louis Gelormino, who have represented various restaurant and small business owners throughout the pandemic, are leading the lawsuit against the city. They plan to file it on Aug. 16 when the mandate is set to take effect.
The contents of the lawsuit will include an equal protection claim based on the belief that the entertainment industry is being “singled out”; will question whether HIPAA laws are being violated by requiring people to disclose their health information, and will contest the constitutionality of the city’s mandate, Fonte said.
Some business owners also spoke out against the mandate during the press conference.
“To be told that three industries shall be deemed responsible for enforcing this state’s will of getting people vaccinated goes beyond reason,” said Charlie Cassara, head of the U.S. Fitness Coalition. “Our industry has been through enough, mayor, and we are here today to tell you, you have no right. You have no authority to dictate to free citizens and business owners who we choose to service.”
Cassara emphasized that his industry’s purpose is to help people.
“We help people improve their immune systems so they can live a more productive life. We are not the police. We are not the extended arm of the state, city or any local politician to do their bidding, and we are most certainly not entertainment. And we do not segregate people for any reason,” he said.
Borelli asserted that the decision to get vaccinated is “personal responsibility and not collective sacrifice” and urged people to base their decision on medicine.
“Stop listening to people like me. Stop listening to people like Bill de Blasio and talk to someone who’s been ignored throughout this whole pandemic. Talk to your own primary care doctors. Make the best choices for you and your family,” he said.
ANOTHER LAWSUIT ANNOUNCED
Leticia Remauro, who is running for borough president on the Conservative Party line, New York City public advocated candidate Tony Herbert, artist Scott LoBaido and David Mario Curcio, chairman of the Staten Island Conservative Party, also announced plans to file a lawsuit against the city over its vaccine mandate.
“Who is the mayor to determine who should live a normal life and who shouldn’t? That’s government overreach of the worst degree,” Remauro said during a press conference Thursday. “One size fits all does not work when it comes to individual health.
“Mr. Mayor, it is time to stop governing by hysteria and time to start governing with common sense.”
Remauro also called for citizens to join the lawsuit, encouraging them to email her at lbremauro@gmail.com and state how the mandate will negatively impact them.
DE BLASIO SAYS INCENTIVES ARE WORKING
On Thursday, the mayor announced that the rate of first-dose coronavirus vaccinations rose 40% in the first week of August, attributing it to the recent incentives implemented.
According to the latest data from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 55% of the city’s eligible residents are fully vaccinated while 51% of Staten Islanders are fully vaccinated — the third-highest rate amongst the city’s five boroughs.