Weekly PipelineNew York City’s Jamaica BayMay 25, 2021

Volume XII • Issue 594

Bill de Blasio, MayorVincent Sapienza, P.E., Commissioner

Commissioner’s CornerI recently testified before the New York City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and C o m m i t t e e on Finance,

touching upon our operations during COVID, the financial impact of COVID on the water system, the proposed water rate, and the Agency’s future outlook. DEP’s proposed FY22–FY31 capital plan is $22.7 billion, of which 26% is for Federal and State mandates. We are prioritizing projects to focus on improvements to our WRRFs, sewer replacements and extensions, and water quality preservation initiatives.

I am very proud that DEP maintained all of its core services through the pandemic without interruption or impact to water quality. Staff that continually reported to their jobsites in the field did so with social distancing measures, required temperature checks, and extra personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff that was teleworking returned to their offices on May 3, following CDC and DCAS guidelines.

To support the city’s fight against COVID, DEP collaborated with DOHMH

and outside experts to establish a coronavirus wastewater testing program that signaled potential outbreaks around the city. Our lab staff also produced more than 17,000 gallons of hand sanitizer for citywide distribution. Additionally, DEP staff volunteered at the command center, to make calls to identify PPE needs, and to work in the vaccine hubs.

We changed some public-facing procedures, implementing a digital permitting system so that business and property owners could apply for necessary permits remotely. We also implemented paperless solutions for vendor invoicing and payments. And for construction contracts, sealed bid envelopes are now publicly opened using Microsoft Teams for transparency.

Like the rest of the City, DEP has felt the financial impact of COVID. Our operating revenues are about $175 million lower than they were this time last year, water consumption is down about 4.7%, and significantly overdue bills have increased by 26% year over year.

The City’s water and sewer rate had no increase in three of the past five years, including this current year, FY21. For FY22, the Water Board is considering

Vincent Sapienza

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and as the month winds down it is important to remember that your mental health is just as important as your physical health. If you do not take care of your mental health, it can impact your ability to make good decisions and recognize potential hazards. Workplace stressors can also affect mental health. As a DEP employee, there are several resources available should you need to reach out to someone for help:

• The NYC Employee Assistance Program provides education, information, counseling and individualized referrals to assist with a wide range of personal and social problems.

• DEP’s Employee Support Series meets weekly and allows a safe and

confidential forum to share experiences, concerns, tips, and creative ideas.

• DEP’s Workplace Violence Prevention Program

• The office of Equal Employment Opportunity

• Report health and safety concerns to ehs@dep.nyc or contact your Bureau Safety Officer.

• Your union may also offer additional assistance programs.

Many of the above resources can be contacted confidentially. It is important to seek help if you are dealing with a mental health concern, or if you see something of concern in the workplace that is causing you stress. Remember, mental health does not only refer to a diagnosed mental illness, we ALL need to take care of our mental wellbeing.

At DEP, everyone is responsible for safety. If you or anyone on your team is concerned about your working conditions, it’ s okay to ask your supervisor or your bureau’ s EHS liaison how they can help. If you’ ve still got questions, you can call the EHS Employee Concerns Hotline. It’ s DEP’ s responsi-bility to acknowledge and fix unsafe situations, procedures, and practices. With your help, we’ ll not only get the job done, we’ ll make it safer for ourselves, our coworkers, our families, and our city. CALL (800) 897-9677 OR SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH EH&S EMPLOYEE CONCERNS. HELP IS ON THE WAY.

an increase of 2.76% to cover projected needs. For an average single family, this amounts to a monthly increase of $2.22. As a point of comparison, the average single family in NYC spends 20% less on water and sewer charges than similar residents in other cities across the US.

COVID has not stopped DEP from moving forward with capital construction and repairs, including the major

Southeast Queens sewer buildout, City Water Tunnel No. 3, and the repair of the Delaware Aqueduct. We have also built more than 3,000 new Green Infrastructure assets throughout Queens and launched a Harbor Protectors volunteer program. We look forward to continuing our innovative programs and progressing other critical work in partnership with the Council.

Spotlight on Safety

As we all con-tinue to adapt to the frequent pandemic related changes affecting how we live our lives, a source of comfort may be in the routines

we’ve established that create a sense of control, structure, and predictability that in turn, help lessen anxiety and signal to our nervous system to stand down.

In prior Pipeline articles, the value of establishing a healthy routine has been explored...

To continue reading this article, please visit The Source.

Jonathan Glotzer

Breaking Boredom During Covid

DEP Virtual Support Groups

Join Director of Staff Support and Assistance Jona-than Glotzer as he facilitates “Coping with Pandem-ic Stress” every Thursday at 2:45pm, “Coping with Isolation and Loneliness” every Friday at 2:45pm, and monthly “Multitask Parenting Support”. If you are interested in joining one or all of these virtual sessions, please contact Rachel Reeves at rreeves@dep.nyc.gov. Space is limited.

DEP is partnering with the New York Blood Centers to help pro-vide the gift of life and maintain the community’s blood supply. Remember to eat and hydrate before you donate and don’t for-get to bring your donor ID card. Donors must wear a mask, will have their temperature taken on-site, and must be 14 days symptom-free if recovering from COVID-19.

Blood drives will be taking place at the following locations and times—

• Rego Center: former ULTA store, 61-35 Junction Blvd., 6/1, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4, 7:45am –1:45pm; Click here to make an appointment.

• Kingston/Catskill Area: 51 Albany Avenue, 6/1 and 6/2, 10:30am–5pm;

• Schoharie Area: Grand Gorge Civic Center, 60933 State Highway 30, 6/18, 2–6pm;

• Downsville Region Area: Downsville Fire Hall, 6/16, 9am–3pm

Donate Blood!

It has never been easier to get a COVID-19 vaccination in NYC. People 12 and older are eligible for the vaccine. After you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a face covering or stay 6 feet away from others in most places, in addition to other benefits of vaccination, so get your shot today. Many vaccination sites in the city no longer require appointments.

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder (not accessible with Internet Explorer). You can also call 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692) for more information. Vaccines are available at no cost to you and regardless of immigration status.

Vaccinations for All

On Monday, nine new employees attended orientation and re-ceived an overview of the department from the Deputy Director of HR Grace Pigott and HR Generalist Harold Kim. We hope ev-eryone will join us in welcoming them to DEP!

Zachary Allard, LaShawna Brown, Karis Fritz, Victor Guevara, Christopher Martinez, Eugene Robinson, Monisa Walker, Kashawn Williams, and Victor Woods, all with BWSO.

Welcome Aboard!

On June 22, New Yorkers will be using Ranked Choice Voting in an important citywide Primary election. Ranked Choice Vot-ing is a new system of voting in which you can rank up to five candidates in order of prefer-ence. The June Primary will im-pact the outcome of a number of critical races for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough Presidents, and a majority of the 51 City Council seats. Democra-cyNYC is ramping up its educa-tion campaign around Ranked Choice Voting, and preparing for a large-scale Get Out the Vote effort. Everyone is encouraged

to consider joining Democra-cyNYC’s campaign to educate New Yorkers around the elec-tions and help get them to the polls. Below are several opportu-nities for you to get involved:

• Get Out the Vote Phone Bank-ing Efforts: Sign-up for DNYC’s Get Out the Vote phone-banks and then help spread the work by sharing the link with your friends and family.

• Get Out the Vote Text Bank-ing Efforts: Use the following links to sign-up for Get Out the Vote text-banks: June 5 | June 12 | June 19

Learn about Ranked Choice Voting