Fellow Long Islanders:
We find ourselves at a crossroads that is going to take each and every one of us to conquer. No household and no business stands alone. It is in times like these when we must dig deep, stay positive, and most importantly continue to fight on. Courage is not the absence of fear, but instead is the ability to move forward in the face of fear. We must continue to fight, not only to help protect the health of our most vulnerable, but also our businesses, which have helped create the amazing quality of life that Long Island has to offer. The richness of Long Island lies not only in its real estate and school districts, but also in its diverse restaurants, shopping, and hospitality. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and must survive. Like you, I have spent my entire career helping to build Long Island, and also like you I am not willing to sit back and watch these businesses be destroyed without a fight.
While we must be safe, we cannot become paralyzed. Working remotely cannot be viewed as a sabbatical. Home schooling during this time needs to be more than cartoons and Xbox. Managers need to be directing their teams each and every day to ensure that they are performing. We cannot allow the fear of us potentially not getting paid to prevent us from being productive. We have simply come too far for that. We need to trust one another a bit more and, even though difficult at times, we must also trust the government. We need to all mute out the hysteria being caused by irresponsible media pundits and help ensure that our colleagues and our families are all reacting to accurate information. In short, we all need to be leaders.
This is our moment to shine: the moment when we can all directly work together to protect the health of our most vulnerable as well as our business community. I know we all have what it takes to get through this in a safe and prosperous way. Let’s all be smart, fair, and kind – in short, let’s all be Long Islanders.
