Fourth Stimulus Check Update: NYC To Send $5,000 Payments To This Group

Authorities in New York City are set to send out $5,000 in financial assistance to artists, taxi drivers and the homeless as part of a recovery plan that will be funded by stimulus funds from President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan.

In a 70-page outline released last week, the city detailed its plans to use the nearly $6 billion in stimulus funds it received from the Biden administration to provide $5,000 relief payments to at least 1,800 local artists under the New York City Artist Corps (CAC) program by the end of October.

The CAC also collaborated with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the NYC Department of Education to award $25,000 per project for murals and performing arts at Summer Rising sites.

New York City will also allocate $65 million in relief funds for the taxicab industry, where workers are mostly immigrants and people of color.

“Relief payments are intended to help individual medallion owners achieve a more sustainable level of medallion debt, stabilize their financial situation, and get vehicles back in service so more taxis are available to the riding public,” the outline read.

The city is also expected to allocate over $125 million to help the homeless population. It is also part of an effort by city authorities to cut street homelessness by half amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report noted that the city is still prioritizing efforts to get every resident vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as restart the city’s economy.

Other programs mentioned in the report include $1.5 billion in funding aimed at increasing employment and supporting small businesses. At least $52.5 million has been earmarked to help bring the city’s tourism back to pre-pandemic levels.

The city will also allocate $330 million to the Test & Trace initiative. The initiative, led by NYC Health + Hospitals, is a corps of contact tracers that identifies people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and gives them resources to avoid spreading the virus any further, according to CBS News.

The $5,000 checks come after legislators in the state of New York approved one-time $15,600 stimulus payments for excluded workers who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will also be available for those living in New York without resident status but made less than $26,208 in 2020, according to FingerLakes1 News.