How a Streetwear Designer Spends His Sundays - The New York Times
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David Ben David is the founder and creative director of Sprayground, a streetwear line known for its art-inspired backpacks and collaborations with celebrities like Spike Lee and Shaquille O’Neal.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, however, Mr. Ben David has added masks to his collection. He is also volunteering: Every Sunday, he teams up with the Lower Eastside Girls Club to distribute food and Sprayground apparel, like masks and hoodies, to New Yorkers in need.
Mr. Ben David splits his time between Manhattan and Teaneck, N.J. Before the pandemic, he and his family spent weekdays in New Jersey and weekends at his Midtown apartment. For now, they are adjusting to life as suburbanites. Mr. Ben David, 33, lives with his wife, Rina, 32, and their four children: Aden, 11; Liana, 9; Elisha, 7; and Tehillah, 4.
The family.Credit...David Ben David
SET THE MOOD I’ve trained myself to wake up in sync with the sunrise. I like to see the colors. It helps me as a creative person. My moods are like the weather: If it’s cloudy, it’s going to be a bad day. If it’s sunny, it’s going to be great.
RITUALS I’m Jewish. I pray three times a day. Pretty much I have some coffee and then I pray, and then I read The New York Times before the kids get up. I let them stay up one night a week, and that’s Saturday night, which gives me some peace when they sleep in on Sunday morning before the chaos sets in. When my youngest daughter gets up, we make sloppy pancakes together.
“I’m Jewish. I pray three times a day.”Credit...David Ben David
THE SHIPPING BLUES The rules are changing every day when it comes to shipping and importation. When we were able to get our hands on tens of thousands of masks to give out, FedEx and UPS weren’t shipping masks anymore, so I had to work through other shipping places. It was practically like smuggling.
PERSONAL DELIVERIES One of the people on my team knows one of the employees at the Lower Eastside Girls Club, which is how we got together with them. They thought it was a great idea. There are these big cloth tote bags I make, and we decided we’d fill them up with food and add in some of our comfy clothes, like hoodies and joggers. Some of the food comes from companies that agreed to donate, and some of it we’re buying. Lately we’ve been buying organic rice and pasta. Sometimes the bags are packed and ready to go on Sunday; sometimes I’m still packing them early in the morning with two of my team members, Sandflower Dyson and James Ferrell. When they’re full, we bring them to the Girls Club.
“When my youngest daughter gets up, we make sloppy pancakes together.”Credit...David Ben David
WATER THERAPY In the late afternoon there’s this place I love to take the kids to in Englewood called Flat Rock Brook. There’s a beautiful stream with rocks, and the kids like to cross over. Some of them fall in and get their feet or butts wet, and then they cry and we have to leave. I’ll hose them down before dinner.
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the firsttreatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
What is pandemic paid leave?
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
How does blood type influence coronavirus?
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
How can I protect myself while flying?
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
What should I do if I feel sick?
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
EVERYBODY GET DOWN Rina likes to cook, so she’ll prepare dinner for us. I’ll get everybody down on the floor painting on these big canvases. I don’t want them getting sucked into an iPad or TV. Since the virus, I’ve had to get more creative to keep them busy, so I’ve bought supplies from Amazon like Popsicle sticks and glue and a bunch more Legos. Also I’ll challenge the kids to come up with bag designs, put them to work.
A Sunday night creative session. Credit...David Ben David
JUMPSUITS I end off the night preparing for the week. I go to my office and work on this program called Asana, which is artist management software. It’s also my time to be creating. Each season we’re producing 150 different art pieces. But lately I’ve been working on a jumpsuit that has a face cover mask, a cool Tyvek suit, because I’ve been seeing people walking around in those white suits and it doesn’t look cool or fashionable. I’ve gotten a lot of requests to improve it from a fashion standpoint. I’ll listen to tribal beats, or something low-frequency. Then I pray one more time before I go to bed, maybe around midnight.
Sunday Routine readers can follow Mr. Ben David on Twitter and Instagram @davidbendavid.
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