As New Yorkers are being told to stay home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic thousands of essential workers from nurses to postal carriers to bus drivers continue to keep the city running.
Imagine a world where the heroes without capes “take a moment to thank the community for being patient and practicing restraint during these challenging times,” John Coombs, a New York City Fire Fighter for 21 years, said. He added: “Because of your selflessness, firefighters and all essential workers are able to operate under safer circumstances.”
Data released last month from City Comptroller Scott Stringer breaks down those who are known as “frontline workers.” About 75% of all frontline workers are people of color, including 40% of transit employees. Other frontline industries that have a high number of Black employees include healthcare, trucking, warehouse, childcare, food service and the postal service.
Dr. Wesley Willis is a nurse at Mount Sinai Morningside and has worked in healthcare for over 17 years. He said working during the COVID-19 pandemic on the frontlines is “life-changing” and has altered the way he views care for critically ill patients and healthcare in general.
“I have experienced the joys of seeing the very first patient admitted to my hospital with a known COVID positive diagnosis to the death of four patients in less than four hours,” Willis told the AmNews. “I feel good and, at times, I feel sad. Sad mostly because being a nurse extends past me into the lives of my colleagues that are missing their families to keep from infecting them. Sad because nurses are referred to as the frontline staff, when the truth is nurses are the only line. I feel great because I never imagined we as a collective would do so much and push past so many hurdles and patch the holes in our broken healthcare system during a crisis.”
Speaking under anonymity only, a laboratory specialist at a New York City hospital told the Amsterdam News that it is stressful, but necessary as they deal with the actual COVID-19 tests. “When you think of healthcare usually the glamour positions come to mind (doctors, nurses, EMS); as they should. These individuals invested the blood, sweat and tears needed for those titles. There is, however, a collective of other talented people that bring particular skill sets to the table, that, when in sync, brings out the absolute best in those you literally trust with your lives. Rest assured in our spirit and effort and help us help you.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said when COVID-19 came to New York, containing the spread drew the line between the haves and have-nots. Low-income essential workers, who are mostly Black, were exposed to the virus while higher income residents had the luxury of staying home.
“At the beginning of this pandemic, I became alarmed when I heard the terms ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential employees,’” Adams said during a recent interview with the AmNews. “That’s coded language. It says they are going to divide the city into two entities: one group that can do their job without getting their hands dirty and the essential employees who have to be on the ground and the happened to be over 70% people of color.”
Brooklyn is home to the largest share of frontline workers, with 28% residing in the borough—including 31% of social service workers and 30% of those employed in public transit. Queens and the Bronx follow, housing 22% and 17%, respectively, of employees in frontline industries.
Broken down by neighborhood, there are more than 20,000 frontline workers living in five Brooklyn, three Queens, two Bronx, and one Manhattan neighborhoods. Canarsie/Flatlands, East Flatbush and East New York in Brooklyn; Jamaica/Hollis, Queens Village/Cambria Heights in Queens; Washington Heights/Inwood in Manhattan; and Castle Hill/Parkchester in the Bronx all have high numbers of essential workers.
MTA train operator Basil Todd runs the city’s subways. A 25-year veteran of the MTA, he says the transit agency has provided him with masks, gloves, wipes and access to sanitizer at terminals.
“It’s honestly hectic and very stressful,” he said. “Since the coronavirus hit hard, it’s been very hard in the subway system, although the trains are empty of customers, the homeless have moved in. They are everywhere. It’s not safe or healthy. I’ve lost some good co-workers to the virus and at times it’s very depressing because we’re like family. I’m proud of the work we all do.”
New York State EMT Glenn Jones told the AmNews that in his 20-year career, he’s delivered twins, has cardiac arrest saves and worked during 9/11 but working on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic is like nothing he’s ever seen. His days consist of responding to back-to-back 911 calls but he says he still wants to help.
“Working in this health crisis has taken somewhat of an emotional toll on not just me, but every healthcare worker across the world,” he said. “It makes my heart feel good to know that I am trying to make a difference to combat this dreadful virus. And the gratitude that is displayed back to us as we perform our duty to act. I smile every day at 7 p.m., feeling grateful and appreciated as I hear the hand claps, bells and whistles, cheers and the beating of pots and pans of the community thanking us for our service.”
Sounding somewhat distraught, the lab technician later reached back out to the paper stating, “I’m really trying to put a positive spin on things, but that sister who died in BK because she was denied a COVID test is really galling! That’s happening to us who happen to share her complexion, even if we happen to work in a hospital. I’ve seen, personally, a single person get multiple tests, not believing a test result. Yet we can’t get one.”
The tech continued, “Have you been seeing what’s going on out here? Sharing cigarettes/joints, drinking from the same bottle, rhyme cyphers, haircuts. Is living past today part of the plan?”
Probably most folk who got their stimulus checks did so by direct deposit, others are eagerly awaiting their friendly neighborhood postal worker to drop that envelope in the mailbox.
The fiscally-challenged mail service is working through the pandemic still.
George A. McClammy was a United States Postal Worker for 38 years who retired in October of 2018. “Postal workers are always on the front lines. We are dedicated and sometimes in spite of extenuating circumstances, get the job done,” he told the paper. “When I was working, nothing stopped us. Weather, natural disasters, catastrophe, or other events did not stop mail delivery or retail services. Unfortunately, I don’t think postal workers are appreciated at times. By the general public or sometimes by our own. Yet we persevere. For over 300 years we have been forging the way as an integral part of American society. At this critical time in 2020––and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Postal Service is still on the front lines.”
McClammy hopes that in post-COVID times to come, the USPS will be favorably re-evaluated. “It is not our first rodeo! To my chagrin the narrative is the same. Talks of the demise of this vital institution of first responders because of financial difficulties have resurfaced. Yet I am confident that the USPS will prevail and continue to serve the public. The Postal motto is, ‘Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.’ God bless the first responders.”