Hundreds of Workers Rally, Demanding Mayor Postpone Office Return
By Hanna Darroll, Jiahui Huang, and Marcela Rodrigues-Sherley
Around 200 people marched from City Hall to Washington Square Park Sunday, voicing safety concerns while demanding that Mayor Bill de Blasio postpone municipal employees’ return to the office and restore remote options for workers and students.
According to the mayor’s order — issued on Sept. 1 — most municipal employees are mandated to resume full-time, in-person work starting today. The directive comes just months after he introduced hybrid remote and in-person schedules for 80,000 of the city’s roughly 300,000 workers back in May. To many, the announcement felt rushed and ill-prepared, given the growing threat of the Delta variant and the recent damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
“Mayor de Blasio needs to understand that his workforce is not happy with him,” says Jeremiah Cedeño, the organizer of Sunday’s rally and march. “He is sending his city workers back to buildings with basements and ventilations systems that were further compromised by the hurricane we just had.”
Josh Barnett, a 64-year-old architect from Brooklyn, is a construction project manager with the New York City Housing Authority and president of the Housing Authority Chapter of the Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375. “I live in [de Blasio’s] district. He came in as a progressive knight in shining armor, but now he’s like another Bloomberg.”
Barnett is concerned about his building’s ventilation system and the commute to work. He says subways are overcrowded with unmasked people. And even before the pandemic, he filed complaints about the safety of his building. Though he’s vaccinated, he still fears being exposed to COVID-19. “People with health risks who’ve been denied reasonable accommodations are putting themselves at a greater risk,” Barnett said.
The mayor’s safety plan for city employees includes mandatory vaccinations and masks. No social distancing is required.
Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams are among the city leaders defying the mayor’s orders to return to the office. Both officials instructed their respective employees not to come in via Twitter on Friday. Williams described the mayor’s plan as the “height of irresponsibility.”
Employees are not the only ones returning to city buildings today. The nation’s largest public school system is also opening at full capacity. Students will be in the classroom five days a week for full-time, in-person learning, despite concerns from some parents.
Jennifer Goddard, 45, is a member of the Bronx Parent Leaders Advocacy Group and the mother of 10-year-old August Huete, who has asthma and an overactive immune system. On Sunday, she urged the mayor and Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Porter to prioritize children’s safety.
“Your performative concern, your blatant lies, [and] your bumbling incompetence have made it clear that you cannot be trusted to keep our children safe,” Goddard said. “Stop gaslighting us with these pre-Delta statistics that everything is safe. Stop forcing parents to choose between their child’s education and their health.”
Pushing through tears, Goddard added, “Unlike the mayor, unlike the chancellor, and unlike the governor, my son is irreplaceable.” She told Labor New York she is not sending her son to school today.
Tanesha Grant, 45, is a parent of a rising ninth-grader in Harlem and the Founder of Parents Supporting Parents NYC, a parent-led organization that provides laptops for Black and Brown children in need. She believes a remote option is necessary for all students and employees. “Even Apple and Google have told their employees that they don’t need to come back until 2022,” said Grant. “How is it that the multi-billionaire corporations get it, but the people who are supposed to work for the public do not?”
“Some classrooms have no windows. Some schools don’t even have nurses,” said Grant. “Is that your gold standard, Bill de Blasio?”
As the protesters marched, nearby delivery workers riding bicycles waved their hands in support. And when the rally passed by a construction site, a worker mimicked the beat of the chants with his drill.
