Bronx COVID remembrance ceremony
BY JASON COHEN
It’s been a year since
COVID-19 wreaked
havoc on this country
and ravaged the Bronx
causing unprecedented
hardships no one has
ever seen before.
In recognition of the
anniversary, Assemblywoman
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 19-25, 2021
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Latoya Joyner
held a Day of Remembrance
ceremony on
March 5 at Joyce Kilmer
Park, honoring Bronxites
whose lives have
been lost to the pandemic.
As temperatures were
barely above 20 degrees
that morning, tears were
shed as people refl ected
on loved ones.
“We are coming together
to honor the memories
of those we’ve lost
in the Bronx and truly
celebrate their lives,”
Joyner said. “Even now
a year later we’re still
trying to recover from
the impact from this
pandemic.”
The assemblywoman
noted that although the
coronavirus had caused
much sadness and pain,
it brought people closer.
She pointed out that
while many people were
shuttered home, the essential
workers showed
up to their jobs every
day.
COVID-19 affected everyone
in some way or
another and now that the
vaccine is here, the hope
is slowly life can begin to
resume some normalcy,
she said.
“Through it all we
saw the wonderful gifts
of kindness, compassion
and commitment to our
neighbors,” Joyner commented.
Walkiris Cruz, 34,
was among the attendees
at the ceremony. Cruz
was quite emotional as
she spoke about her stepfather
Juan Sanabria,
who died from COVID at
just 52-years-old.
Sanabria worked as
a doorman at 860 Grand
Concourse and was beloved
in the community.
She recalled that at fi rst
they thought her dad just
had a cough, but eventually
it got so bad he was
taken to Lincoln Hospital.
She saw him once
through a glass window
before he passed away.
Cruz, who went to school
with Joyner when they
were younger, knew her
stepfather for 11 years.
“If you needed a smile
you just looked into those
big brown eyes,” she said.
“He was the most important
person in my life.”
After his death Cruz
was not sure if she had
the mental strength to
fi nish nursing school,
but she did. Today, she
is a registered nurse at
Columbia Presbyterian
and in February became
a licensed nurse practitioner.
While a big part of
her is now missing, she
is glad Sanabria was in
her life.
“You lose your best
friend you lose everything,”
she said. “He
wanted me to be a nurse
practitioner. He is the
epitome of the Bronx. He
loved the Bronx.”
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Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner holds a COVID-19 remembrance
ceremony.
Photos by Jason Cohen