LOCAL NEWS
Manhattan
leads in kid
vaccination
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
COVID-19 cases continued
to tumble
across the Five Boroughs
last week — a decrease
that refl ects the higher
number of New Yorkers vaccinated
against the virus.
The latest data from the
city’s Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene shows
that 85.3% of all New Yorkers
have received at least one
dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,
while 76.2% of all residents
are fully vaccinated.
Yet vaccination rates continue
to lag behind among
New Yorkers younger than
18 years of age. The city’s
Department of Health reports
that just 44% of these
individuals have had at least
one dose, while 38% of
them are fully vaccinated.
These fi gures include children
under 5 years of age,
for whom a vaccine has yet
to be approved.
The rates are far higher
for teenagers than elementary
or middle school students.
Approximately 88% of children
between 13 and 17
years of age have had at least
one dose, and 78% of the demographic
are fully vaxxed.
Meanwhile, just 50% of all
children between ages 5
and 12 have had at least one
dose, and 41% of them are
fully vaccinated.
Looking at the fi gures
by neighborhood, the areas
with the highest number of
pediatric vaccinations were
also among the New York
City communities with the
best overall vaccination
rates.
Leading the way was the
area of Chelsea/NoMad/
West Chelsea (10001),
which has 99% of all youngsters
with at least one dose
and 98% fully vaccinated.
The area registers that 99%
of all residents are completely
vaccinated against
COVID-19.
Three areas of Manhattan’s
Financial District
(10004, 10005 and 10006)
have 99% of all children,
and 99% of all its residents,
fully vaccinated.
A driver honks his horn in support of the union.
Safety last on the job?
Chelsea Terminal union employees protest working conditions
BY DEAN MOSES
Hundreds of fuming
union leaders came out
swinging on Feb. 17 outside
Chelsea Terminal Warehouse,
protesting the alleged exploitation
of immigrant workers.
The unions, led by Laborers’
Local 79, descended on
the construction site at 261
11th Ave. and through raised
fi sts and voices vehemently
criticized demolition company
Alba, who Local 79 and their
partners demonized as antiunion
and exploitative.
Many of the Laborers are
immigrant demolition workers,
also called los demolicionsitas,
and construction workers who
say that they have been deprived
of healthcare throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic
and continue to face intimidation
and threats for trying to
unionize Terminal Warehouse.
Protesters named several
culprits — three being New
Line Structures, ECD NY
and Alba Services — which,
they alleged, have a history
of wage theft and permitting
hazardous working conditions.
There were also allegations of
gender discrimination.
The companies affi liated
suffered one worker fatality
previously. In September 2016,
Bruno Travalja, the owner of
Crowne Architectural Systems,
was working on the New Line
project at 129 West 52 St. when
he fell to his death. While he
was wearing a safety harness, it
was not fastened to a lifeline, as
required by code.
Additionally, the Department
of Buildings issued several
citations to New Line for
failing to install guardrails and
meet OSHA protection standards.
Advocates also cited the
fi ring of a worker for merely
speaking with a union. All of
this comes on the heels of Alba
allegedly putting up bounty fl iers
offering $5,000 to any current
worker who can provide
information that would lead to
the arrest and conviction of a
previous employee who for fi led
for workers’ compensation.
“This can’t stand, we can’t
sleep at night with a sound
mind knowing that human
rights are being violated by that
building and using our retirements
to fund it all,” Joe S said.
The union workers, joined by
New York City District Council
of Carpenters and Joiners of
America; New York Concrete
Workers’ District Council; and
Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
Local 1 fl ooded into
the roadway and infl ated gigantic
rats outside the building site.
“We stand with the demolicionistas
in their fi ght for
respect, dignity, and justice at
Terminal Warehouse, where
they are performing diffi cult,
dangerous jobs every day.
It’s wrong for PIMCO to sit
back and allow these employees
of Alba to be exploited
and harmed. PIMCO can and
should take action to ensure
the demolicionistas and other
nonunion workers at Terminal
Warehouse are protected
and treated fairly,” said Chaz
Rynkiewicz, Assistant Business
Manager at Laborers’ Local
79, and a trustee of the union’s
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
pension and annuity funds invested
with PIMCO.
“When PIMCO bought
Columbia Property Trust,
they bought all of the workplace
problems at the Terminal
Warehouse,” Rynkiewicz
added. “The risks posed by the
hiring of irresponsible contractors
like Alba and an uninsured
workforce during a pandemic
are serious. When we raised
these issues with PIMCO, we
were told that there was nothing
that they could do. We fi nd
that answer dangerous and unacceptable.”
Hundreds marched around
the site, hammering their fi sts
on construction barricades as
they demanded accountability
and worker protection. Passing
motorists even stopped in the
street and honked their horns,
much to the chagrin of NYPD
offi cers who were attempting to
control the crowd.
This reporter reached out
to Terminal Warehouse, New
Line Structures, and Alba Demolition
for comment and is
awaiting a response.
6 February 24, 2022 Schneps Media