Historic Liberty Bell is removed
from charred East Village church
BY DEAN MOSES
A chorus of emotional cheers rang
out as New York’s Liberty Bell
emerged from the ashes of Middle
Collegiate Church on June 16.
To Rev. Jacqui Lewis seeing the bell intact
is a symbol of fortitude. Although on Dec. 5,
2020, a six-alarm fi re demolished the East
7th Street house of worship known for their
inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, both
the church’s facade and the bell, which rang
in 1776 in celebration of the nation’s independence
from British rule, remains intact
amidst adversity, something Rev. Lewis says
encapsulates her congregation.
“We are still standing. We say that although
the fi re burned down much of our
sanctuary, the place where the love resides,
the place where justice resides is inside of
us. We are the sanctuary, and we survived,”
Rev. Lewis said, adding, “We are resilient,
and the bell symbolizes resilience, and it
symbolizes tenacity.”
The removal process is no easy feat,
though. After the Director of the Department
of Buildings Tim Lynch found the bell
undamaged by the fi re, the way in which
Rev. Jacqui Lewis stands beside the New York Liberty Bell with pride.
to remove it from the ruins required meticulous
planning and a lot of manpower.
The fi rst step was to ensure the site was
stabilized with metal bars since certain
areas have withered due to the extreme
heat from the blaze. The process needed
two cranes, one to lift workmen up the
burned structure where they attached
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
reinforced rope to the Liberty Bell and a
second to hoist it from the window and to
the sidewalk below.
As it emerged from the steeple, onlookers,
who had gathered to witness the
momentous occasion, unleashed a rousing
round of applause while Rev. Lewis became
overwhelmed with emotion, embracing
Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, the executive
minister for Middle Collegiate Church.
The bell is set to be transported to the
New York Historical Society where it will
be placed on display at an exhibition and
viewed by New Yorkers and tourists alike
while Middle Collegiate Church begins
the rebuilding process. Additionally, Rev.
Lewis shared that she will curate the exhibit
and it will remain at the New York
Historical Society for the 20th anniversary
of the 911 memorial.
Rev. Lewis told amNewYork Metro that
Middle Collegiate Church will be reconstructed,
but in order to make that happen,
she says they will need to raise more funds.
“Our emotion, our heart and our mind
all want to rebuild on the site so that is how
we are proceeding, the back end of the site
will become our program building, so we
are trying to fi gure out how much we need
to demolish. Of course, we need to raise
funds to make this happen, our insurance
was good but not good enough to rebuild,”
Rev. Lewis said, adding, “We are looking
at what kind of plan we can create that will
make the church both our sacred place, but
even more fully a community center.”
Before the bell was transported to its
temporary home at 77th Street and Central
Park West, Rev. Lewis marked the occasion
by striking the celebrated bell 19 times in
honor of liberty.
De Blasio, City Council commit $40M
to private shelter security guards
BY DEAN JAMIESON
With homelessness one of the
most pressing issues in the
2021 mayoral race, it’s more
important than ever that those on the street
have somewhere safe to sleep. Oftentimes,
that means a non-profi t shelter.
Yet many of the private security offi cers
who work at these shelters are paid so little
they can barely afford health insurance –
and are even in danger of homelessness
themselves.
Now the New York City Council and
Mayor Bill DeBlasio are moving to change
this, committing 40.5 million dollars to
ensure that these essential workers are paid
fair, livable wages.
“For over 4,000 working families – their
lives are going to change, this year,” said
Mayor DeBlasio at a press conference this
afternoon. A group of working people, each
wearing union shirts, stood behind him.
“You can’t ask someone to help solve one
of the most challenging problems in society,
but not give them enough to put food on
their tables, or pay their rent, or take care
of their families.”
His description was borne out by a
number of speakers. Homeless shelters
can be rife with violence; yet many security
offi cers are paid minimum wage, barely
enough to sustain an individual, let alone
a family. “We cannot afford to live in the
city we work,” said Shaquille Sheppard, a
PHOTO BY DEAN JAMIESON
private shelter security offi cer who himself
grew up in-and-out of shelters. “Private
security jobs are poverty jobs.” Kyle Bragg,
president of Local 32BJ, a chapter of the
Service Employees International Union,
substantiated this, saying that, “while
helping the City’s most vulnerable, many
of these workers struggle to afford things
themselves,” and, “may even fi nd themselves
homeless.”
According to a recent survey, shelter
security workers – over 90% of whom are
people of color – are more than four times
as likely to be homeless or uninsured than
the average New Yorker. At the same time,
some 48% of those surveyed said they are
inadequately trained. In somewhere as
dangerous as a homeless shelter, this can
mean the difference between life and death.
That these shelters cannot even sustain the
people they employ – people whose work
is essential to the City – is a cruel and vicious
irony and one that the pandemic put
into even starker relief. While thousands
fl ed the City to the Hudson Valley and the
Hamptons, many of these essential workers
had no choice but to mask up, sanitize, and
help the City’s most vulnerable – and while
getting terribly paid.
DeBlasio, and the City Council, are
working hard to amend this injustice. The
$40 million designated out of the city budget
for shelter security offi cers will mean
wage increases from $15 to $18 an hour, as
well as benefi ts such as family health care.
For many of the near-4,000 private shelter
offi cers in the City, this money will mean
doctor visits, rent payments, or simply a
little more time spent at home; the effects,
in short, will be life-changing.
18 June 24, 2021 Schneps Media