Union leaders receive COVID-19 vaccine in Harlem,
hoping to inspire others to get vaccinated
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Union leaders Kyle Bragg of 32BJ and
Henry Garrido of DC 37 received
their fi rst round of the Moderna
COVID-19 vaccine at the AdvantageCare
Physicians Harlem Medical offi ce on Feb.
26. Both qualifi ed for the vaccine because
of underlying health conditions.
Bragg, president of 32BJ, shared that he
felt great after receiving the vaccine. Bragg
hopes that he and Garrido set an example
and inspire those who have been skeptical
about the vaccine, especially within communities
of color.
He understands that people of color are
hesitant, referring to the country’s history
of vaccine experimentation on Black and
Brown people. Still, he doesn’t want this
history to be detrimental to their health and
pleaded with members to get vaccinated as
soon as they become eligible.
“Being a Black man and knowing the
statistics around this country, it is very
similar with my own members about the
skepticism about vaccination,” Bragg
said.“This is our way out. This pandemic
has wreaked havoc on this country and our
city and our members.”
His union, 32BJ, represents 150,000
PHOTO BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Henry Garrido, executive director of DC 37, addresses the media on Feb. 26, 2021.
City Council passes historic film-firefighter safety legislation
BY DEAN MOSES
The parents, brother and
widow of fallen firefi
ghter Michael Davidson
joined together for the fi rst time
publicly since his death in 2018
during a deadly fi lm set blaze to
celebrate new safety legislation.
Councilmembers Joe Borelli
and Robert Cornegy, FDNY
Uniformed Firefi ghters Association
President Andrew Ansbro
and Vice President Robert Eustace
joined Davidson’s family
members for a Feb. 25 morning
Zoom conference before new
fi re safety measures were approved
in the New York City
Council later Thursday.
Through this virtual press
conference family and elected
offi cials discussed exactly what
protections the New York legislation
is set to employ.
“This would be both the fi rst
and last time a fi refi ghter would
die on the set of a fi lm in New
York City,” Borelli said.
municipal employees and 50,000 retirees,
and is the largest public-sector union in
New York City. According to Bragg, the
union has lost 147 members to COVID-19.
Bragg reminded everyone that his union
members are essential workers who have
risked their lives since the onset of the
pandemic and that the vaccine is a tool to
protect themselves and their families.
“This is the way that we are able to
Under these new bills, 1849-
A & 1852-A, movie productions
would be required to notify the
fi re department of fi lming locations
and would also have to
have a fi re safety marshal present
on set at all times. This is in
order to prevent similar deaths
from occurring again.
In 2018, Davidson perished
when he and fellow fi refi ghters
responded to a March 22
fi re three years ago at 773 St.
Nicholas Ave. in Harlem. Family
members and fellow FDNY
peers say the fi rst responders
were unaware that the source of
the blaze was also a movie set
being used on the “Motherless
Brooklyn” production.
Laden with artifi cial walls,
Davidson became confused and
separated from his colleagues
where he ran out of air and died.
BBorelli underscored that
had this situation occurred due
to the negligence of a landlord,
an arrest and prosecution would
have been made, but since it
restore our country, our nation, our cities
in a way that was unimaginable a year ago,”
Bragg said.
Garrido, executive director of DC 37,
pointed out that city workers have been
disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
More than 300 city workers have died
of the virus; 200 of them were DC 37
members.
He applauded that they are deemed
was a fi lm set this issue slipped
through the cracks.
“When a responding company
rolls up to a fi re they will know
that building or that structure is
being used as a fi lm set and if
there are temporary alterations
and partitions possibly obstructing
their work,” Borelli said. “We
will require safety offi cers on site
while pyrotechnics or combustible
material and effects are in
use.”
The initial concept for this
legislation came from widow
Eileen Davidson, and with the
help of the FDNY-Uniformed
Firefi ghters Association, they
worked to make sure Michael
Davidson’s death would not be
in vain.
While gripping her four children
tightly, Eileen Davidson
fought back tears and thanked
everyone in attendance for their
aid and support.
“The weight of what we feel
on a daily basis is indescribable,”
she said.
essential and considered heroes during this
time, but he made it clear that more needs
to be done to protect them, referring to the
Mayor’s plans to bring back city workers in
late May or early June.
Garrido is concerned that not all city
workers will be adequately vaccinated in
time, referring to those employees currently
not eligible for the vaccine, like lifeguards
and library workers.
“If we are going to open the parks and
pools in the summer, we need to start
vaccinated those people right now. They
are not deemed essential right now for the
purpose of vaccination; they are deemed
essential for the purpose of providing
services. You can be deemed essential, be
required to work, but not deemed essential
for the purpose of vaccination in term of
the 1a or 1b requirement that the State has
set out,” Garrido explained.
As a member of the State Equitable
Distribution Panel, Garrido has pushed
the State to include more city workers
and minorities who are not recognized
as essential workers as well as a fair vaccine
distribution. Further, his union has
partnered with AdvantageCare Physicians
and Emblem Health organizations to help
members schedule appointments.
SCREENSHOT
The Davidson family held onto a picture of their son, Michael
Davidson, during a Zoom meeting just before a historic New York
City Council vote on fire safety legislation.
Schneps Media March 4, 2021 3