Nurses rally at hospitals in Manhattan
seeking new laws for ‘Safe Staffing’
BY DEAN MOSES
The fight for safe nurse staffing continues
amid the one-year anniversary
of New York’s COVID-19 lockdown.
The New York State Nurses Association
has organized several rallies over the last few
months in hopes of passing a new safety bill.
This legislation looks to ensure that hospitals
and other medical centers are sufficiently
staffed after many nurses say they did not
have enough backup during the height of the
pandemic to care for ill patients.
Many frontline workers believe that less
deaths would have occurred if staffing levels
were higher at the start of the pandemic.
On March 16, nurses assembled outside
of two hospitals in Manhattan — NewYork-
Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital
— in order to urge Albany lawmakers
to pass what many believe to be a life-saving
bill.
These long-serving caregivers underscored
the importance of safe staffing by
letting loose loud rallying cries, stating
that there is no excuse for hospitals to be
Nurses and elected officials rallied outside of Mount Sinai Hospital.
understaffed and overwhelmed.
“This is not just about one hospital, although
this is a very important hospital with
high rates of COVID one year ago today. A
year ago, this pandemic shocked all over the
world, but one of the things that shocked us
the most is that we did not have capacity or
capability of saving the lives that we could
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
have as nurses. Why is that? For 20 years we
have been trying to get legislation in the state
of New York so that every patient could have
a nurse when the patient needed that nurse,”
Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN President of
the New York State Nurses Association
(NYSNA), said. “There is not a shortage of
nurses willing to work. There is a shortage of
nurses that the hospitals are willing to hire.
That is the problem!”
Sheridan-Gonzalez shared the plight
that many nurses felt as hordes of patients
entered the hospitals. Many retired, quit, or
simply left the field since they were terrified
of doing more harm than good.
“We took an oath to do no harm. Without
having safe staffing, we are doing harm and
that is unacceptable,” Sheridan-Gonzalez
said, pushing for the Safe Staffing bill that
has mandated nurse to patient ratios.
Nurses and advocates chanted, “Never
again!” during Tuesday’s rally, where were
joined by elected officials such as Comptroller
Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson, City Council Member Carlina
Rivera, and City Council Member Ben
Kallos, among others.
A representative NY Presbyterian told
amNewYork Metro, “We greatly value our
skilled and dedicated nurses who continue
to do so much for our patients and the community
during this pandemic. Despite
unprecedented challenges, we are working
with our heroic clinical teams to continue
to provide the safe and exceptional care that
New York-Presbyterian is known for. Patient
safety will remain our top priority.”
We reached out to Mount Sinai Hospital
for comment and are awaiting a response.
Subdued St. Patrick’s Day Parade goes
on during pandemic at crack of dawn
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade marched
on in Manhattan early Wednesday, a
shell of its former self amid the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic — with few able
to observe it.
Normally an event held midday and attracting
millions of cheery, green-clad spectators,
this year’s march was reduced to a handful
of dignitaries, honorees and bagpipers. It also
took place at the crack of dawn, while most
New Yorkers were still slumbering in their
beds.
It was not a scheduling error; the festivities
were held early, its participants restricted, to
keep the parade from becoming a superspreader
event amid the pandemic.
The pre-dawn march was incorporated
into a larger, virtual St. Patrick’s Day Parade
held in New York to observe the Feast of
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and
celebrate Irish culture in America.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was among the
dignitaries in the subdued march. Hours
later, at his daily press briefing, he spoke of
the parade’s incredible history in America
— pre-dating the founding of the United
States itself — and the importance of carrying
its tradition forward even amid the pandemic.
“It’s an amazing tradition and it’s a tradition
that’s been in so many ways stressed and
challenged by the pandemic and yet it had
survived,” de Blasio said. “Very, very modestly
last year and this year a little bit better and
bigger. People could feel that sense of keeping
tradition alive, keeping the history alive.”
While saluting all Irish Americans across
New York and America this St. Patrick’s Day,
de Blasio dedicated this year’s celebration in
the city to Malachy McCourt, the great Irish
poet and humorist. He was unable to participate
in the festivities today due to injury, the
mayor noted.
“Malachy McCourt is someone if you know
him, if you have heard him on the radio, if
you’ve met him and heard his energy, his
brilliance his wit, you do not forget it. He
has an amazing story, born in Brooklyn but
raised in Ireland,” said de Blasio. “Someone
who captured so much of the Irish American
experience but someone who believed in a
society that included everyone and respected
everyone.”
A bagpiper leads a procession into St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the St. Patrick’s
Day Mass on March 17, 2021.
Along with members of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians and the St. Patrick’s
Day Parade Committee, de Blasio also participated
in the annual Mass at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral, celebrated by Timothy Cardinal
Dolan.
“Where better to be if you can’t be in
Dublin than in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on
REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ
Fifth Avenue?” Dolan said in his opening
remarks. He preached before a socially-distanced
congregation that included members
of the Fire Department, Police Department
and the Fighting 69th — all first responders
whom the parade organizers paid tribute in
a special way in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day
celebration.
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