Essential workers union calls for equality at
rally near Trump hotel in Columbus Circle
BY JOE PANTORNO
Across the country, tens of thousands
of janitors, building service
workers, fast food workers, and
nursing home workers, among others, took
to the streets to demand that corporations
and government take action to confront
systemic racism in society, economy, and
workplaces against Black and brown
communities.
In New York City, organized by the
Service Employees International Union
(SEIU), essential workers assembled
across the street from the Trump International
Hotel at Columbus Circle
in Manhattan to make their demands,
which included four-foot-high placards
that read “Our Lives are Essential,”
and masks which read “121” — the
number of days since New York began
its shelter-in-place order amid the coronavirus
pandemic.
There, numerous speakers demanded
PHOTO: DEAN MOSES/AMNY
that business owners and executives “rewrite
the rules and reimagine our economy
and democracy so that Black communities
can thrive,” while calling for the Senate and
President Donald Trump to pass the HEROES
Act, which provides personal protective
equipment (PPE), essential pay, and
extended unemployment benefi ts to those
who have continued to work throughout
the COVID-19 outbreak.
With this, they hope to advance the
conversation in hopes to “dismantle white
supremacy, end police brutality and ensure
the health, safety, and economic well-being
of every worker.”
Among those who spoke at the event
were Manhattan Borough President Gale
Brewer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric
Adams, and New York State Nurses Association
president Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez.
SEIU is the largest property service
workers union in the country with more
than 175,000 members in 11 states and
85,000 in New York.
Investigation continues into Midtown
scaffold collapse that killed worker
A woman peers from a window at the scene of a scaffolding
collapse near the corner of Lexington Avenue
and East 36th Street in Manhattan, New York City,
U.S., July 16, 2020.
BY THE VILLAGER
STAFF
Emergency personnel
and Buildings Department
inspectors
are investigating two serious
collapses in Midtown on July
16 that killed one individual
and injured three others.
According to published
reports, the most serious
collapse occurred at about
4:30 p.m. along East 36th
Street near 3rd Avenue.
The four victims, according
to WABC-TV, were also
working inside the building
at the time the scaffolding
gave way.
PHOTO BY REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY
Manhattan Borough
President Gale Brewer said
the workers were performing
façade renovations at
the time. No one else on the
street or inside the building
were injured.
The collapsed scaffolding
also compromised the structural
integrity of a neighboring
building on 34th Street,
forcing an evacuation of six
tenants, Brewer reported.
“It is believed that the
building on the other
side of the fi rst building
collapse on 34th Street
is in danger & so 6 tenants
are being vacated,”
she tweeted. “My offi ce is
monitoring the relocations
with HPD (Department of
Housing Preservation and
Development).”
Following the incident,
City Councilman Ben Kallos
of the Upper East Side
called for the passage of
legislation he introduced to
require greater inspections
of scaffolds.
“We cannot keep watching
bricks fall, scaffolding
collapse, injuring and killing
New Yorkers. These
bricks should never have
been allowed to deteriorate
to the point that they fell
and the scaffolding should
never have collapsed,” Kallos
said in a statement. “We
must pass a law forcing the
inspection of every inch of
scaffolding as soon as possible.
We must pass a law to
require building owners to
maintain their buildings or
step in as a city and do the
work ourselves.”
It was the second major
building mishap in Manhattan
on Thursday; a partial
building collapse occurred
on East 34th Street in Murray
Hill just before noon, but
no one was injured.
Lucky ducks saved by Fire
Department from sinking
inflatable swan on East River
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
That’s ‘swan’ summer escapade
they’ll never forget! Two people
are lucky to be alive after the Fire
Department came to their rescue Sunday
afternoon when their infl atable swan pool
began sinking on the East River.
Members of the FDNY Marine Unit
ventured out at about 3:39 p.m. on July
19 to a spot on the East River near East
55th Street after receiving a report about
multiple people in the water.
The Fire Department learned that the
pair had been enjoying a hot summer
day fl oating on the river in an infl atable
swan pool when it suddenly got caught in
a fast-moving current. The vessel also became
caught up in heavy marine traffi c.
Members of FDNY Marine 4 rescued
two people who had ridden upon the
sinking swan. They were evaluated by
EMS once they returned to land.
Tragedy averted, the Fire Department
sent out a warning to the public in an
Instagram post about the incident.
“FDNY urges New Yorkers to always
take precautions when swimming or
entering the water surrounding our
city,” the FDNY wrote. “Only enter the
water where swimming is permitted and
where lifeguards are on duty. See more
#FDNYSmart tips for a safe summer at
fdnysmart.org.”
PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM/FDNY
The FDNY Marine Unit came to the rescue of two individuals riding on an
inflatable swan that lost control on the East River on July 19, 2020.
4 July 23, 2020 Schneps Media
/fdnysmart.org