These Are the Workers Who Kept New York Alive in Its Darkest Months
July 21, 2021 12:43 PM Subscribe
Sure:
"When thousands of offices, hotels, stores, gyms and restaurants went dark and silent, New York City’s estimated 2.5 million service workers suddenly faced the unimaginable prospect of no income and no idea when — or if — they could return to work. Initial hopes that the city would reopen in a few weeks gave way to a crushing realization that an unprecedented shutdown would bring unprecedented losses.
The New York Times interviewed and photographed 130 of these workers. They kept the city going, from Riverdale to Staten Island and from Bensonhurst to Astoria. They were dog walkers and fitness trainers; cooks, cleaners and store clerks; and the army of people criss-crossing the city to deliver food and drink to those who spent the lockdown inside."
posted by praemunire at 2:02 PM on July 21, 2021
"When thousands of offices, hotels, stores, gyms and restaurants went dark and silent, New York City’s estimated 2.5 million service workers suddenly faced the unimaginable prospect of no income and no idea when — or if — they could return to work. Initial hopes that the city would reopen in a few weeks gave way to a crushing realization that an unprecedented shutdown would bring unprecedented losses.
The New York Times interviewed and photographed 130 of these workers. They kept the city going, from Riverdale to Staten Island and from Bensonhurst to Astoria. They were dog walkers and fitness trainers; cooks, cleaners and store clerks; and the army of people criss-crossing the city to deliver food and drink to those who spent the lockdown inside."
posted by praemunire at 2:02 PM on July 21, 2021
They were part of that delicate economic and social tapestry that connects us all.
I despise this phrase, and this framing.
posted by mhoye at 5:43 PM on July 21, 2021 [9 favorites]
I despise this phrase, and this framing.
posted by mhoye at 5:43 PM on July 21, 2021 [9 favorites]
In four or five years, when historians have had a chance to make sense of Covid's death stats, it'll be very interesting to see what kind of class profile these present. Blue collar workers who have no choice but to show up for work and encounter dozens (if not hundreds) of strangers every day will be shown to have borne the brunt, I suspect, while those of us able to hole up at home and do our screen-based jobs from there got off very lightly in comparison.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:53 AM on July 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 2:53 AM on July 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
You don't even need to wait 4-5 years to look at social determinants of mortality:
We found large social gradients in COVID-19 mortality. Adults from households earning less than the median income made up two-thirds of COVID-19 deaths, while those with less than a high school education accounted for approximately 1 in 4 deaths. Veterans also accounted for nearly 1 in 5 deaths, despite representing less than one-tenth of the population.
Excess mortality by occupation:
Among occupations with 20 or more recorded COVID-19 deaths (Table 4), relative excess mortality was highest among sewing machine operators (59%), cooks (57%), miscellaneous agricultural workers (54%), butchers and other meat workers (52%), and couriers and messengers (52%).
And this is just people who were documented to have died specifically of covid, not the indirect impact from delayed/no access to care because hospitals were overwhelmed.
posted by basalganglia at 4:05 AM on July 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
We found large social gradients in COVID-19 mortality. Adults from households earning less than the median income made up two-thirds of COVID-19 deaths, while those with less than a high school education accounted for approximately 1 in 4 deaths. Veterans also accounted for nearly 1 in 5 deaths, despite representing less than one-tenth of the population.
Excess mortality by occupation:
Among occupations with 20 or more recorded COVID-19 deaths (Table 4), relative excess mortality was highest among sewing machine operators (59%), cooks (57%), miscellaneous agricultural workers (54%), butchers and other meat workers (52%), and couriers and messengers (52%).
And this is just people who were documented to have died specifically of covid, not the indirect impact from delayed/no access to care because hospitals were overwhelmed.
posted by basalganglia at 4:05 AM on July 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
You don't even need to wait 4-5 years to look at social determinants of mortality:
Right. Plenty of upper middle class white people have been so minorly impacted by covid that they started pretending it never existed before the vaccine was even available.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:55 AM on July 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Right. Plenty of upper middle class white people have been so minorly impacted by covid that they started pretending it never existed before the vaccine was even available.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:55 AM on July 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
sewing machine operators (59%)
Oh my gosh.
.
C'est à ce prix que vous achetez le "fast fashion" à New York.
posted by basalganglia at 10:27 AM on July 22, 2021
Oh my gosh.
.
C'est à ce prix que vous achetez le "fast fashion" à New York.
posted by basalganglia at 10:27 AM on July 22, 2021
Jewish legend tells of the Tzadikim Nistarim, 36 righteous people who toil in obscurity and humility to prevent the world from coming to an end.
It’s a hell of a lot more than 36.
posted by panglos at 9:40 PM on July 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
It’s a hell of a lot more than 36.
posted by panglos at 9:40 PM on July 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
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