Six New York City firefighters angry with the city's COVID vaccine mandate were suspended after they drove a fire truck to a state sen...
Six New York City firefighters angry with the city's COVID vaccine mandate were suspended after they drove a fire truck to a state senator's office and threatened his staff over the requirement - which the state lawmaker had nothing to do with.
State Senator Zellnor Myrie said firefighters from Ladder 113 in Brooklyn parked an in-service fire truck outside his office Friday morning and confronted one of his staff members about the mandate, suggesting the lawmaker and his staff would have 'blood on their hands' due to staffing shortages and longer response times.
The group of firefighters also allegedly pressed the staff member to divulge where Myrie lived, the 34-year-old Democrat told The Associated Press, and said that if a fire was reported at Myrie's home, they would not respond.
'I am outraged,' Myrie said, according to NBC 4. 'One, that on duty officers who were supposed to be focused on keeping us safe and responding to emergencies would attempt to use their uniforms and their fire truck to intimidate my staff.
'And secondly, it is disturbing that they would approach a state elected official for a city mandate and would, I think, offer veiled threats about my own safety by asking where I live personally.'
New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie (pictured) said firefighters came to his Brooklyn office and harassed his staff members over the city's vaccine mandate
The firefighters, from Ladder 113 (pictured) have since been suspended
He said he found the incident 'incredibly disturbing, highly inappropriate and not at all' what firefighters should be focused on, and was encouraged that the fire department took swift action to pull them from duty, noting that his staff was shaken up for hours after the incident.
'If you are asking for my personal whereabouts and you follow it with blood being on the government´s hands for a vaccine mandate, any objective observer is going to connect those two and receive them as a threat,' Myrie said. 'I believe my staff did receive it as such and I think it´s highly inappropriate.'
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro swiftly condemned the firefighters' actions and suspended them for four weeks without pay.
'This is a highly inappropriate act by on duty members of this Department who should only be concerned with responding to emergencies and helping New Yorkers and not harassing an elected official and his staff,' Nigro said. 'The members in question have been immediately relieved of duty and will face disciplinary action.'
Even after a surge in vaccines before the mandate's deadline on Friday 10,951 firefighters; about 36,000 cops; and 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department - have yet to get jabbed
The alarming confrontation came as the nation's largest city braced for the possibility of closed firehouses, fewer police and ambulances, mounting trash and other disruptions come Monday as thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots.
Figures show that 22 per cent of the city's 36,000 cops, 35 per cent of the Big Apple's 10,951 firefighters and 20 per cent of the city's 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department -had yet to get jabbed as of Thursday.
Close to a quarter - 23 per cent - of the city's 7,200 uniformed sanitation workers remain unvaccinated, with the figures sparking fears of huge shortages of essential workers in the coming weeks. Trash bags have begun to accumulate in piles in Staten Island and Brooklyn, amid claims the slowdown is an unofficial protest at the vaccine mandate.
However, there was a surge in vaccination rates among Manhattan's public employees on Friday in a last-ditch effort to stay on payroll.
According to the Post, the FDNY saw firefighters' vaccination rate rise from 67 percent Friday morning to 72 percent by the end of the day.
The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) - which is part of the FDNY - saw a spike to 84 percent - up from 77 percent.
The vaccine deadline officially expired at 5pm Friday, with anyone showing proof of one shot before then receiving a $500 bonus. But workers were allowed to get the shot on Saturday and Sunday, and won't be put on unpaid leave if they show up to work with proof of inoculation on Monday.
FDNY union members, municipal workers and other demonstrators protested against the city's COVID-19 mandate, which went into effect on Friday night
The city workers faced a 5pm Friday deadline to get the shot or be suspended
Any worker who does not comply will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday
Nearly one-fifth of city employees covered by the impending mandate have yet to receive at least one vaccine dose as of Thursday, including 29 percent of firefighters and EMS workers
The firefighter's actions at Myrie's office were a dramatic escalation of tensions between the city´s unvaccinated rank-and-file and Mayor Bill de Blasio´s administration, which has held firm on the deadline amid protests and a legal challenge.
Hundreds of firefighters rallied Thursday outside the mayor´s official residence, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage pick ups in protest and the city's largest police union went to an appeals court seeking a halt to the vaccine requirement.
Several fire department companies in New York City were also reportedly without service on Friday, as many officers called in sick, and at least 10 companies had to be completely shut down due to understaffing, according to FOX News.
'The sick leave by a group of our firefighters because of their anger at the vaccine mandate for all city employees is unacceptable, contrary to their oaths to serve and may endanger the lives of New Yorkers,' Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement.
'Despite these actions by some, the department will continue to respond to all calls for help that come our way.'
The fire department said it was prepared to close up to 20 percent of its fire companies and have 20 percent fewer ambulances in service while changing schedules, canceling vacations and turning to outside EMS providers to make up for expected staffing shortages.
More than 1,000 FDNY personnel have already applied for religious exemptions to the vaccine, and will be able to continue on the job with weekly COVID testing as their respective Equal Employment Officers review the claims.
And as of Friday, FDNY officials were expecting that at least six firehouses throughout the five boroughs.
'As we have said from the beginning, the NYC department is already in a staffing crisis,' Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters' Association warned on Friday, according to FOX 5 News.
'For the mayor to turn around and say we can run this department with 25 to 35 percent less members is ignoring the fact that we can't even keep firehouses open today. New York City is going to come to a crisis Monday morning.'
He added that longer response times will be 'a death sentence to some people.'
Mayor Bill de Blasio, however, said on Thursday that the city has contingencies to maintain adequate staffing and public safety - including enacting mandatory overtime and extra shifts, tools he said have previously been used 'in times of challenging crises.'
'My job is to keep people safe - my employees and 8.8 million people,' he said. 'And until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we don't stop COVID, New Yorkers will die.'
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that the city has contingency plans to maintain adequate staffing and keep the public safe
Meanwhile, a 7-year-old boy died early Saturday morning and his grandmother was clinging to life at a local hospital, after a fire blazed through their basement apartment in Washington Heights.
The fire started at about 1.30am inside a rear basement apartment, officials said, and more than 70 firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes and quickly extinguished the fire.
Video obtained by WLNY shows the block was enveloped in smoke by the time firetrucks arrived on the scene. It appeared to be coming from the basement.
While on the scene, firefighters said they found 7-year-old Robert Resto, hiding under a bed inside the apartment and suffering from severe burns. He died at the scene.
The boy's 54-year-old grandmother was also taken to Jacobi Hospital, where she was treated for smoke inhalation and was in serious condition on Saturday morning, according to the New York Daily News.
And another three of the boys' family members and a firefighters suffered from minor injuries.
Fire marshals are now investigating the cause of the early-morning fire and said that Ladder 45 - the first company to respond to the fire Saturday morning - was not affected by the widespread sickouts.
In fact, officials said, the ladder rescued two other people from another fire Friday afternoon.
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