New York Mandate Podcast: Recent Episodes
Aimee@NoOneYouKnow
Conversations with New Yorkers who are bearing the costs and consequences of New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
nooneyouknow.substack.com
“I promise you this: If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor. Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you.” —Zohran Mamdani, inaugural address, January 1, 2026
The buses may not be free yet, but talk is still cheap.
Now approaching eight months into his tenure as New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani has frequently insisted that he wants to be a mayor for all New Yorkers, but when it comes to those who lost City jobs under the 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandates, his unspoken message has been “I didn’t mean you.”
The day after Mamdani was elected, outgoing mayor Eric Adams made a surprise announcement: Things had changed, he said. It was time for the fired workers to come back, without having to sign away their rights in legal waivers, as reinstatements had required in the past. They would have a “right to return” to their old job titles and salaries.
The Adams administration got the ball rolling by proposing a personnel rule change required for some of the workers to come back. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) held a virtual hearing about it on November 19. More than 244 people attended, and many workers testified.
Union leaders representing FDNY firefighters and EMS workers called in to back their reinstatement. Phyllis Inserillo, chief of staff for City Councilwoman Joann Ariola, showed up to say the City should take it further and bring back workers who had been forced to resign and retire early.
The hearing was meant to be a prelude to sending the proposed rule amendment to the state Civil Service Commission in Albany for approval, a step required by state and city rules, along with the approval of the DCAS commissioner and the mayor.
That step was never taken. Mamdani took office, and Adams DCAS commissioner Louis Molina was replaced by Yume Kitasei. The workers, who had been instructed to email their former agencies to request reinstatement by December 5, waited. And waited.
One large group of former workers didn’t need the rule change to be reinstated. Teachers and other former Department of Education (DOE) employees fell under different employment rules and could in theory be reinstated under the Adams offer right away. They too sent their emails by December 5 and waited. DOE acknowledged receipt of the emails. Then nothing.
On January 12, Oren Barzilay, then president of the union representing FDNY EMS workers and fire inspectors, took City Hall to task for letting the reinstatement process languish, urging the Mamdani administration to prioritize it.
At a January 15 press conference, a journalist from Cafecito Break asked Samuel Levine, Mamdani’s new Department of Consumer and Worker Protection commissioner, if he would be addressing the workers who wanted their jobs back. “We are going to work throughout the year during my tenure, and I know the Mayor’s tenure, to make New York the most worker-friendly city in the United States,” he declared, sidestepping the actual question.
On January 19, I asked the mayor himself about the reinstatement offer at a press conference in the Bronx. Would he expedite sending the rule change to Albany? Would he expedite the reinstatement process? Would his administration let workers who had met the December 5 deadline to request reinstatements know when they would move forward? “I appreciate you flagging this issue,” he responded, as if it was the first he was hearing about it. “This is something that we’ll follow up on.”
He didn’t. Mayor Mamdani did not follow up, did not send the rule change to the Civil Service Commission, did not advance the reinstatement process, and did not give the New Yorkers who were waiting an ETA. He did not communicate with the former teachers and firefighters and EMTs who were waiting tables and painting houses to make ends meet, wondering if the City might actually give them back the careers it had cut short because they wouldn’t take the shot.
Mamdani did not follow up, and his administration did not reply to subsequent inquiries from Firsthand Media about the status of the rule change and the reinstatement process. Councilwoman Ariola’s office responded, though, when I asked if they knew anything about the status of the reinstatement process. Ariola herself had brought it up with Mamdani during a December call, they told me, before he even took office. Apparently he and his administration knew all about it when questioned in January. They were just giving any press who asked about it the brush-off.
Months passed. Nothing happened. I checked in periodically with DCAS and the Civil Service Commission to see if there was any movement on the rule change, and always got the same reply: No update at this time.
Then last week, a bunch of firefighters and EMS workers who had been terminated by FDNY finally got an email response from the department:
The proposed rule hadn’t been withdrawn, but FDNY was effectively declaring the Adams reinstatement offer dead. I can only speculate as to why, since the department spokesperson wouldn’t explain it to me. Either FDNY has been told the rule change will never happen or they just read the writing on the wall and decided to get real with their former employees and let them move on.
Here’s what the writing on the wall says:
If one year after the date of the public hearing held to consider approval of a change of a rule of the commissioner of citywide administrative services (as provided for by section 20 of the New York State civil service law) either the commissioner of citywide administrative services or the mayor of the City of New York or the state civil service commission has not acted upon the matter, the resolution shall automatically be deemed withdrawn . . .
That’s from the personnel rules DCAS was following when they held the November 19 hearing. It means the proposed rule change will automatically expire in a few months. It can take that long for the Civil Service Commission to get through the approval process once they’ve received a proposed rule amendment from DCAS. DCAS itself is no longer even responding to my inquiries about the rule change with a “no update” message. Now I just get good old-fashioned stonewalling when I ask for a status update.
Undaunted, the affected workers have made their own effort to communicate with the mayor about the reinstatement offer. On July 27, they sent this open letter to Mayor Mamdani, requesting a meeting:
They tell me he hasn’t written back yet.
It would appear that the Mamdani administration is just running out the clock on the proposed personnel rule change so that after November 19 the Adams reinstatement offer will be invalid for all of the workers who required it. For those that didn’t, the former DOE employees, there is simply no path to reinstatement.
They no longer have access to the department’s internal job market, and the vacancies they left have long since been filled. The DOE would need to actively find positions where they could be reinstated to their previous job titles and salary levels to follow through on the Adams offer. They’re not doing that, and like the mayor and DCAS, they’re not talking about it either.
It looks a lot like Mayor Mamdani and his administration have decided to just hide from any pesky questions about reinstatement from reporters and New Yorkers who were promised a “right to return” to work, until the proposed rule change expires and the issue goes away. It probably seems pretty easy to sweep under the rug. After all, none of the dozen or so major news outlets that covered the Adams announcement in 2025 have followed up in 2026 to report on how things turned out.
Of course, that’s just how things appear. As a reporter, I don’t want to make claims I don’t have evidence for, and I have no evidence since my inquiries go unanswered. All I know is that whatever is going on behind the scenes, the result is a failure of public accountability and government transparency.
But it’s possible the mayor has just been tied up with other business and will rectify the situation before time runs out. He is obviously a busy man, weighing in on international law, developing new grocery stores, and putting out documentaries. It’s possible there just hasn’t been room on the mayor’s calendar to follow through on a promise made by the mayor of the City of New York to a group of New Yorkers who spent years of their lives serving the city. Maybe he’ll find an opening soon.
In the meantime, advocates for those New Yorkers have things to say:
Oren Barzilay retired recently as union president, but after hearing about the FDNY email, he commented on the City’s inaction on the reinstatement offer:
The city's refusal to change its position is shameful. They know firsthand that doing so would be an admission of guilt and an acknowledgement of wrongdoing by both the Adams and de Blasio administrations. As time passes, it becomes increasingly clear that this was an abuse of power by our leaders.The COVID-19 mandate was a massive fraud that caused far more harm than good, allowing some to enrich themselves while no one is held accountable. No one should ever be forced to put something into their body against their will just to keep their livelihood.Politicians pushed these ridiculous rules to outplay one another, and humanity paid the price. As a result, people lost their dignity, homes, families, and livelihoods, some lost it all, their life.
City Councilwoman Joann Ariola also commented on the Mamdani administration’s failure to proceed with reinstatements and the FDNY email:
Eric Adams repeatedly failed our civil servants, and now Mayor Mamdani is continuing the failure by not moving this issue forward to the state civil service commission. The administration wants to simply pretend that these men and women who are still being impacted by the unjust vaccine mandates don’t exist, and it wants to move forward without them. But these are people who dedicated their careers to this city, and they deserve to be reinstated, not just brushed off and made to feel invisible.
I would like to know if other agencies also received the email informing employees that there “is no mechanism” to return them to work as the FDNY members did, or if those other civil servants are still waiting in limbo.
And Matt Connor from Bravest for Choice, the organization that advocates for FDNY workers adversely affected by the mandate, had this to say:
Last week, at least six former FDNY employees received an email response to their most recent request to be reinstated to their jobs after being terminated for non-compliance to the COVID-19 Vaxx Mandate nearly five years ago. These most recent requests were made by members of Bravest For Choice, reflective of the ongoing opposition to the illegal terminations in question, and of the coordinated effort to reverse the outcome. The requests were submitted more than eight months ago in response to the “Right To Return” policy announced by the defeated and outgoing mayor Eric Adams, whose administration had been fighting tooth and nail in court to obstruct our efforts to reverse the mandate and its fallout. However, Eric Adams never followed through by sending the DCAS Rules and Regulations language to the NYS Civil Service Commission for an approval vote, which would create a return pathway for uniformed members of service, since they have been separated for more than one year. We can only speculate as to why Adams never sent the rule change for a vote: one last knife twist into the backs of “the unvaccinated” on the way out the door, administrative incompetence, PR rebranding as an advocate for labor, an effort to distance himself from the crumbling lies of the COVID era?
Speculation aside, the failure of the Adams administration to follow through on their own policy announcement has left the fate of the DCAS Personnel Rules and Regulations change referral in the hands of our current mayor, Zohran Mamdani. While still on the campaign trail, he was interviewed on the Finest Unfiltered Podcast and told NYPD (ret.) Lt. John Macari that he would not reinstate members terminated under the mandate. The communication received by Bravest For Choice members last week is significant because it is the first indication from the Mamdani administration that it will keep its campaign promise. The author of the email, Stella Xu, the FDNY’s Chief Workforce Strategist, who serves under the Deputy Commissioner of Human Capital, Barbara Dannenberg, apparently sees no irony in dismissing the collective human capital of these members who stood up against an illegal mandate after years of committed service, and remarkably still wish to serve the people of New York City after nearly five years of torment perpetrated by their former employer. The dismissive response feigns empathy, and on its face contradicts the “right to return” that was promised to these members.
The FDNY response, albeit belated, is at least an acknowledgement of the request, which is more than any other city agency has done, and the Office of the Mayor remains silent on the issue, failing to follow through on its promise to circle back. The incoherent position the City of New York on vaxx-mandate reinstatements stands in stark contrast to the progress that has been made at the federal level with the recent efforts by the Dept. of War to acknowledge the mandate as unconstitutional, offering an apology, back-pay, and incentive for those who wish to continue service. Bravest For Choice will continue to advocate for the reinstatement of these members and all former employees of the City of New York terminated for non-compliance. We are seeking parity with the terms of the military reinstatements as we continue to call for a COVID reckoning that is long overdue.
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“I really hope that there’s some accountability held for those who were responsible for pushing forward with all of this. Too many wrongs were done. A lot of them still have not been corrected. People need to be made aware that this was wrong, what happened, and a lot of people have been affected.” - O’Brian Pastrana
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In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with retired FDNY firefighter O’Brian Pastrana and attorney Sujata Gibson, shortly after Gibson presented oral arguments in his federal appeal against the New York City Fire Department.
Pastrana was retired from the fire department after he developed heart damage following a COVID-19 vaccination he took in compliance with New York City’s 2021 vaccine mandate for municipal workers.
After the June 22, 2026 hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, I sat down with Pastrana, Gibson, and attorney Christina Martinez. Gibson discussed the importance of the case and where it’s headed, and Pastrana talked with me about the profound changes to his life since 2021, the hearing, and his hopes for the future.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
You can listen to the full June 22, 2026 hearing where Sujata Gibson presented oral arguments in Pastrana v. New York City Fire Department on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit website.
Bravest for ChoiceThis organization advocates for NYC firefighters, fire inspectors, and EMS workers who were adversely affected by New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Attorney Christina Martinez talked with me about the Pastrana case and other lawsuits challenging New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates last year:
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
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On April 30, 2026, the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club devoted its monthly meeting to a special event addressing independent media and the First Amendment.
Speakers from three media outlets Zoomed into the event, and four independent journalists spoke in person.
I was one of the speakers, and I want to thank the club for the opportunity to talk about the vitally important topic of freedom of speech and of the press. Thank you also to Jimmy Wagner for his kind introduction.
You can watch the full event in the video above. The speakers include:
Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action (01:25)
Andrew Muller from New American (27:15)
Joe the Box from The America First Warehouse (49:15)
Rosangel Pérez from Cafecito Break (01:08:15 in the full video):
I spoke at 01:29:45 in the full video. You can also see what I had to say here:
Radically Conservative host Stephanie Liggio (01:59:30)
Robert Pearl (02:06:40)
At the end of the meeting (from 21:30:00), Bronx Conservative Party District Leader Dion Powell spoke briefly about a TPUSA RISE voter registration initiative, and DJT Club founder Jimmy Wagner talked about the club’s initiative proposing changes to the New York City Charter.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On April 30, 2026, the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club devoted its monthly meeting to a special event addressing independent media and the First Amendment.
Speakers from three media outlets Zoomed into the event, and four independent journalists spoke in person.
I was one of the speakers, and I want to thank the club for the opportunity to talk about the vitally important topic of freedom of speech and of the press. Thank you also to Jimmy Wagner for his kind introduction.
You can watch the full event here:
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On April 30, 2026, the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club devoted its monthly meeting to a special event addressing independent media and the First Amendment.
Speakers from three media outlets Zoomed into the event, and four independent journalists spoke in person.
You can watch the full event here:
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On March 28, 2026, thousands of demonstrators marched against President Donald Trump at the “No Kings” protest in Manhattan.
I talked with some of the protesters about why they were marching.
Watch a livestream of the march:
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Brooklyn-born U.S. senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders was the headline speaker at a “Tax the Rich” rally at Lehman College in the Bronx on March 29, 2026.
The rally was organized by NYC’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter.
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On March 1, 2026, the nation’s oldest Republican club celebrated its 151st year at the annual Lincoln Dinner in Queens, New York. The Queens Village Republican Club event featured speeches by gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and state attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, along with artist Scott LoBaido and five honorees.
Founders of a brand new Republican club in Queens were in attendance. One of them talked with me about why they started it.
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Watch all of the Queens Village Republican Club Lincoln Dinner speakers (and dancers!):
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On March 1, 2026, the nation’s oldest Republican club celebrated its 151st year at the annual Lincoln Dinner in Queens, New York. The Queens Village Republican Club event featured speeches by gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and state attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, along with artist Scott LoBaido and five honorees.
Watch the full event:
Firsthand Media is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On March 1, 2026, the nation’s oldest Republican club celebrated its 151st year at the annual Lincoln Dinner in Queens, New York. The Queens Village Republican Club event featured speeches by gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and state attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, along with artist Scott LoBaido and five honorees.
Watch all of the Queens Village Republican Club Lincoln Dinner speakers (and dancers!):
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“If the Republicans are not going to welcome union workers with open arms, we’re just going to take your party over!”
That was the closing attorney and Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club founder Jimmy Wagner delivered on Sunday night to a banquet hall packed with Republicans. The spiffily dressed crowd was gathered for the Queens Village Republican Club’s annual Lincoln Dinner, where Wagner was honored with a Legal Advocate for All New Yorkers award.
Wagner didn’t arrive alone. He was accompanied by enough members and supporters of the DJT Club to take up a few tables—and fill the hall with cheers and applause as Wagner spoke. He, in turn, hailed the teachers among them who had been put out of work for declining to comply with the NYC Department of Education’s 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Wagner represented them in lawsuits against the DOE and the City, including a group of cases that went all the way to the state’s highest court. The resulting Court of Appeals decision in Clarke et al. v. Board of Education of the City School District of New York City et al. eroded New York’s longstanding teacher tenure laws.
The court ruled against Clarke and the other tenured teachers in the suit, finding that the Board of Education could impose any new condition of employment on tenured, union-contracted teachers and fire them without due process for failing to meet it. Wagner excoriated the decision, the court, and unions who failed to back their members in his speech, bringing DJT Club supporters to their feet with applause.
The Clarke decision was a catalyst in the formation of the club, which backed the lead plaintiff, Athena Clarke, in her 2025 City Council run. Since its founding, the DJT Club has supported numerous other candidates and become a hub of activity for grassroots Republicans, including many Brooklynites who defected from the Democratic Party in the wake of New York City’s COVID policy impacts.
DJT Club’s New “We Reform NYC” Push
Now the club is networking with the Queens Republicans and others, aiming to build a new Republican-led movement that will get behind union workers, push for reforms to New York’s electoral and judiciary systems, and deliver the redress to COVID policy dissidents that hasn’t come from New York’s courts.
At the Lincoln Dinner, the DJT Club distributed a flyer outlining its 10-point plan to make reforms by amending the New York City Charter. It’s aiming to collect 50,000 petition signatures to get the reforms on the ballot. Details of the proposals are laid out on the We Reform NYC website.
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Other speakers at the Lincoln Dinner included Republican gubernatorial and state attorney general candidates Bruce Blakeman and Saritha Komatireddy, along with journalist Lara Logan, attorney John Eastman, artist Scott LoBaido, rapper DVS 7.0 and a young Republican student, Massimo Guerriero.
In an election year when a recent poll showed that a majority of New Yorkers haven’t even heard of Blakeman and Republicans face daunting odds all the way down the ballot, Jimmy Wagner didn’t put too fine a point on his message for them: “The New York State Republican Party needs to embrace the union workers or you will continue to lose every election in this state.”
Watch all of the Queens Village Republican Club Lincoln Dinner speakers (and dancers!):
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On March 1, 2026, the nation’s oldest Republican club celebrated its 151st year at its annual Lincoln Dinner in Queens, New York. The Queens Village Republican Club event featured speeches by gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and state attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, along with artist Scott LoBaido and five honorees.
Blakeman and Komatireddy emphasized public safety, affordability, and building a “common sense coalition” to take on Democrats in the 2026 election. Notable honorees attorney John Eastman and journalist Lara Logan also spoke.
Honorees from the grassroots of the party included attorney Jimmy Wagner and student Massimo Guerriero, who called on Republicans to bring accountability for COVID-era policies, embrace union workers, and defend core American values, as well as rapper DVS 7.0, who accepted an award and performed, closing with a word of advice: “The Latinos is where the votos are at.”
You can watch the event in the video at the top; jump to the timestamps below for notable speakers:
-
New York State attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy 16:05
-
New York State gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman (keynote speaker) 25:10
-
Scott LoBaido (Lincoln Address) 40:00
-
DVS 7.0 (Conservative Christian Artist of the Year) 47:50 and 2:22:24
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John Eastman (Freedom Fighter of the Year) 1:13:05
-
Massimo Guerriero (Charlie Kirk Courage Award) 1:21:20
-
Jimmy Wagner (Legal Advocate for All New Yorkers) 1:29:35
-
Lara Logan (Investigative Journalist of the Year) 1:40:00
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On March 1, 2026, the nation’s oldest Republican club celebrated its 151st year at the annual Lincoln Dinner in Queens, New York. The Queens Village Republican Club event featured speeches by gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and state attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, along with artist Scott LoBaido and five honorees.
Veteran journalist Lara Logan was honored with the club’s Investigative Journalist of the Year award and spoke about current global conflicts.
Watch the full event:
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New York City hospitality worker Hermione testified before the President’s Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) on Monday about the impact of being pushed out of work under New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. During a hearing at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., she discussed her religious objections to the mandates and their impact on her life, and answered questions from the Commission.
You can watch her full testimony on the Department of Justice YouTube channel, beginning at 2:40:22:
Hermione also spoke with me after the hearing (video at the top) about her experience with the Commission and had some words of advice for other New Yorkers who had religious objections to the mandates and are interested in telling their stories to the Commission.
This morning, Hermione talked about her experience with Michael Kane on Good Morning CHD as well.
RLC Soliciting Testimony for March 16 Hearing
The Religious Liberty Commission was established in May 2025 by President Trump to assess the state of religious liberty in the United States and produce a report that will be delivered to the president in May 2026. It has held a series of hearings as part of that effort.
At the next hearing, on March 16, the Commission will address religious liberty concerns related to healthcare, including denial of religious exemptions from vaccine mandates.
Anyone who would like to submit a brief or personal story on that topic can email it to the RLC. There is also a link on the hearing website to register to attend the March 16 hearing in Washington D.C. in person.
While not everyone who sends their story to the RLC will be able to testify at the hearing, all of the submissions will be reviewed and inform the Commission members as they prepare their report.
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More from Hermione:
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Former New York City municipal workers who are seeking reinstatement after being fired under the City’s 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate have been left in the dark since outgoing NYC mayor Eric Adams offered them reinstatement just after losing the mayoral race to Mamdani.
Many who requested reinstatement by a December 5 deadline have reported on social media and elsewhere that they have received no response beyond an autoreply indicating their request was received, and a rule change required for some of the reinstatements has not been sent to the New York State Civil Service Commission for approval as expected.
At a press conference in the Bronx this afternoon, I asked Mayor Zohran Mamdani if his administration will move the reinstatement process forward, communicate with affected workers, and expedite sending the rule change to Albany for approval (video above).
The mayor seemed unaware of the issue and responded simply, “I appreciate you flagging this issue. This is something that we’ll follow up on.”
Mamdani held the press conference at Jacobi Hospital in Morris Park to announce the reactivation of the Just Home supportive housing project for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with serious medical conditions.
More about the reinstatement offer:
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On October 26, 2025, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani held an “NYC Is Not for Sale” get-out-the-vote rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.
Fellow socialists including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at the event, along with New York Governor Kathy Hochul and others.A few of the estimated 10,000 Mamdani supporters who attended the rally talked with me afterward about the issues driving their vote.
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On October 26, 2025, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani held an “NYC Is Not for Sale” get-out-the-vote rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.
Fellow socialists including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at the event, along with New York Governor Kathy Hochul and other state Democratic Party leaders.
The event was the last large Mamdani rally before the election, attended by a crowd estimated at 10,000 people.
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On October 23, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the ninth meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Founder Jimmy Wagner led the meeting, and speakers included Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, labor advocate and TWU Local 100 Vice President of Rapid Transit Operations Tramell Thompson, and 2026 libertarian gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe. City Council candidate Athena Clarke was also in attendance.
Thompson and Sharpe spoke in favor of Sliwa, and Thompson stepped out to speak privately with Sliwa during the event. Thompson announced his official endorsement of Sliwa the next day.
Sliwa also met privately with members of Bravest for Choice, the organization that advocates for FDNY workers who lost their jobs under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Almost four years to the day after the October 25, 2021 protest that saw thousands of City workers march over the Brooklyn Bridge to oppose the municipal worker mandate issued on October 20, 2021, Sliwa confirmed to Bravest for Choice that he intends to reinstate and compensate municipal workers who lost their jobs under the mandates, if elected. Sliwa opposed the mandates when they were imposed, and joined the Brooklyn Bridge march in 2021.
Matt Connor from Bravest for Choice, who was at the meeting, explained:
“Sliwa reiterated that he was on the bridge that day despite being advised not to attend for fear of losing votes during that last election. He reiterated his commitment to bringing all impacted workers back on day one of his administration with full back pay.”
After the meeting, Clarke campaign organizer Renee Mitchell and other supporters spoke with me about what they’re hearing from community members in Brooklyn:
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On October 23, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the ninth meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, labor leader Tramell Thompson, and 2026 libertarian candidate for governor Larry Sharpe spoke at the event. City Council candidate Athena Clarke was also in attendance.
Clarke campaign organizer Renee Mitchell and other supporters spoke with me about the election and what they’re hearing from community members.
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On September 27, New Yorkers joined fellow RFK Jr. supporters who held rallies in cities across the United States to thank the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The New York rally took place in Manhattan, in front of the global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Organizer Michael Kane of Teachers for Choice and Children’s Health Defense led the rally.
Kane and other supporters talked with me at the rally about the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, what they like about RFK Jr.’s tenure as HHS Secretary so far, and what they want to see him do next.
You can find more coverage of the “#ThankYouRFK” rallies in New York and other cities on the Teachers for Choice Substack.
Cafecito Break also covered the New York rally and talked with supporters.
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Watch the uncut rally livestream on YouTube:
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On September 21, 2025, New Yorkers gathered in the Morris Park section of the Bronx to honor the legacy of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and remember two children who lost their lives during an August shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
The candlelight vigil was organized by the Bronx Women’s Republican Club. Speakers included conservative commentator Savannah Craven Antao, Conservative Party candidate for Bronx Borough President Grace Marrero, and Bronx Conservative Party District Leader Dion Powell.
Some of those who attended talked with me after the vigil:
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On September 21, 2025, New Yorkers gathered on the Orchard Beach promenade in the Bronx to honor the legacy of Charlie Kirk.
The memorial was led by Conservative Party candidate for Bronx Borough President Grace Marrero.
Marrero also talked with me after the event about Kirk and the upcoming election:
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On September 21, 2025, New Yorkers gathered in the Morris Park section of the Bronx to honor the legacy of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and remember two children who lost their lives during an August shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
The candlelight vigil was organized by the Bronx Women’s Republican Club. Speakers included conservative commentator Savannah Craven Antao, Conservative Party candidate for Bronx Borough President Grace Marrero, and Bronx Conservative Party District Leader Dion Powell.
Powell and some of the other Bronxites who attended the vigil talked with me about Kirk and the upcoming NYC election.
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On September 21, 2025, New Yorkers gathered on the Orchard Beach promenade in the Bronx to honor the legacy of Charlie Kirk.
The memorial was organized and led by Conservative Party candidate for Bronx Borough President Grace Marrero.
Marrero sat down after the event to talk about Kirk’s legacy and the upcoming NYC election.
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On September 18, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the eighth meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Founder Jimmy Wagner led the meeting, and speakers included Brooklyn GOP Chair Richie Barsamian, New York State Senator Robert Ortt, and Brooklyn health care worker and vaccine mandate dissident Melissa Vitelli.
Watch the full meeting above or Ortt and Vitelli speaking below:
The Central Queens Republican Club held a meeting the same evening, beginning with a remembrance of Elizabeth Santilli. Santilli was part of the protest movement against New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. She passed away in 2024.
The club livestreamed the meeting on its YouTube channel:
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On September 18, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the seventh meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
New York State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt spoke at the event, touching on the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk and the upcoming New York City elections.
Watch the full meeting:
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On September 18, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the eighth meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Melissa Vitelli spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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“People are still suffering. People are still out of work. . . . and a lot of them are still fighting these long legal battles. And the city has not backed down. . . . It really is up to the people, right? People need to reach out and let their voices be heard and let the people at the top, the mayor in particular, know that this is an important issue.” - Christina Martinez
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In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Christina Martinez, an attorney who has represented dozens of New Yorkers who lost work, careers, and health under New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Martinez talks about some of the fundamental issues being addressed in ongoing lawsuits, and discusses the details of four recent decisions—one that brought reinstatement to a teacher, two that denied FDNY firefighters the relief they were seeking, and one that may bring an NYC COVID-19 vaccine mandate lawsuit before a jury for the first time.
More from Christina Martinez:Christina Martinez’s websiteYou can also follow Christina Martinez on X and Instagram.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York State Senate Bill S7207 and Assembly Bill A3686These bills if passed will require the reinstatement of New York City employees who were dismissed from employment due to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement.New York City Council Resolution 0005-2024Resolution 5 calls on the New York State legislature to pass, and the governor to sign, state legislation that would reinstate NYC employees who were dismissed from employment due to non-compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
Bravest for ChoiceThis organization advocates for NYC firefighters, fire inspectors, and EMS workers who were terminated or put on leave because they did not comply with the City’s vaccine mandates.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
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On August 21, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the seventh meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Teachers for Choice founder Michael Kane spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On August 21, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the seventh meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Athena Clarke spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On August 21, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the seventh meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Dr. Naomi Wolf topped the lengthy list of speakers at the event, which included Teachers for Choice founder Michael Kane (who also covered the meeting on the Teachers for Choice Substack) and City Council candidate Athena Clarke. Both Kane and Clarke were New York City public school teachers before they were fired for refusing to comply with the Department of Education’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Dr. Wolf, who rose to prominence during the 1990s as a feminist author and commentator, has been an outspoken critic of New York City’s workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates since they were in effect. The former Democrat has recently thrown her support behind Athena Clarke and other candidates in NYC’s 2025 election who support the “Reinstate and Compensate” movement to reinstate City workers who lost their jobs under the mandates. Wolf is CEO of the website DailyClout, where she has been covering the election.
Founder Jimmy Wagner led the meeting, announcing new candidate endorsements and campaign events. Additional speakers included New York City Comptroller candidate Peter Kefalas, Brooklyn Borough President candidate Janine Acquafredda, and City Council candidates Luis Quero, Elijah Diaz, Jason Murillo, and George Sarantopolous.
The speakers addressed a full room, with many New York City workers who lost jobs under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates attending, along with regular club members.
A brief moment of controversy broke out at the end of the meeting, when former mayoral aspirant David Rem spoke up in favor of backing independent mayoral candidate and former governor Andrew Cuomo as the only viable opponent of Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, instead of Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Club members vocally rejected the suggestion to back Cuomo. While Sliwa is lagging in recent polls, the club and its featured speakers have consistently backed his candidacy. Sliwa in turn has made a campaign promise to reinstate City workers who lost jobs under the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and has publicly opposed the mandates since they were in effect.
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Jose Arrieta is the founder of IT solutions company Imagineeer, and was Chief Information Officer and Chief Data Officer at the Department of Health and Human Services during 2019 and 2020.
After seeing him speak at a recent MAHA Institute event, I got in touch with him to ask about how new technologies he’s working on could be used to give individuals …
On May 22, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the fourth meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Ari Kagan spoke at the event. He gained the endorsement of the club in a vote later during the meeting.
Kagan is running against incumbent Inna Vernikov, who also spoke at the meeting:
You can watch the full meeting on X.com and find out about upcoming meetings on the club’s website.
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On May 22, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the fourth meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Incumbent City Council candidate Inna Vernikov spoke at the event. She was introduced by Rachel Maniscalco.
Vernikov’s opponent Ari Kagan also spoke at the meeting and won the club’s endorsement:
You can watch the full meeting on X.com and find out about upcoming meetings on the club’s website.
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Attorney Austin Graff talks with me about the bombshell testimony given by a DOE administrator in Masciarelli v. New York City Department of Education. It revealed the DOE had a blanket policy to deny all requests for religious accommodations under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
He also gives an update on Miraglia et al. v. New York City Department of Education et al., a lawsuit with multiple plaintiffs that is now in appeals.
More on the deposition:
Read the full deposition:
More on Miraglia v. NYCDOE:
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“We’re going to continue to push and fight for the people like us, because we have to fight for ourselves. . . . when everything happened, I was like, ‘But we’re New Yorkers! This isn’t supposed to happen to us. We’re supposed to fight. And I feel like that old New York feeling disappeared, but now it’s starting to feel like, ‘All right, I think it’s coming back.’”- Athena Clarke
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In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Athena Clarke, who was terminated from her position as a special education teacher with the New York City Department of Education in October 2021, because she declined to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Clarke had worked as a teacher for seven years. Her request for a religious exemption to the DOE vaccine mandate was denied.
Clarke filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education for violating her due process rights. That case was not successful and went to an appeal, before being combined with seven similar lawsuits by tenured teachers that were heard by New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
After the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower courts’ decisions against Clarke and the other teachers, Clarke decided to run for New York City Council in the 2025 election. She talked with me about the momentous changes in her life, her experiences as a litigant and candidate, and how the travails of recent years are fueling a new political movement.
More from Athena Clarke:
Athena Clarke’s websiteYou can also follow Athena Clarke on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
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“I did have a phone call with the mayor himself to discuss why the municipal workers, when we have such a shortage in staffing, why they haven’t been brought back, especially since the mandate has been lifted for such a long period of time. His response to me was, ‘I have a plan. I’m not ready to share that yet, but I do have a plan. I promise you.’” - Joann Ariola
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In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with New York City Council Member and Minority Leader Joann Ariola. Ariola represents the 32nd District in Queens and is a member of the Common Sense Caucus.
When New York City municipal workers who did not comply with the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates were put on leave without pay, terminated, and pushed out of their jobs, Ariola became an advocate for them. She has advocated for their reinstatement at City Council hearings and other public events, and behind closed doors with City officials.
Ariola is one of the sponsors of City Council Resolution 5, which calls upon state legislators to pass a bill reinstating New York City workers who lost their jobs under the mandates, and she is the lead petitioner in a summary inquiry petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the City’s COVID restrictions.
She talked with me about some of the promising new developments in her efforts and what could come next.
More from Council Member Joann Ariola:
New York City Council Member Joann Ariola’s websiteThe Councilwoman’s official website. You can also find her on X and Facebook.
This is the statement Ariola published on May 2 on X:
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Council Member Ariola’s comments at a recent UFT eventAriola advocated for reinstating educators who lost their jobs under the New York City Department of Education vaccine mandate at this recent event held by the United Federation of Teachers.
Mayoral candidate Jim Walden has promised to rehire New York City workers who lost their jobs under the City’s vaccine mandates if elected.
Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa has promised to reinstate New York City workers who lost their jobs under the City’s vaccine mandates if elected.
In this episode of The Finest Unfiltered, mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani responded to questions about his position on reinstating workers who lost their jobs under the City’s vaccine mandates:
In this conversation with NYC retirees’ advocate Marianne Pizzitola, mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos responded to questions about her position on reinstating workers who lost their jobs under the City’s vaccine mandates:
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
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On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Founder Jimmy Wagner hosted the meeting, with speakers including Brooklyn Borough President candidate Janine Acquafredda, Bronx County Conservative Party Vice Chairman and Public Advocate candidate Gonzalo Duran, and City Council candidates Athena Clarke, Elijah Diaz, Luis Quero, and Richard Barsamian. Barsamian is also the Brooklyn Republican Party chairman.
Peter DiMiceli from Protect our Children and a representative from New Yorkers First spoke about community issues including children’s safety, lithium ion battery energy storage systems, and homeless shelters.
Matt Connor from Bravest for Choice spoke about current efforts to get workers who lost their jobs under New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates reinstated and compensated for financial losses. The “reinstate and compensate” movement is a focus of the DJT Republican Club.
Watch the full meeting above or individual speakers here:
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On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
FDNY Lieutenant and Bravest for Choice leader Matt Connor spoke at the event about ongoing legal, legislative, and political efforts to get workers who lost their jobs under New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates reinstated.
Watch the full meeting:
More on the lawsuits and legislative efforts mentioned:
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On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Athena Clarke spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Brooklyn Borough President candidate Janine Acquafredda spoke at the event.
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On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Elijah Diaz spoke at the event.
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On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Elijah Diaz spoke at the event.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Elijah Diaz spoke at the event.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
On April 24, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the third meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Elijah Diaz spoke at the event.
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During Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Senate confirmation hearing, he mentioned the health care payment system that Medicaid, Medicare, and many private payers have been adopting in recent years:
“President Trump has given me the charge of improving quality of care and lowering the price of care for all Americans. There are many things that we can do. . . . The ultimate outcome, I think, is to increase transparency, to increase accountability, and to transition to a value-based system rather than a fee-based system.”
But value-based payment systems, which offer health care providers financial incentives to provide certain services to patients, are not transparent about which services are incentivized. When incentives for providing some services, such as vaccinations, have been brought to light, the public reaction has often been negative.
In this video, I take a look at how value-based payment incentives work and ask whether RFK Jr. and other leaders of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement will advocate for transparency from payers and providers about which health care services are being incentivized.
I also touch on the expansion of government public health bureaucracy that’s occurring as private organizations join health data networks that are connected to the government.
Sources:
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New York State 2025 Total Care for General Population (TCGP) VBP Quality Measures
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New York State 2024 Quality Assurance Reporting Requirements
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Quality Matters Podcast: Unlocking Value in US Health Care (NCQA Podcast)
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NCQA website
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2024 Trends Shaping the Health Economy (Trilliant Health report)
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2017 article: Blue Cross Blue Shield pays your doctor a $40,000 bonus for fully vaccinating 100 patients under the age of 2
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2016 BCN BCBSM Incentive Program Booklet
Read the original article:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Founder Jimmy Wagner hosted the meeting, with speakers including potential mayoral candidate David Rem, Brooklyn Borough President candidate Janine Acquafredda, and City Council candidates Athena Clarke, John Buthorn, Elijah Diaz, and Richard Barsamian. Barsamian is also the Brooklyn Republican Party chairman.
Club members and candidates talked about the 2025 campaign and building a coalition of voters across party lines. All of the candidates backed the “reinstate and compensate” movement that advocates reinstating workers who lost their jobs under New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. “Reinstate and compensate” is a focus of the DJT Republican Club.
Watch the full meeting above or each of the candidates here:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Brooklyn Borough President candidate Janine Acquafredda spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Athena Clarke spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate and Brooklyn GOP Chairman Richie Barsamian spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate Elijah Diaz spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
City Council candidate John Buthorn spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On March 20, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the second meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
David Rem, who is collecting signatures to get on the ballot as a mayoral candidate, spoke at the event.
Watch the full meeting:
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On February 27, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the first meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club. Founder Jimmy Wagner, New York State Senator Stephen Chan, and Brooklyn Republican Party Chair Richard Barsamian spoke at the event, along with Republican candidates for City Council Athena Clarke and Luis Quero.
Clarke talked with me at the event about the new club and the issues driving her campaign.
Watch the full first meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club:
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On February 27, 2025, supporters gathered in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn for the first meeting of the Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club.
Founder Jimmy Wagner, New York State Senator Stephen Chan, and Brooklyn Republican Party Chair Richard Barsamian spoke at the event, along with Republican candidates for City Council Athena Clarke and Luis Quero.
Numerous New York City workers who lost jobs under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates attended and spoke at the event, including candidate Clarke. Club founder and attorney Jimmy Wagner represented her in a lawsuit challenging her termination, and has represented numerous other workers fired under the mandate.
The club’s speakers highlighted “reinstate and compensate” efforts as a focus of the club, and underscored its openness to reaching across party lines, with Wagner saying:
“Every month we're going to have one of these meetings. Every month we're going to have people that go across the aisle. . . . I'm going to try to get us Democrats and Republicans that talk about common sense, that can come to this table and bring us common sense ideas.”
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Episode notes and sources:
The Common Health Coalition
This organization is dedicated to “reimagining” the health system as “one in which the nation’s health care and public health systems work hand in hand.”
New York State Department of Health Health Equity Plan
This 2024-2025 plan is “designed to be a guide and action plan for all staff in the New York State Department of Health.”
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services this week. The voters he brought with him when he joined forces with Donald Trump were a key factor in the President’s success. Many of them are medical freedom advocates, civil liberties supporters, and critics of our current health systems.
Those systems are on the brink of transformative changes that are the culmination of decades of legal, regulatory, and technological developments. The changes promise to bring us leaps forward in medicine and health services, but they also come with some major risks to civil liberties and human rights.
In this video, I raise 10 civil liberties questions for RFK Jr. and other leaders of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement to address—plus a question about how the newly powerful MAHA leaders will advocate for the civil liberties of New Yorkers who helped them rise.
Read the original article:
Watch the February 11, 2022 rally at New York City Hall here.
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Last week, the Senate Finance Committee and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
As the hearings began on Wednesday, January 29th, small groups of protesters gathered on the streets of the capital to voice opposition to RFK Jr.’s confirmation, holding signs and handing out stickers and canes—a reference to polio. One of them talked with me about his concerns:
But inside the Senate’s Dirksen Office Building, where the two days of confirmation hearings were about to begin, supporters of RFK Jr. who had come into town from around the country filled halls and overflow rooms where the hearings were broadcast.
Many of the supporters at the Senate building were New Yorkers who lost jobs under New York City and state COVID-19 vaccine mandates. They found an early and prominent supporter for their own cause in RFK Jr. and supported his run for president. When he joined forces with Donald Trump, they continued to support him.
I talked with some of the New Yorkers who were in Washington D.C. about why they made the trip:
Many of the workers from New York City traveled to D.C. on buses with the organization Teachers for Choice, and some of them distributed a letter to Senators asking for their support. (You can find Teachers for Choice’s own coverage of the trip on their Substack.)
One of the authors of the letter, Diane Pagen, talked with me about it after the Wednesday hearing, before getting on the bus back to NYC:
Other New Yorkers came down to D.C. to show their support for RFK Jr. on their own. I sat down with one of them at Union Station to talk about why she made the trip while she was waiting for the train home:
Day 2
On Thursday, there were fewer RFK Jr. supporters in the halls of the Senate building, since many had made a one-day round trip for the first day of hearings. But the overflow room was still full during RFK Jr.’s hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
As exchanges between senators and the nominee unfolded, it was clear that the seats were filled with RFK Jr. supporters:
At the end of the Thursday hearing, attorney Jo Saint-George spoke to the overflow room crowd about the ongoing lawsuits she has brought on behalf of New Yorkers who lost jobs under New York vaccine mandates:
Saint-George is one of several attorneys who have been representing New Yorkers in hundreds of lawsuits challenging New York City and New York State COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Many of those cases continue today, as the Adams and Hochul administrations continue to appeal and fight their former employees in court.
New York firefighter Matt Connor was also at the Senate building for the second day of hearings, representing the organizations Bravest for Choice and the National Coalition of Frontline Workers.
Connor talked with me about some of the practical measures he and his organizations are hoping RFK Jr. and the Trump administration will support:
Now back in New York, some of the workers who took the bus to Washington will mark three years since New York City fired them for refusing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccine mandates: February 2022 saw the most mandate firings in a single month, with the Eric Adams administration terminating 1,430 City employees.
As that three-year mark approaches and the lawsuits workers filed to fight their terminations drag on, many have their eyes on Washington in the hope that a resolution to their fight for reinstatement and restitution will come from the top.
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“Full congressional investigation and hearings into employee vaccine mandates in New York City, leading to reinstatement . . . a process that is friendly to bring you back, not getting doors slammed in your face and just getting tricked and getting treated terribly . . . back pay, and an apology: That's what I think would begin the process of some healing in New York City.” - Michael Kane
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In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Michael Kane, a special education teacher who worked for the New York City Department of Education for over 14 years before he was fired for refusing to comply with the DOE’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Michael requested a religious exemption that was denied, and filed one of the earliest lawsuits challenging NYC’s COVID-19 workplace vaccine mandate policies. He founded the organization Teachers for Choice and has been a leader in New York’s medical freedom movement, protesting vaccine mandates and advocating for the reinstatement of workers who were fired for not complying with them.
Michael talked with me about his own personal experiences during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the anti-mandate movement in New York, and the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement that was one of the decisive factors in the 2024 presidential election.
More from Michael Kane:
Teachers for Choice Substack Teachers for Choice is an organization of teachers and parents that opposes medical mandates and advocates for teachers who have been adversely affected by mandates in the educational system. You can also find links to the podcast episodes Michael Kane hosts on Children’s Health Defense’s CHD TV on the Teachers for Choice Substack.
Michael Kane and Teachers for Choice are also on X and Instagram.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
American Values 2024 PACThis political action committee supported the presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
New York Freedom Rally (now New York Freedom Network)This group led many of the protests against NYC’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates while they were in effect.
Cara CastronuovaThe boxer, political candidate, and television personality was one of the early protest leaders opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Michael Kane mentioned Rita Palma and John Gilmore during our conversation. These two longtime opponents of mandatory vaccinations for both children and adults are founders of the organizations My Kids My Choice and Autism Action Network, respectively.
Michael Kane mentioned fellow teacher Moe Olivier during our conversation. You can learn more about his story here:
Attorney Sujata Gibson talked about Michael Kane’s lawsuit and related cases on the podcast in 2022:
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
“It was closer to the edge and closer to being on the street than any situation I'd been in in my life. They made economic warfare on us, it's not an exaggeration to say—like, everything short of physical assault, everything short of seizing you and locking you up was done to us.” - Garrett
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In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Garrett, an educational assistant who works with special needs children. After working as a paraprofessional for the New York City Department of Education for 15 years, he was put on leave without pay in November 2021 and then fired February 2022 under the DOE’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Garrett requested a religious exemption that was denied, and was also denied unemployment insurance after his employment was terminated. After losing his apartment in Brooklyn and finding temporary work in New Jersey, Garrett left his home town of New York City. He’s now working as an educational assistant again in New Jersey.
Garrett talked with me about the financial and social impact of the mandate in his life, and how his experiences growing up informed his views on the medical establishment. He also talked about how his experiences with the mandate and the medical freedom movement have affected his views on politics and society, which he writes about on his Substack, The Social Populist.
More from Garrett:
The Social PopulistGarrett’s Substack.
Garrett on X.com
Max Blumenthal & Garrett Ramirez of NYC Teachers for Choice on Mass Layoffs, Kyrie, Socialism & moreGarrett and Max Blumenthal from The Grayzone talked about mandates in October 2021 with Redspin Sports host and Jersey City public school teacher Nate Wallace.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Teachers for ChoiceThis organization of teachers and parents opposes medical mandates and advocates for teachers who have been adversely affected by mandates in the educational system. It was founded by New York City teacher Michael Kane. You can also find Teachers for Choice on Substack.
After our conversation, Teachers for Choice endorsed Donald Trump for President.
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) NCVIA was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. The act granted immunity from financial liability in vaccine injury claims to manufacturers, among other measures regulating vaccine production, monitoring, and injury compensation.
“If We Let Them Get Away with This, What’s Next?” A Convo with People's Convoy Leader Brian BraseGarrett mentioned the Canadian and American trucker convoy protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. In 2023, one of the leaders of the American convoy talked with me about it. You can also watch him speak about it at a small gathering here.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firsthandmedia.substack.com/subscribe
This week on September 11, attorneys presented oral arguments before New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, in a combined judicial review of lower-court decisions involving eight New York City workers adversely affected by the City’s 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Attorney Jimmy Wagner argued for the eight petitioners-appellants, who were tenured teachers employed by the New York City Department of Education and were put on leave without pay and fired for refusing to comply with the DOE’s vaccine mandate. Attorney Jesse Townsend argued for the respondents-appellees in the cases, which include the New York City Board of Education and individual school districts.
While the eight teachers initially filed separate lawsuits, they were later combined into two cases, Clarke et al. v. Board of Education of the City School District of New York City et al. and O’Reilly et al. v. Board of Education of the City School District of New York City et al. The seven justices who heard oral arguments at the Court of Appeals considered those two cases together, since their claims are substantially the same.
Six of the eight teachers attended the hearing (see my conversation with one of them in the video above). They were accompanied by supporters who rallied outside the Albany courthouse before the proceedings, led by Michael Kane from the organization Teachers for Choice.
Michael Kane from the organization Teachers for Choice spoke with me in Albany about the hearing and Teachers for Choice’s position on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Kane traveled to Albany by bus with other supporters of the petitioners-appellants and led a rally outside the Court of Appeals before the hearing.
The supporters included other New York City workers who lost their jobs under the City’s mandates. Christina Martinez and Jeannette Loiacono, attorneys who are representing fired workers in other cases related to the mandates, also attended the hearing.
The petitioners and their supporters sat through three other cases before the Clarke/O’Reilly arguments were heard, filling the public gallery of the ornately paneled courtroom, which seats about 50. Wagner was accompanied in the courtroom by attorney Joseph Aron.
Judge’s Recusal Raises Questions
One of the seven Court of Appeals justices, Jenny Rivera, left the judges’ dias and was replaced by Second Department Appeals Court Judge Janice Taylor as the Clarke/O’Reilly arguments began.
The change led some to speculate that Judge Rivera, who was wearing a mask during the preceding case arguments, recused herself because she is unvaccinated. Rivera received some press coverage for declining COVID-19 vaccination after a mandate for New York State court system employees was rolled out in 2021. However, Rivera later publicly announced her intention to comply with the mandate by receiving a Novavax vaccine.
According to Court of Appeals press officer Gary Spencer, Rivera checked the “decline to provide a reason” option when she submitted her recusal form for Clarke/O’Reilly, leaving her reason for declining to hear the case unknown. Spencer also confirmed that there are no current vaccination or mask requirements for court employees.
Wagner Asks Judges to Vacate Lower-Court Decisions
At the hearing, Wagner asked the court to vacate the lower-court decisions in the Board of Education’s favor, arguing that putting the eight tenured teachers on leave without pay and firing them without giving them the due process afforded them by section 3020 of New York State’s Education Law was illegal.
Townsend countered by claiming that the vaccination requirement was a valid condition of employment, and not a disciplinary matter that would have triggered section 3020 due process procedures.
All of the district and appeals court judges who issued lower-court decisions in the eight cases sided with the Board of Education on the condition-of-employment claim, with one exception: Appellate court judge David Friedman wrote a partially dissenting opinion in the First Department’s O’Reilly decision, saying that “new conditions of employment . . . cannot be applied to already-tenured teachers except by an act of the legislature.” The DOE, he wrote, should have implemented the mandate as a “work rule” subject to section 3020 protections.
Jimmy Wagner made that same argument before the Court of Appeals. As the judges peppered both lawyers with questions, many of them involved the 2013 Beck-Nichols decision, which Wagner cited in his brief for the Court as establishing four criteria for conditions of employment that aren’t subject to section 3020 protections:
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the condition must be established before employment begins
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the policy must exhibit a legitimate purpose
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the eligibility requirements must be unambiguous
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only rule requirements that define eligibility for employment do not require a section 3020 hearing
Most of the courtroom discussion was focused on the first point, with Wagner underscoring the fact that the vaccination requirements were imposed on teachers long after they had begun employment and received tenure. Townsend flatly disputed Wagner’s interpretation of Beck-Nichols, which he called “idiosyncratic” in his brief for the Court.
Wagner too noted a level of idiosyncrasy in the arguments his opponent ended up making to support the idea that new conditions of employment could be imposed at any time. “The City of New York’s position was that they could require every tenured teacher to obtain a PhD, and failure to do so would result in summarily being discharged without a hearing,” Wagner commented after the hearing. “That is just so absurd.”
Financial Incentives and Far-Reaching Effects
My impression from the hearing is that the Court of Appeals decision will rely heavily on the seven justices’ own interpretations of Beck-Nichols and other cases cited during the proceedings. If their interpretations lead them to accept that an employer can override some of the strongest labor law protections in the country by imposing new “conditions of employment” at any time, there could be far-reaching implications not just for tenured teachers, but for all kinds of workers.
During the Court of Appeals hearing, Townsend himself raised the issue of financial considerations, explaining that if the Department of Education had kept noncompliant teachers on the payroll and held 3020 hearings for each of them, the cost would have made it impossible to implement the vaccine mandate.
Wagner, in his comments to me after the hearing (see video above), pointed out the financial incentive this creates for public employers to come up with new “conditions of employment” as a way of circumventing labor laws that prevent them from getting rid of their higher-paid workers.
You can watch the hearing for yourself on the Court of Appeals YouTube channel, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the decision in this momentous set of cases.
No One You Know and the New York Mandate Podcast are subscriber-supported. You can help me continue covering important cases like these by becoming a paid subscriber for just $5/mo or $50/yr.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Any time a group of people stands up for their rights . . . it's always important, even when it doesn't feel like it's accomplishing anything. But then on top of that, we're actually seeing results and we're seeing positive rulings and developments. There's some light at the end of the tunnel, and there's real hope that while maybe not every plaintiff will get what they deserve, the movement as a whole will have made the changes that we needed to see in the law.” - Scott Lloyd
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In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Virginia-based attorney Scott Lloyd, one of the lawyers who recently filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in Garland et al. v. New York City Fire Department et al.
The Garland lawsuit was brought by 86 FDNY firefighters and EMS workers who were adversely affected by New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers. A panel of three appellate judges upheld a lower-court decision against them in February of this year, and attorneys Lloyd and Warner Mendenhall filed the SCOTUS petition on behalf of the plaintiffs-appellants in July.
Scott Lloyd talked with me about the key arguments made in the petition, the legal standard it seeks to challenge, and the implications that a Supreme Court decision would have for Garland and other lawsuits related to vaccine mandates.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Petition for Certiorari in Garland v. FDNYThis is the petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to review the appellate court decision in Garland v. FDNY.
Ashcroft v. IqbalThis 2009 Supreme Court decision established the Iqbal standard, holding that plaintiffs’ complaints in federal lawsuits should present a “plausible” claim for relief.
Bravest for ChoiceThis organization advocates for NYC firefighters, fire inspectors, and EMS workers who were terminated or put on leave because they did not comply with the City’s vaccine mandates.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Previous coverage of Garland v. FDNY:
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“For anyone who thinks that oh, you know, I had a choice whether to be vaccinated or not and that would be just fine, that’s not true. You would definitely lose your job. And if you’re affiliated with a union, depending on your union . . . you would not be represented at all. . . . Where is my justice? Where is my case? No one is actually advocating for me and for my coworkers. I have coworkers who still have not returned to work.” - Hermione
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In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Hermione, a hospitality industry worker who was working in three different premium stadium and arena venues when a series of corporate and New York City COVID-19 vaccination requirements were introduced at her workplaces.
Hermione was barred from her workplaces after she declined to take a COVID-19 vaccine and was not granted the religious exemption she requested. Unable to address the issue through her union, she was obligated to give up her apartment and stay with family out of state while trying to resume work in New York. She has succeeded in getting back to work at two of the venues.
Hermione talked with me about how she was excluded from her workplaces without ever having her employment terminated, her efforts to exercise her rights through her union, and what it was like to see unvaccinated athletes able to work at the venues she was barred from. She also talked about working through the era of pandemic shutdowns, reopenings, and workplace restrictions.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Hermione’s story, please share it!
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
NBA player Kyrie Irving speaks on Instagram in October 2021 :
Irving was barred from playing and practicing with his team, the Brooklyn Nets, under New York City’s vaccine mandate. The restriction was later lifted when Mayor Eric Adams created an exception to the vaccine mandate for professional athletes and performers. Irving spoke in support of workers who were subject to the mandate.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. An exception to it was later added for “Performing artists and college or professional athletes.” This mandate ended on November 1, 2022.
UNITE HERE Local 100This union represents food service and restaurant workers in the New York/New Jersey area.
National Labor Relations BoardThe NLRB is an independent federal agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act. It provides processes for filing complaints against both employers and unions.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
Attorneys made oral arguments at a lengthy July 18 hearing in Miraglia et al. v. New York City Department of Education et al. Attorney Austin Graff argued for the petitioners, 51 Department of Education employees who were adversely affected by the DOE’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, while five lawyers represented respondents in the case, the DOE, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA).
Nineteen of the petitioners attended the proceedings in Staten Island before Richmond County Supreme Court Judge Wayne Ozzi. Family members and a few other City workers who opposed the mandates were also in the courtroom to show their support for the petitioners. (Jump to the bottom for more interviews with petitioners.)
The respondents brought up a variety of procedural challenges involving standing, statutes of limitation, and res judicata, but there were a few central issues that the substantive arguments revolved around. They have to do with the documents that laid out how the mandate would be implemented for UFT and CSA members employed by the DOE. Those documents are known as “arbitration awards,” because they were written by an arbitrator after the unions went to arbitration when they were at an impasse in their negotiations.
Austin Graff argued for the petitioners that:
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The arbitration awards were arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the law, because the unions and the DOE arbitrator had no legal right to go to arbitration and the arbitrator, Martin Scheinman, had no legal authority to create the awards.
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The unions breached their duty of fair representation by relinquishing their right to collectively bargain for their members and agreeing to accept arbitration, and then failing to bring a legal challenge against the arbitration awards.
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The waiver that some petitioners signed under the mandate, waiving legal rights and agreeing to remain suspended without pay, was invalid because they signed it under duress.
The respondents’ attorneys argued that:
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Other court decisions have found that the mandate created a legally valid condition of employment, and the unions were unable to successfully challenge it.
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Nothing in New York State law prevents unions and employers from choosing to use an arbitrator if they’ve reached an impasse in negotiations.
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The unions did their best to obtain protections for DOE employees under the mandate, winning the ability to receive an enhanced severance package, stay on leave without pay for a year with health benefits, and appeal rejected accommodation requests.
When a CSA attorney cited the ability to remain on payroll during the accommodation appeal process as one of the protections the unions had gained for their members through arbitration, many of the petitioners in the courtroom reacted with an audible “No.”
Central to the question of whether the arbitration awards were legitimate is New York Civil Service Law, section 209.3(f). Graff argued that the law requires an impasse in negotiations between school districts and public employees’ unions such as the UFT and CSA to be resolved through further negotiations, not arbitration: “The agreement to arbitrate was arbitrary capricious and in violation of lawful procedure under section 209.3(f) of the Civil Service Law,” he said, citing a long list of decisions supporting the claim.
For more on the legal arguments in this case: Petitioners’ attorney Austin Graff discussed them in this podcast episode:
Precedents at Play and a Picture of Cozy Political Relationships
Much of the courtroom discussion touched on other recent decisions relevant to whether the arbitration award was legitimate and could impose the mandate as a new condition of employment, notably the February 2023 O'Reilly v. Board of Education decision.
The judge himself brought O’Reilly up, and the respondents’ attorneys called it a binding precedent, while Graff pointed out that O’Reilly did not specifically address section 209.3(f). In the O’Reilly decision, a panel of appellate judges ruled that the arbitration award was lawful and imposed a valid new condition of employment for tenured teachers.
However, one of the O’Reilly judges wrote a partial dissent insisting that “new conditions of employment . . . cannot be applied to already-tenured teachers except by an act of the legislature.” The DOE, he wrote, should have implemented the mandate as a “work rule,” and followed the disciplinary procedure requirements of Education Law section 3020-a when it decided to fire employees for breaking it. That would have given them the opportunity to address the charges against them in a hearing before termination.
Moreover, the O’Reilly decision is on its way to New York’s highest court for review. It’s on the Court of Appeals hearing calendar for September 11. How an eventual ruling there might affect Miraglia is unclear. But the impending review underscores the fact that questions about whether the mandate could be imposed as a condition of employment and whether the arbitration awards that implemented it were valid are still unresolved by the courts.
At the Miraglia hearing, Graff gave a spirited response to the respondents’ arguments and painted a picture of a cozy relationship between City officials, the DOE, unions that enabled them to suspend and fire educators by relinquishing their bargaining power, and a self-dealing arbitrator who designated his own firm to be paid as an “independent arbitrator” to review accommodation appeals. “The ‘independent arbitrator’ was Scheinman!” said Graff.
Graff pointed to documents demonstrating that Scheinman had hosted fundraisers at his home in 2013 for then-candidate Bill de Blasio, who enthusiastically imposed the City’s vaccine mandates as mayor.
Judge Ozzi: “Why Not Take Them Back?”
Near the end of the hearing, Judge Ozzi brought up a question that has been on a lot of people’s minds. The pandemic is over, he pointed out. The mandate has been lifted, the petitioners are experienced teachers, and there’s a shortage of qualified teachers. “Why not take them back?” he asked.
DOE attorney Kathleen Linnane responded that the petitioners had the option to “reapply for reinstatement” to work for the DOE, which drew more indignant “No”s from the petitioners in the room. Linnane was referring to offers to City workers that have generally required them to relinquish certain civil service rights and the right to sue for back pay in order to be considered for rehiring.
As he closed the hearing, the judge noted the complexity of the legal issues involved in the case: “They are not easy,” he said. “They require some hard looking into, and that's exactly what I plan to do.”
Austin Graff spoke to petitioners after the hearing in this video, courtesy of petitioner Stephanie Edmonds:
Edmonds also talked with me about the hearing herself (find her on Instagram and YouTube: @TeachingLiberty):
Another petitioner who spoke with me at the courthouse after the hearing was a CSA member as a school administrator:
No One You Know and the New York Mandate Podcast are subscriber-supported. You can help me continue covering important cases like this by becoming a paid subscriber for just $5/month.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with attorney Austin Graff about Miraglia et al. v. New York City Department of Education et al. The lawsuit led by Graff is being brought by 51 people who worked for the DOE and were put on leave without pay, terminated, and subjected to other adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for DOE employees.
The respondents include not only the City and the DOE, but also the workers’ unions, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA).
Graff talked with me about how this state lawsuit grew out of the Broecker federal lawsuit, its core arguments, and the financial and personal losses the petitioners suffered under the mandate and continue to grapple with.
The case is due back in court for oral arguments at the Richmond County Supreme Court in Staten Island on July 18.
No One You Know and the New York Mandate Podcast are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with social worker Diane Pagen and Bravest for Choice members Matt Connor, Tim Heaton, and Jack Wei Lin after a June 24, 2024 New York City Council Civil Service and Labor Committee hearing at City Hall in Manhattan.
At the hearing, council members heard testimony in support of Resolution 5 from 17 municipal workers who were put on leave without pay and lost jobs under the City’s vaccine mandate.
Resolution 5 calls on the New York State legislature to pass, and the governor to sign, S.7466-A and a companion bill to reinstate NYC employees who were terminated due to non-compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
If you think it’s important for people to hear this conversation, please share it!
More coverage of Resolution 5 and the June 24, 2024 City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor hearing:
Watch the City Council’s official livestream of the full hearing. Resolution sponsor Joseph Borelli and other City Council members spoke about Resolution 5 and questioned representatives from City agencies, then heard testimony from workers who were put on leave without pay and lost jobs under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
New York City Council Member Joann Ariola spoke with me after the hearing:
No One You Know and the New York Mandate Podcast are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Michael Kane talks with Moe Oliver and Alfonso Ventura on Good Morning CHD. All three were NYC Department of Education employees and lost their jobs under the mandate. They gave testimony at the City Council committee hearing.
Senate Bill S7466AThis is the New York State legislation that Resolution 5 supports. It requires the reinstatement of officers and employees of the City of New York who were dismissed from employment due to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement, including retirees, vested members, and terminated members.
Unvaccinated Former City Workers Seek Council's Support for ReinstatementCrystal Lewis covered the hearing in this article for The Chief.
Cafecito Break Hearing Coverage The Perez sisters also covered the hearing in several videos on their Rumble channel.
Cop Who Lied About COVID Vaccine Gets to Keep Her Job, NYPD Commissioner Caban RulesYoav Gonen covered the hearing in the last section of this article for The City.
Live Coverage of Testimony at the June 24 Hearing from @nycforyourself:
More from some of the workers who testified at the June 24 hearing:
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I think we need a labor party. I think that the only thing that's going to break the Democrat-Republican nonsense and the Third Way politics that they've created is by creating a third party that focuses on the most important thing about being an American: having a job, having a stable job.” - Danny Hulkower
April 2024 UPDATE: This is a video version of the previously published audio-only version of our conversation. Danny is one of the petitioners-respondents in the Garvey v. NYC lawsuit, for which there were oral arguments in a New York State appellate court this month. Click here for more coverage of the pivotal Garvey case.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Danny’s story, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Danny Hulkower, who started working for the New York City Department of Sanitation in 2016. His application for a religious exemption to the New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers was denied, and he lost an appeal in January 2022. His employment with DSNY was terminated in February 2022. He is currently a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit and is appealing his exemption denial again with a lawyer.
Danny talked with me about his religious perspective on the vaccine as a Jew, his disappointment in his union and other workers who didn’t want to take the vaccine but ended up complying with the mandate, and the current state of public discourse.
We also talked about what it was like to work on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during the pandemic lockdowns, the exodus of many apartment dwellers in the area, and the 2020 riots.
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Teamsters Local 831This union, the Teamsters Local 831, is the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, representing New York City Department of Sanitation workers.
New York State Public Employees' Fair Employment Act — The Taylor LawThis labor relations statute that covers most public employees in New York State dates back to 1967. It prohibits strikes by public employees.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity CommissionThe EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Danny’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“As Christians, we believe God owns our body, bought with a price. First Corinthians, chapter six tells us that this is a temple of the holy spirit. We believe that Christ shed his blood on that cross, and he bought us with the most valuable price there ever could be. And that was his blood, his life. . . . I'm not going to do anything to violate what's God's property. I'm to be a manager of what's God's. So my body is not my own. I've been bought with a price and I have to manage that very carefully.” - Curtis Cutler
April 2024 UPDATE: This is a video version of the previously published audio-only version of our conversation. The Cutlers are currently living in South Carolina and were featured in a recent New York Times article about conservatives moving to that state. Curtis Cutler is one of the petitioners-respondents in the Garvey v. NYC lawsuit, for which there were oral arguments in a New York State appellate court this month. Click here for more coverage of the pivotal Garvey case.
If you think it’s important for people to hear the Cutlers’ story, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Curtis and Liz Cutler. Curtis started working for the New York City Department of Sanitation in 2015. The Cutlers are born-again Christians, and Curtis is a deacon at the Staten Island church he grew up in.
In spite of that, his application for a religious exemption to the New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers was denied. Some other members of his church who worked with him at DSNY had their applications approved. Curtis was put on leave without pay in January 2022 and terminated in February. He is currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city.
The Cutlers had purchased their home in Staten Island in January 2021 after years of saving to buy a house. They renovated the home over the next year, with Curtis doing much of the work himself. When he was terminated from DSNY, the Cutlers reached the conclusion that they could no longer afford the home. They are in the process of selling it and moving to South Carolina with their daughter. Their son will remain in New York with family to finish high school.
The Cutlers talked with me about their religious perspective on the vaccine as Christians, the strong opposition Curtis saw to the mandate among DSNY workers, and the role of religious freedom in U.S. history.
We also talked about how New York City’s remote schooling during the pandemic affected their two children, what happened when their son was hospitalized just as the city terminated their medical insurance, and how living in the city has changed for conservative people of faith over the years.
The Cutlers shared some before-and-after photos of the home they renovated in Staten Island. Before photos are on the left; after on the right:
Photos courtesy of the Cutler family.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Conservative MoveThe Cutlers used this site in their search for a new home.
Teamsters Local 831This union, the Teamsters Local 831, is the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, representing New York City Department of Sanitation workers.
New York State Public Employees' Fair Employment Act — The Taylor LawThis labor relations statute that covers most public employees in New York State dates back to 1967. It prohibits strikes by public employees.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity CommissionThe EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Curtis’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“We are creative beings, and we can figure out a way through. So this is my way through, and it’s a process. I’m not through, but I’m going through the process. . . . I’m hoping that this, what I’m going through right now, will push my kids through to a moment that they might need some inspiration to recreate themselves in an unforeseen situation.” - Moe Olivier
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, become a subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Moe Olivier, a teacher who had been working for the New York City Department of Education for 23 years when the DOE refused his request for a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and fired him.
Moe talked with me about how he became one of the founders of the organization Educators for Freedom, how being involved in the legal actions and protest movement against the mandate affected his perspective, and what happened when he brought his own lawsuit.
He also told me about teaching through the pandemic, what it was like as a father to be barred from his daughter’s school under the DOE mandate, and his new endeavor as a restaurant owner.
If you’re in New York City, you’ll want to hear his announcement about an upcoming event at the end.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Moe’s story, please share it!
More from Moe:
Moe OIivier on XMoe Olivier on InstagramCookerz Blend restaurant websiteCheck the website for more information about the May 4 Cookerz Blend birthday event.Cookerz Blend restaurant on XCookerz Blend restaurant on Facebook
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Educators for FreedomA group of teachers, staff, parents, and other individuals educating the current and future generation of free thinkers.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“One of the things that I’m wrestling with is . . . how committed should I be to this career that I love so much when we’ve been treated this way—and the lack of decency in our return to work and the lack of decency for the people that are still out of work now. . . . I think a lot of us try to answer that question: To what extent am I going to remain committed to a city that’s treated people this way, or an agency that’s treated people this way, or my neighbors who segregated me from society? To what extent is this my home?” - Matt Connor
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Matt Connor, a lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department. He was inspired by the events of 9/11 to join the department and worked through the height of the 2020 pandemic before being put on leave without pay for refusing to comply with the NYC’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for City workers.
Matt talked with me about what it was like to work through the pandemic; how NYC’s many restrictions affected him as a father, museum educator, and student; and how he and other workers came together to form Bravest for Choice and the National Coalition of Frontline Workers.
We also talked about current legal and legislative efforts to get New York City workers who lost their jobs under the mandates reinstated.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Matt’s story, please share it!
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York State Senate Bill S7466A and Assembly Bill A9196These bills if passed will require the reinstatement of New York City employees who were dismissed from employment due to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement.New York City Council Resolution 0005-2024
New York City Councilwoman Joann Ariola held a February 8, 2024, press conference at City Hall along with other members of City Council’s Common Sense Caucus, Bravest for Choice, and other City workers who were forced out of their jobs under the City’s mandates. Ariola announced a resolution backing New York State bills S7466A/A9196 to reinstate City workers. She introduced the resolution at a City Council meeting later that day.
National Coalition of Frontline WorkersThis organization was founded by frontline workers, many of whom lost their jobs or were subject to other penalties under COVID-19 vaccine mandates. It advocates for frontline workers including law enforcement, firefighters, emergency workers, and health care workers.
Bravest for ChoiceThis organization advocates for NYC firefighters, fire inspectors, and EMS workers who were terminated or put on leave because they did not comply with the City’s vaccine mandates.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment and cultural venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I want to live in a place that has real participatory society that isn’t top down and isn’t run by gangsters. I feel like New York is run—it’s like Boss Tweed all over again. You don’t have any say. There’s a lot of bullying and a lot of just not caring about people and not being respectful of the trust that your citizens have put in you. . . . So I don’t want to live in a place like that, even if it’s my place.” - Diane Pagen
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Diane Pagen, a social worker with 18 years of experience. She had been working for the New York City Department of Education for over six of those years when the DOE announced its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees in late 2021.
Diane was put on leave without pay for not complying with the mandate, and received an unsigned termination letter in February 2022. Unable to find sufficient employment in New York with mandates still in place in both the public and private sectors, she sought work elsewhere and eventually moved out of state.
Diane is also a social policy analyst and writer. She talked with me about what it was like to work through the pandemic as a school social worker, her experience with the mandate, and the political, social, and financial forces at play in her hometown.
We began our conversation in February 2023, when she was moving out of the city, and sat down for a longer conversation later that year.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Diane’s story, please share it!
More from Diane:
Diane Pagen’s website Diane Pagen is a social worker and a social policy analyst and writer. Her site is a human forum to discuss the consequences of social and economic policies.New York City Department of Health Gives $35 Million for Pro-Vax DoctorsDiane wrote this article published by DailyClout.
I lost my NYC school job to the vaccine mandate — and all New Yorkers are losing tooDiane wrote this article published by the New York Post.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“As an unvaccinated person, they're saying to me that there's something possibly wrong with you, that you're sick, you're ill, you have to prove your innocence. You have to prove that you are worthy of continuing to participate in society, which I find to be a complete reworking of the social contract that I was born into.” - Addison Reeves
If you think it’s important for people to hear Addison’s story, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Addison Reeves, who was fired for not complying with New York State’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state agency employees, and moved out of New York State.
She is an attorney and writer, who critiques U.S. political culture and pandemic policies on her blog, Modern Heretic.
Unlike the New York City mandates, the state agency mandate included a testing option. Reeves talked with me about her reasons for objecting to the test-or-vax mandate and what it was like to be a mandate dissident in social and professional circles that were very supportive of restrictive pandemic policies.
She also talked about the role of technology, the normalization of adult vaccination requirements, and how her experiences have changed her views on our political and legal systems, and on humanity.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
More from Addison Reeves:
Modern HereticAddison Reeves’s blog.“It’s just…” – Why I Won’t SubmitThe Off Guardian published this piece by Addison Reeves in August 2021.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Governor Andrew Cuomo announces state worker mandateIn this July 28, 2021 announcement, then-governor Cuomo announced that the approximately 130,000 New York State workers would be required to take a COVID-19 vaccine or be tested weekly.
The mandate was implmented by his successor, Kathy Hochul, and went into effect on October 12, 2021. “Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Ivan IllichAddison Reeves mentioned this theologian, philosopher, and social critic and as her favorite political thinker during our conversation.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I don't think we've seen the end of the vaccine litigation. I think it's just starting. . . . Courts go back and forth—it depends upon the judge, depends upon the court—but they're sticking to the COVID vaccine as being a mandate of employment and a requirement that employees just have to live with, unfortunately.” - Austin Graff
This post is public, so feel free to share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Austin Graff about labor laws and employees’ rights in the private sector in New York. Graff has over 22 years of experience as a labor and employment attorney, and is currently representing plaintiffs in federal lawsuits involving New York City’s public-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Although New York City’s government-ordered COVID-19 mandates for employment are no longer in effect, a substantial number of employers in the private sector have kept vaccination requirements in place. They are more common in some job sectors, such as social and medical services, but can be found attached to a wide variety of jobs.
I asked Graff to explain some of the legal obligations employers have, the obligations of unions, and which organizations and agencies can help workers who have complaints related to vaccination requirements in the private sector.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Below are some links to agencies we talked about during the episode. They offer detailed information on workforce protections and rights, contacts for inquiries, and processes for filing complaints.
National Labor Relations BoardThe NLRB is an independent federal agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act. It provides processes for filing complaints against both employers and unions.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity CommissionThe EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
New York State Division of Human RightsThis agency enforces New York State’s Human Rights Law.
New York City Commission on Human RightsThis city agency enforces NYC’s Human Rights Law.
New York State Department of LaborThe state DOL website provides information about workforce protections, reasonable accommodations, and how to file discrimination complaints.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I always feel that I’m in the company of some really kickass, strong people that are very brave. Even though they’ve lost everything, they’re still fighting. It’s not just me and my little group of people. There are other people out there that are in the same position that I am—probably thousands. Millions, maybe.” - Shellie
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Shellie. She’s a hair and makeup artist who works in the film and television industry, as well as a vocalist and song writer.
She was barred from working by both entertainment industry COVID-19 vaccine mandates and New York City’s mandate for private sector workers, and she recently left New York City and moved to New Jersey with her son.
Shellie talked with me about how unvaccinated workers were labelled and stigmatized before the mandates barred them from working, the lack of union support and legal recourse she encountered, and how back-to-back work shortages caused by pandemic shutdowns, mandates, and strikes have affected her life.
We also talked about what it was like to be a parent during the period of remote schooling in New York City. Shellie’s son joined our conversation to talk about his experience with remote schooling and how things are going for him now. We spoke just before the new school year began.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Shellie’s story, please share it!
More from Shellie:
You can get in touch with Shellie at: iamshellieb@verizon.net
Shellie’s Cash App: $Shellieb
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Governor Hochul Signs Legislation to Improve State Response to COVID-19 PandemicOn December 22, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation making falsification of COVID-19 vaccination cards a class D felony and creating a new E felony of computer tampering in the third degree for intentional entering, alteration, or destruction of "computer material" regarding COVID-19 vaccine provisions. Over the next year, 15 people were arrested and prosecuted for felony offenses related to falsified documents, including 13 who purchased fake cards.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity CommissionThe EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE)This union represents over 168,000 workers in theater, motion picture, and television production, trade shows and exhibitions, television broadcasting, and concerts, as well as equipment and construction shops that support the entertainment industry.
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)The AFL-CIO is the largest union federation in the United States, comprising 60 national and international labor unions. It is a major lobbying and political organization.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. It went into effect on December 27, 2021, covering nearly all private-sector workers in New York City, and was lifted on November 1, 2022.Mandatory Vaccinations On Productions An Option Under Return-To-Work Protocols – UpdateThis July 2021 article in Deadline reports on the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the entertainment industry.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“The type of groupthink, witchhunt mentality, the sort of uncritical views that many have taken during this time are reminiscent of the times of ascendancy for the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union, or the Nazis in Germany, or the CCP in communist China. So that's what frightens me, as a history teacher. We study these things and we go, ‘How could everyday people go along with this oppression?’ . . . But we see it time and time again in history. We see the common tools being used—fear, censorship, the othering of people. So that's what authoritarian or totalitarian regimes will do to force compliance.” - Doug
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with a former New York City high school history teacher who had taught for 13 years when he lost his job under the Department of Education’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Both he and his wife requested religious exemptions to the mandate and were denied, before being put on leave without pay and then fired.
He talked with me about leaving New York City, where he and his family had spent their lives, moving to a small town, and delving into homesteading, homeschooling, permaculture, and building a life with faith at its center.
He also talked about what it was like to go before an appeals panel as part of his effort to obtain a religious exemption, the legal cases working their way through the court system, and the historical parallels he sees with authoritarian measures taken during the pandemic.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Doug’s story, please share it!
More from Doug: If you’d like to get in touch with Doug to talk more about homeschooling, homesteading, and making a transition from urban to rural life, please leave a message for him in the comments or send it to me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com. I’ll pass any messages I receive along to him.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Homeschool New York (NYS Loving Education At Home)Homeschool New York is a statewide organization dedicated to supporting and promoting home education throughout New York State.
Live Not by LiesSoviet writer and dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn released this essay in 1974, just before he was arrested and sent into exile. WWOOF (Willing Workers On Organic Farms)This international organization enables people to stay and volunteer on a variety of organic properties, allowing volunteer workers to learn about organic farming.Educators for FreedomThis group of teachers, staff, parents, and supporters formed in response to New York City’s Department of Education COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Doug also mentioned my previous conversations with fellow history teacher James and social studies teacher Jennifer Mortensen, who moved to Tennessee, as well as remarks that former DSNY worker Danny Hulkower made during a recent conversation outside the Richmond County Courthouse.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I'm waiting for people to take accountability and say, ‘Listen, I messed up,’ or ‘I'm so sorry that I judged,’ or any of that. I don't think that's really ever happened. . . . It's just like, poof, it's gone, and everyone's supposed to get back to their normal lives. And there's no normalcy for those of us who lost our careers. Some people have lost their homes. The connections that I've lost, and having to work to build again—it’s really, really sad.” - Hilary Shawn
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Hilary Shawn. She’s a hair and makeup artist with over 22 years of experience who works in the entertainment industry as well as with private and corporate clients. After her request for a medical exemption to COVID-19 vaccine mandates was denied, she lost most of her entertainment industry and corporate work.
Hilary talked with me about how she has handled the financial and professional hit by pivoting to pursuing her other work as an intuitive coach, moving from a Brooklyn brownstone apartment to an RV in Pennsylvania, and creating new opportunities to learn and explore the world for her young daughter.
Hilary also gave me a tour of the RV she and her daughter are now calling home. You can check it out at the end of this episode.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Hilary’s story, please share it!
More from Hilary Shawn:
Healing with Hilary ShawnHilary Shawn’s healing website.
Hilary Shawn on Instagram:
@healingwithhilaryshawn: healing
@hilaryshawnhmua: hair & makeup
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. It went into effect on December 27, 2021, covering nearly all private-sector workers in New York City, and was lifted on November 1, 2022.Mandatory Vaccinations On Productions An Option Under Return-To-Work Protocols – UpdateThis July 2021 article in Deadline reports on the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the entertainment industry.
82 Teachers Accused of Using Fake Vax Cards Ordered Back on City PayrollThis New York Post article covers the case of public school teachers who were accused of using fake vaccine cards. Some were later reinstated after legal action.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“What people don't understand is that this plandemic has ruined lives, has made us destitute, has evicted some of us, made some of us homeless, has had a lot of us commit suicide. This is very real, and it's not over. It's not over by a damn sight. We have to keep fighting.” - Virginia Alleyne
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Virginia Alleyne, a server who has worked in the restaurant industry for 30 years, as well as holding other jobs in the service industry.
She had worked for 17 years at Yankee Stadium when that place of employment, along with her other employers, shut down due to New York State pandemic restrictions. She later lost two jobs under New York City’s private-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and Yankee Stadium kept its COVID-19 vaccination requirement in place after the City officially ended the mandate.
Yankee Stadium has not responded to inquiries about its current vaccination policies.
Alleyne talked with me about what it was like as a longtime service industry worker and parent to face multiple mandates and other pandemic business shutdowns. We also talked about censorship, the obstacles she’s still facing, and the lawsuit she brought against Mayor Eric Adams and the private-sector mandate.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Virginia’s story, please share it!
More from Virginia Alleyne:”Stand with Virginia” GiveSendGoA friend of Virginia Alleyne set up this GiveSendGo campaign for people who want to give her a hand.
Virginia Alleyne’s story received some major major media coverage in April 2022, shortly after she filed a lawsuit aginst Mayor Eric Adams and NYC’s private sector mandate:
Yankee Stadium waitress files lawsuit against Adams’ athlete vax exemption- New York Post
COVID curveball: Fmr Yankee Stadium waitress fired over vaccine mandate after NYC mayor exempts players- Fox News appearance with attorney James MermigisFed-up Yankee Stadium worker takes legal action against NYC mayor over COVID tyranny- appearance on Glenn Beck’s show
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Your Rights Under HIPAAThis guide from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes the legal rights of individuals under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HIPAA’s Privacy Rule prohibits health care providers from sharing an individual’s health information without permission.
UNITE HERE Local 100This union represents food service and restaurant workers in the New York/New Jersey area.
This exchange between Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett and New York City attorney and former mayoral candidate Maya Wiley occured at the July 20, 2023 Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which addressed online censorship.
U.S Public Health Service (USPHS) Syphilis Study at TuskegeeThis clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 was designed to observe the natural progression of untreated syphilis. All of the participants were African-American men, and those who had syphilis were not informed about their diagnosis. Instead, they were told they were being treated for “bad blood,” and given free medical exams, meals, and burial insurance. They were not given treatment with penicillin, and more than 100 of the participants died of the disease.
10 NYCRR 2.13: Isolation and Quarantine ProceduresThese regulations put in place by the Hochul administration expanded existing New York State quarantine rules to allow the health commissioner to have not only people infected with a contagious disease, but “all such persons as the State Commissioner of Health shall determine appropriate” put into involuntary quarantine by local law enforcement. Critics often refer to them as the “quarantine camp” regulations. They were struck down by a lawsuit brought by attorney Bobbie Anne Cox, but the Hochul administration is appealing.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. An exception to it was later added for “Performing artists and college or professional athletes.” This mandate ended on November 1, 2022.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“This is still really impacting thousands of people's lives. And it's not something we can just brush under the carpet and pretend never happened. This ruined lives unjustly and we have to make it impossible to ignore that.” -Sujata Gibson
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with civil rights attorney Sujata Gibson, who is representing petitioners/plaintiffs in several lawsuits against New York City and New York State vaccine mandates.
We spoke following a hearing in DiCapua et al v. The City of New York et al, where New York Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio denied a motion by the City to dismiss the case and set an August 14 date for the next hearing, where Gibson and her co-counsel on the case attorney Michael Sussman will present arguments for certifying the lawsuit as a class action.
Gibson talked with me about the DiCapua case and gave an update on the other mandate-related lawsuits she’s working on. She also talked about how the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Groff v DeJoy is relevant to her cases, the complex issue of undue hardship claims, and what went on behind the scenes with the New York City bureaucrats who rejected workers’ requests for religious exemptions to vaccine mandates.
Thank you for listening to the New York Mandate Podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it.
More from Sujata Gibson:
Gibson spoke to petitioners and supporters in the lobby of the Richmond County Courthouse after the July 18, 2023 hearing in DiCapua v. NYC.
Gibson talked with me outside the Richmond County Courthouse after the July 18, 2023 hearing in DiCapua v. NYC.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks about getting vaccinated at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, September 26, 2021.
Eichenholtz DepositionThis May 2022 deposition of New York City Law Department attorney Eric Eichenholtz explores in detail the City’s process for reviewing requests for religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for municipal workers.Groff v. DeJoyThis U.S. Supreme Court decision clarified the standard that should be applied when employers deny a religious accommodation on the grounds of undue hardship.About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Hollywood told everyone, ‘You cannot work without this vaccine.’ And everyone fell right in line. Even if it was a fake card, you were complying under pressure just in kind of a surreptitious way. So what are they going to ask next? What are they going to require next? They already know that they can do it. All they have to do is just hold the paycheck. That's all it took. So, you know, people have to start questioning.”
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Stanley, an Emmy-award-winning hairstylist who has worked for over 30 years in the entertainment industry. He was barred from working on productions after both industry and New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandates went into effect.
Stanley talked with me about how pandemic safety protocols and vaccine mandates were implemented in the entertainment industry, the role of unions, and the widespread use of counterfeit vaccine cards.
Stanley also told me about how workers were required to wear color-coded stickers on their badges to indicate their vaccination status in 2021, before the full vaccine mandate went into effect. You can see some examples here:
If you think it’s important for people to hear Stanley’s story, please share it!
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE)This union represents over 168,000 workers in theater, motion picture, and television production, trade shows and exhibitions, television broadcasting, and concerts, as well as equipment and construction shops that support the entertainment industry.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. It went into effect on December 27, 2021, covering nearly all private-sector workers in New York City, and was lifted on November 1, 2022.Mandatory Vaccinations On Productions An Option Under Return-To-Work Protocols – UpdateThis July 2021 article in Deadline reports on the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the entertainment industry.
Oscars: COVID-19 Vaccination Will Not Be Required for In-Person AttendeesStanley mentioned this article in The Hollywood Reporter, which reports on the fact that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not require performers and presenters to present proof of vaccination at its annual award show in 2022.
Hollywood’s High-Stakes Strike: Actors and Writers Make History With Bid to Reshape IndustryWhen Stanley and I spoke earlier this week, entertainment industry writers were already on strike. Performers joined them soon after. This article from The Hollywood Reporter reports on the combined strike, which has effectively shut down the entertainment industry.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Don’t think that politics doesn’t work, or that it’s so compromised up at the top that you can’t chip away from the lower levels. Because we can make a difference, and we’re seeing it. We’re seeing it with the people we’ve elected, in little ways. . . . We’ve beat back Hochul on a lot of things here. So we just have to stay involved at the local level.” - Audrey
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new episodes and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Audrey, an exercise and fitness instructor for seniors who continues to be barred from teaching classes at two community organizations where she used to teach, Hudson Guild and Greenwich House. One of them allows her to teach a class via Zoom.
Audrey talked with me about how losing those jobs has affected her life, as well as the movement against mandates and other pandemic restrictions that she’s been a part of since 2020.
I contacted the organizations Audrey is not able to work for to ask about their current vaccination requirements. Hudson Guild did not respond to my inquiries, but Greenwich House Director of Marketing & Communications Tearanny Street sent me this response:
“At Greenwich House, the health and safety of our employees, patients, students, and our broader community are paramount. To that end, our COVID-19 policies continue to align with the latest local and federal public health recommendations. New hires must continue providing proof of COVID-19 vaccination, while existing employees, interns, volunteers, and on-site contractors are strongly encouraged to stay updated with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
As the recommendations from public health officials continues to evolve, so to will our policies and approaches in these areas.”
Both Hudson Guild and Greenwich House include vaccination requirements in their current job listings:
Hudson Guild’s listings say: “As a NYC contracted agency all positions at Hudson Guild fall under the NYC vaccine mandate. All employees, consultants, volunteers and interns must show proof of vaccination upon hire.”
Greenwich House listings say: “Greenwich House requires all new hires to be vaccinated and recommends all employees, interns, volunteers, and on-site contractors stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines (including booster shots).”
If you think it’s important for people to hear Audrey’s story, please share it!
More from Audrey:
You can reach Audrey and her group of political organizers at regimechangeforny@gmail.com.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York Freedom RallyThis is one of the organizations that grew out of gatherings in Union Square during the pandemic. Freedom Rally organized many protests against vaccine mandates and continues to advocate for informed consent and bodily autonomy.
Medical Freedom PartyThis new political party developed in part from gatherings in Union Square during the pandemic. The party asserts that “bodily autonomy is the basis from which all freedoms flow,” and is running numerous candidates in the 2023 New York City Council election.
New York State Assembly and Senate Bill A7154/S1531This bill if signed into law will require health care providers who administer vaccines to adults to report them to the state department of health or a regional health information organization, unless the person receiving the vaccine objects. The assembly version was passed during the 2023 legislative session, but the senate version remains in committee.
HEK cell line
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a vaccine mandate in New York? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Lawyers have believed that Jacobson versus Massachusetts is still good law, and it's not. It has been overturned, or overruled, by the 1944 [Public Health Service] Act and by the OSHA Act, which set forth rules and protections that require states and employers to respect the First Amendment right of an individual to refuse medical care.” - Jo Saint-George
This post is public, so feel free to share it.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Jo Saint-George, an attorney who is representing a group of New York City workers who were put on leave without pay or terminated under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates in a federal proposed class action lawsuit.
Saint-George talks with me about the case, Women of Color for Equal Justice et al v. The City of New York et al, and the arguments she makes on the basis of both the U.S. Constitution and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Saint-George explains why a victory in court would invalidate mandates for employees nationwide and how she expects the legal process to proceed, and touches on another major lawsuit she’s putting together on the behalf of New York health care workers.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
More from Jo Saint-George:
Women of Color for Equal JusticeJo Saint-George founded this organization and is its chief legal officer. The organization focuses on advocacy in healthcare policy, criminal justice reform, anti-sex trafficking policy, and economic development, and represents clients of all races and creeds in religious and healthcare freedom litigation.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Women of Color for Equal Justice et al v. The New York City et alThis proposed class action suit was filed on behalf of a group of former New York City municipal workers whose employment was suspended or terminated under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. (The full court documents are available via the federal court system’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records website, which requires an account and may charge a small fee for access to documents.)
Jacobson v. MassachusettsThis 1905 Supreme Court case upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws.
Occupational Safety and Health ActThis 1970 act is designed to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for a wide range of workers in the United States.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“God forbid we have another outbreak of something and a vaccine comes along, and all these people who fought for now years—we don't want this to happen again. . . . We still have liberty, we still have property rights, and our due process can't be taken away from us because we have an emergency situation.” - Austin Graff
This post is public so feel free to share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Austin Graff, an attorney who is representing New York City workers who were put on leave without pay and terminated under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates in two major federal lawsuits.
We talk about the case brought by teachers and other current and former Department of Education employees, Broecker et al v. New York City Department of Education et al, and the one brought by FDNY firefighters, Garland et al v. New York City Fire Department et al. Both lawsuits were recently dismissed by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in the New York Eastern District federal court and are moving into appeals.
Graff gets into the details of how an arbitration process set the course for implementing the mandates, why the Broecker case named workers’ unions and union officials as defendants, and how affected workers can still join the lawsuits.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
More from Austin Graff:
You can contact Austin Graff at: agraff@scherlawfirm.com
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Broecker et al v. New York City Department of Education et alThis proposed class action suit was filed on behalf of 93 current and former DOE employees against the DOE, the City, workers’ unions, and the arbitrator who created the process by which the DOE’s vaccine mandate was implemented, along with numerous City and union officials. (The full court documents are available via the federal court system’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records website, which requires an account and may charge a small fee for access to documents.)
Garland et al v. New York City Fire Department et alThis proposed class action suit was filed on behalf of 50 current and former FDNY employees against FDNY and department officials. (The full court documents are available via the federal court system’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records website, which requires an account and may charge a small fee for access to documents.)
New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB)This state agency was created in 1967 with the enactment of the Public Employees’ Fair Employment Act (the Taylor Law), and is charged with administering labor laws and resolving labor negotiation disputes, among other functions.
Court Workers for ChoiceThis is an organization of New York State court system workers who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for court workers. You can find the PERB decision in their case on their website.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“People, you can do it. You can get what you want and need, so go for it. . . . Because you are unique and there's no one like you, and you have special skills and life experiences that are needed and necessary. So go after what you want and go after it with a lot of thought, creativity. Don't believe what you hear, read, or see. Believe what you think is the right thing.” - Betsy Combier
This post is public so feel free to share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Betsy Combier, a longtime advocate for New York City public sector workers.
We talked about administrative remedies available to former City workers who lost their jobs under New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and are seeking reinstatement or compensation such as back pay. Combier discussed the importance of filing a Notice of Claim and the upcoming May 10 deadline to file one in relation to the City’s vaccine mandates.
She also delved into the murky world of problem codes, which she recently shed light on in court documents for the New Yorkers for Religious Liberty, Inc. v. The City of New York lawsuit.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
More from Betsy Combier:
You can contact Betsy Combier at betsy@advocatz.com and find a wealth of information on her websites:
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ADVOCATZ
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Parentadvocates.org
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NYC Rubber Room Reporter
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National Public Voice
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NYC Public Voice
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New York Court Corruption
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Rubber-Room/Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials
Notice of Claim Pursuant to General Municipal Law Section 50-EThis is a recent article by Betsy Combier on how to file a Notice of Claim.
Conversation with Rachel ManiscalcoThis is another informative conversation with Betsy Combier, hosted on Instagram by former NYC public school teacher Rachel Maniscalco.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Interview with FDNY Captain Brendan FogartyFogarty speaks with Michael Kane about how he was reinstated after being forced into early retirement as a result of COVID mandates.
NYC Teachers Who Refused COVID Vaccine Slapped with ‘Scarlet Letter’ in Personnel Files: LawyerThis New York Post article covered the role of problem codes as noted by attorney John Bursch in his oral argument for New Yorkers for Religious Liberty v. The City of New York. The article includes comments from Betsy Combier as well as a City Hall spokesman who disputed her statements about problem codes.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“It just doesn't make sense anymore. . . . Maybe early on there was an excuse for them to have these policies. But I feel that if someone is continuing to mandate these things, that they had a responsibility to look into: Is there any purpose at all to these? I mean, they've had ample time to be informed that these don't stop transmission, that they don't stop you from getting the illness.” - psychoanalyst in training
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with a psychoanalyst in training at a private Manhattan psychoanalysis institute. Although he has completed almost all of his coursework and obtained a master’s degree in his field, he is unable to finish his training program and obtain the credentials he needs to work because the institute’s ongoing vaccine mandate prevents him from seeing patients.
He talked with me about how the mandate has affected his ability to complete his training and begin his career, how his views on the mandate have been treated by his own psychoanalysts, and how his requests for medical and religious exemptions were handled.
We also talked about how mandates have affected him socially, and as an avid dancer.
If you think it’s important for people to hear this story, please share it!
More from this psychoanalyst in training:
You can contact him directly at flaquitocp@protonmail.com.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Accusations of Psychosis for FreedomThis article by Michael Kane at Teachers for Choice covers the case of Long Island teacher Noelle Florio, who was required to undergo a psychiatric exam after she objected to COVID-related mandates. The examining psychiatrist attributed her views on COVID policies to psychosis, and declared her unfit to teach. Florio has taken legal action and is scheduled to give testimony in a public hearing on April 11.
At an October 2022 European Parliament hearing, Pfizer executive Janine Small stated that Pfizer did not test its COVID-19 vaccine for preventing transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in clinical trials.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who worked in a workplace or interacted with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. The order was rescinded on November 1, 2022.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode, I talk with two New York City students and their mother. One of the students goes to a public high school and the other to a City University of New York (CUNY) community college. Both face barriers to pursuing a college education because they have not taken a COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination requirements remain in place at CUNY schools and other colleges.
The students talked with me about how vaccine mandates affect their education, what it’s like to attend school remotely, and how pandemic policies have affected young people. They also talked about their views on broader questions about public health policy, the role of technology in their life, and what their hopes and fears about the future are.
If you think it’s important for people to hear from these students, you can share our conversation.
You can read our conversation here:
https://tinyurl.com/NYMPepisode34
If you prefer audio, you can download the Substack app for iOS or Android and listen to it with Substack’s automated text-to-speech player. Just click the headphone icon at the top of the screen.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
If you think it’s important for people to hear this conversation, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with New York City public school teachers who recently went back to work after extended periods on leave without pay under the vaccine mandate, along with their attorney Jimmy Wagner.
James and Christine are both veteran teachers with nearly 30-year careers, but when the mandate for teachers went into effect in the fall of 2021, their requests for religious exemptions were denied and they were put on leave without pay. They both pursued legal action with attorney Jimmy Wagner, and their cases are still active.
They, their attorney, and James’s wife Jen, who is also a teacher, talked with me about how they were able to get back in the classroom, some of the core legal issues involved in mandate cases, and how their friendship and Christian faith sustained them through the long period on leave.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Impact Arbitration AwardThis document written by arbitrator Martin Scheinman details the process used by the Department of Education to consider requests for exemptions to the vaccine mandate, as well as the process for putting employees on leave without pay and terminating their employment.
Mayor Adams Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Will Become Optional for City WorkersThis announcement on February 6, 2023 was followed by a series of orders rescinding NYC’s vaccine mandates for DOE employees and other municipal workers.
New York Education Law 3020This section of the state’s Education Law lays out due process rights of tenured teachers in disciplinary cases.
New York Teachers for ChoiceThis organization of teachers and parents opposes medical mandates for employment. It was founded by New York City teacher Michael Kane.
New York City Department of EducationThe DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“We’re still stuck in a place where we are still financially burdened, we’re emotionally stretched. . . . A lot of people have lost relationships and homes. . . . So this has to continue to be in the mouths of New York City and people around the world, because otherwise we will be doomed to repeat this mistake again.” - Rachelle Garcia
If you think it’s important for people to hear Rachelle’s story, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Rachelle Garcia, an elementary school teacher who taught in person at a New York City public school throughout the pandemic. When she decided not to take the mandated COVID-19 vaccine in September 2021, she was barred from the classroom after nearly 15 years as an educator.
Her request for a religious exemption was denied, and she went on leave without pay (LWOP). Her employment was later terminated after the LWOP period expired in September 2022 and she still declined vaccination.
Rachelle talked with me about why she took the LWOP option, how it affected her family, and where losing her teaching position left her.
We also talked about how pandemic policies affected kids, the power that parents have, and why she thinks it’s still important for there to be a public discussion about mandates, even though NYC’s have officially been lifted.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
More from Rachelle Garcia:
Follow Rachelle Garcia on Instagram: @i_am_rayegarcia
Watch Rachelle’s September 20, 2022, January 6, 2023 and February 14, 2023 appearances on Fox News.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Unpaid Leave Option for UFT MembersYou can find some of the terms of the LWOP agreement for DOE employees who didn’t want to take a vaccine on this page. They were also required to waive their right to sue the DOE.
1,300 NYC School Staffers Must Now Get COVID Vaccine — Or Will Be Let GoThis is an August 2022 New York Post article about the DOE employee LWOP period ending.
New York Teachers for ChoiceThis organization of teachers and parents opposes medical mandates for employment. It was founded by New York City teacher Michael Kane.
New York City Department of EducationThe DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“There are people right now that are going to commit suicide in three weeks if they don't feel heard. . . . So there's something actively that needs to be done. . . . I think the way to help is to come together and figure out how to make a change. So that's why I have my perspective, because that's what I see every day, is the people that are hurt. And that's what I care about.” - Jennifer Sharp
If you think it’s important for people to hear this conversation, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Jennifer Sharp, an award-winning independent filmmaker. Her recent film Anecdotals presents her own and others’ experiences with suffering adverse effects following COVID-19 vaccination.
The film also examines the politics and public discussion surrounding vaccine injuries, with Sharp underscoring the urgency of changing the conversation.
She talked with me about the challenges of making a film on the topic of COVID-19 vaccine injuries, how Anecdotals has been received in the media, and how vaccine mandates have affected her.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
AnecdotalsJennifer Sharp’s film about the vaccine debate and people who have suffered adverse reactions. Also streaming on YouTube and Rumble. Twitter: @AnecdotalsMovie
Una Great MovieJennifer Sharp’s 2022 feature-length comedy.VimeoMany filmmakers use this video hosting platform. Vimeo closed Jennifer Sharp’s account after she uploaded her film Anecdotals to the platform.
Asseem MalhotraA cardiologist who initially supported the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, but became a critic of it after the sudden death of his father. Twitter: @DrAseemMalhotra
Geert Vanden BosscheA virologist and independent vaccine research consultant who was one of the early critics of mass vaccination against COVID-19. You can find him here on Substack. Twitter: @GVDBossche
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA)This 1986 act was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan and eliminated the ability to sue vaccine manufacturers for vaccine injury claims. The act also created the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for reporting adverse events following vaccination, as well as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) for compensating individuals who make verified claims. VICP does not accept claims of COVID-19 vaccine injury.
Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP)This federal program provides compensation for covered serious injuries or deaths that occur as the result of the administration or use of certain countermeasures. COVID-19 vaccination is one of the covered countermeasures.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“To me, this goes along the line of losing your rights. You know what I mean? The right to choose. Who has the right to tell you what you need to do medically? You give someone an option, and you say, ‘You've been here 20 years. You want to keep working?’ . . . You can call it whatever you want to call it. . . . You didn't give them a choice.” - FDNY firefighter with heart disease following mandated vaccination
If you think it’s important for people to hear this firefighter’s story, please share it!
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with a firefighter who joined the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) at the age of 20, worked through the height of the pandemic, and is now being retired from the department due to a cardiac condition after 16 years of service.
After New York City mandated COVID-19 vaccination for all City workers in October 2021, he took the Pfizer vaccine. Shortly after receiving his first dose, at the age of 35, he began experiencing inflammatory symptoms. He was encouraged to take the second dose in late November, which was followed by additional symptoms.
In January 2022, he was advised by a cardiologist that he was suffering from myocarditis and would no longer be able to work as a firefighter. He subsequently developed symptoms of heart failure.
He talked with me about how his physical symptoms developed, his experience with medical professionals, and how the changes to his health have affected his life and his prospects for the future.
The New York Mandate Podcast and No One You Know are subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)VAERS is an early warning system designed to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines. It accepts and analyzes reports of adverse events (possible side effects) after a person has received a vaccination. Anyone can report an adverse event to VAERS.
Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP)This federal program provides compensation for covered serious injuries or deaths that occur as the result of the administration or use of certain countermeasures. COVID-19 vaccination is one of the covered countermeasures.
React19React19 is a science-based non-profit that offers financial, physical, and emotional support for those suffering from longterm COVID-19 vaccine adverse events globally.
Vaccine TypesThere are several types of vaccines. This U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website page provides a rundown of which vaccines are live, inactivated, and other types.
Uniformed Firefighters AssociationThe UFA is the union that represents New York City firefighters.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“If the point of these activities is for family involvement and kids to interact with their parents and to see some of the things that have been going on in the classroom, I have been excluded from that. If there's anything good about it, I'm not getting any of that benefit. . . . If the well-being of the kids is really what we're after here, then I should not be excluded from these events.”
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
For this episode, I talked with a mother whose children attend New York City public schools. Because she hasn’t taken a COVID-19 vaccine, the Department of Education’s school visitor policy bars her from entering school buildings. The policy has been in effect since the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.
This NYC parent decided to remain anonymous, so I’ve published our conversation in written form here:
https://tinyurl.com/NYMPepisode29
If you prefer audio, you can download the Substack app for iOS or Android and use Substack’s automated text-to-speech player. Just go to the written interview, and click the headphone icon at the top of the screen.
If you think it’s important for people to hear this parent’s story, please share it!
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“It’s just a cry for letting our parents to go back in the buildings. Let them volunteer. Let them be a part of their children's education, their daily activities in school. . . . DOE talks about partnership with our families, especially our struggling families. They want to ‘open the bridges’ and have these conversations, but if they're not allowed in the buildings . . . And you're making these obstacles especially for our most marginalized.”
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Adriana Aviles, a mother whose children attend New York City public school in Queens. She has started a Change.org petition advocating for unvaccinated parents and families to be allowed inside schools.
Since the fall of 2021, the Department of Education’s school visitor policy has required all visitors, including parents and family members, to present proof of vaccination in order to enter a DOE school building.
Adriana talked with me about what unvaccinated parents and families are missing because they’re not allowed to enter schools, how her own children have been affected by DOE mandates, and why she thinks the mandate for school visitors is still in place.
We also talked about how students have been affected by the loss of teachers who were fired for not complying with the mandate, and why so many NYC public school families are leaving the system.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Adriana’s perspective, please share it!
More from Adriana:
Follow her on Twitter.
Petition: Allow Access to Unvaccinated Parents/Families inside NYC DOE ClassroomsThis is the petition Adriana Aviles has started, requesting that DOE policy be changed to allow unvaccinated parents and other family members to enter school buildings.
Here are some links and videos related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York City Department of Education School Visitor PolicyThe DOE’s current school visitor policy requires everyone who is not a student to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to enter a school building.
New York City Vaccinations by Demographic GroupOfficial data on the percentage of NYC residents vaccinated by age, race/ethnicity and sex.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.New York Teachers for ChoiceThis organization of teachers and parents opposes medical mandates for employment. It was founded by New York City teacher Michael Kane.
City Council member Vickie Paladino announced her legislative package addressing vaccine mandates at this October 12, 2022 press conference on the steps of NYC’s City Hall. The package includes Resolution 0341-2022, Resolution 0342-2022, Resolution 0343-2022, and Local Law 0772-2022. All of them are currently still in committee.
Mayor Eric Adams announced at this September 20, 2022, press conference that he was ending the mandate that required New York City public school students to have proof of COVID-19 vaccination to participate in certain sports and extracurricular activities.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I'm a 9/11 survivor, so I had a 9/11-related cancer. So I wasn't really prone to being like, ‘Oh yeah, they lied about the air being clean, so let me just run out and take this experimental shot because, you know, we have a great track record with you telling me the truth.’ . . . That would be like, you know, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” - Vanessa
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Vanessa, a special education teacher who had been working in New York City public schools for 10 years when the pandemic began in early 2020. Around the same time, she was diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer.
Vanessa taught from home during her cancer treatment and then received a medical exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Department of Education employees. She was removed from the classroom and reassigned to an administrative job, along with other DOE employees who had exemptions.
Rather than continue to do administrative work or face the possibility of her exemption being revoked, Vanessa moved to Florida in July 2022 and took a new teaching job there.
Vanessa talked with me about how the government’s handling of 9/11 and the pandemic informed her views on the vaccine, how pandemic policies affected her cancer treatment, and what happened when she was taken out of the classroom.
We also talked about how the kids she taught were affected and what the move to Florida has been like for her as a fifth-generation New Yorker.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Vanessa’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
EPA Misleads on Air Quality After 9/11 AttacksThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and White House Council on Environmental Quality were found to have misled the public about whether the air was safe to breathe during the period after the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse in 2001. Public officials reassured the public that it was safe to return to the area in press statements such as this one by then EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman:
James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010This act established the World Trade Center Health Program and provides for health monitoring and treatment of individuals who were exposed to airborne toxins as a result of the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001.
The act is named after WTC rescue and recovery worker James Zadroga, who died of respiratory disease attributed to his airborne toxin exposure. At least 3,311 people have died as a result of 9/11-related illnesses.
New York State Assembly Bill A8398This bill currently in committee seeks to limit exemptions from immunization requirements by local governments and private entities to medical exemptions and repeal religious exemptions for certain post-secondary students.
New York State Assembly Bill A7139This bill currently in committee seeks to require the Department of Health to approve medical exemptions from immunization requirements.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“There doesn't seem to be an appropriate level of concern that dissenting views are just shut down with ad hominem attacks on you as a person. . . . What does that mean for our country if we don't have truly free speech? And what does it mean for our healthcare if they're passing actual laws in California that make it unlawful to disagree with what the government says is good for you? That's really scary.” - Erica
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Erica, a massage therapist who had been working at the same small business for 20 years when the pandemic hit. She had been a co-owner in the business for 12 years, and her business partner was in favor of getting vaccinated and complying with New York City’s vaccine mandate for private employers.
Erica did not want to get vaccinated or support the mandate. To resolve their differences, Erica sold her part of the business. She and her husband also decided to leave New York and move to Pennsylvania.
Erica talked with me about how pandemic lockdown and mitigation policies affected her business, the differences of opinion that arose between herself and her coworkers, and her decision to sell her share of the business and leave New York.
We also talked about the broader principles she sees at stake in public policy related to the pandemic, the role of censorship, and why she continues to talk and write about these issues.
If you think it’s important for people to hear Erica’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
More from Erica:
Read Erica’s blog: Distressed Liberal
Here are some videos and links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Assembly Bill No. 2098This California bill has been signed into law and is scheduled to take effect in January 2023. It designates “the dissemination of misinformation or disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or "‘COVID-19,’ as unprofessional conduct” on the part of medical professionals, which is punishable by law.
Let’s Declare a Pandemic AmnestyThis is Emily Oster’s article in The Atlantic, proposing a “pandemic amnesty.”
This piece by James Edward Taylor is a response to Emily Oster’s article:
The Drug that Cracked COVIDThis May 2021 article by Michael Capuzzo covers early treatment of COVID-19 and Ivermectin.
At an October 2022 European Parliament hearing, Pfizer executive Janine Small stated that Pfizer did not test its COVID-19 vaccine for preventing transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in clinical trials.
Dr. Pierre Kory and others testified at this December 2020 Senate hearing about early treatment of COVID-19.
Judicial Watch Uncovers Biden Administration Propaganda Plan to Push COVID VaccineThe organization Judicial Watch obtained documentation from the U.S. government about its collaboration with media outlets to promote COVID-19 vaccines.
Estimated Cost of Treating the Uninsured Hospitalized with COVID-19This 2020 paper discusses Medicare payments to hospitals for COVID-19 patients, as well as supplemental payments made by the federal government under the CARES Act.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive OrderThe “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who worked in a workplace or interacted with other workers or the public to be vaccinated. The order was rescinded on November 1, 2022.
New York Teachers for ChoiceThis organization of teachers and parents opposes medical mandates for employment. It was founded by New York City teacher Michael Kane.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“To allow this kind of governing to continue is very, very dangerous, and it will lead to a point where every single person’s rights and liberties will be taken away. . . . This is not the first time in our history that this situation has occurred. . . . If you allow this injustice to occur—even if you like the outcome—you're threatening the foundation and the pillars of justice everywhere else. . . . What I'm doing has nothing to do with my personal beliefs about COVID or vaccines. It has everything to do with fundamental rights and liberties.” - Chad LaVeglia
The New York Mandate Podcast is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Chad LaVeglia. He is the attorney who is representing 16 former employees of the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in their lawsuit against the City, Garvey et al. v City of New York et al.
The case LaVeglia argued prevailed against the City in a New York Supreme Court decision by Judge Ralph Porzio on October 24, 2022. The judge found New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers to be in violation of the New York State Constitution, and declared it arbitrary and capricious. He also ordered reinstatement and backpay for the 16 DSNY workers.
The City filed its intent to appeal the same day, and no workers have been reinstated or receieved compensation. The mandate for all NYC municipal workers remains in effect.
LaVeglia talked with me about the case, the appeal, and the fundamental issues raised by vaccine mandates. He also answered questions I’ve received from readers of No One You Know and other New York City workers who were terminated or put on leave without pay under the mandate.
If you think it’s important for people to hear about this landmark case and all the fundamental issues it raises, please share this episode!
Here are some videos and links related to things we talked about during the episode:
My report from the Staten Island courthouse where Judge Porzio gave his decision on the Garvey case includes interviews with Chad LaVeglia, George Garvey, and some of the other 16 DSNY workers who brought the lawsuit.
You can also listen to these in-depth conversations with two of the 16 DSNY workers who sued:
New York State Attorney General Letitia James comments on the Garvey decision after a Democratic Party campaign event on November 3, 2022.
Garvey et al v. City of New York et al. Decision & OrderThis is Judge Ralph J. Porzio’s written decision on the case.
Garvey et al v. City of New York et al. PetitionThis is the petition attorney Chad LaVeglia filed for the 16 plaintiffs in the Garvey case.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I was left with no choice. People say, ‘Oh, you had a choice.’ Yeah. My other choice was not being able to support my daughter or myself, and what—being homeless or depending on social services to help me out? Where does that get me? We're in a city where nobody was allowed to work unless they were vaccinated. . . . Some people did leave the state, but I couldn't do that for different reasons. I have my daughter here. There's a lot of reasons why I couldn't just pick up and leave the state.” - Jeremy Goepel
If you think it’s important for people to hear Jeremy’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Jeremy Goepel, who works as a teaching paraprofessional in the New York City public school system. He was put on leave without pay at the end of September 2021, when he decided not to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Jeremy had accepted an offer that the Department of Education made to employees who didn’t want to take the vaccine: go on leave without pay (LWOP) and retain your health insurance, without the right to take another job or receive unemployment benefits. Those who took this option also gave up the right to sue the DOE.
On September 5, 2022, the LWOP period for the estimated 1,300 DOE employees who took the deal expired, and the school year began. The employees were required to either show proof of having taken a first dose of the vaccine and report back to work, or be considered to have “voluntarily resigned.”
With a child to support and a need to stay in New York and make a living, Jeremy decided to take the vaccine and go back to work. He hadn’t had a change of heart about the vaccine and still didn’t want to take it, but on August 29, 2022, he went to a Walgreen’s and received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
I met up with Jeremy on the shore of Staten Island, and he talked with me about his difficult decision, his experience of the pandemic as a teacher and a parent, and how he made it through the year on LWOP.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
More from Jeremy Goepel:
Follow Jeremy Goepel on Twitter: @jeremygoepel
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Unpaid Leave Option for UFT MembersYou can find some of the terms of the LWOP agreement for DOE employees who didn’t want to take a vaccine on this page. They were also required to waive their right to sue the DOE.
1,300 NYC School Staffers Must Now Get COVID Vaccine — Or Will Be Let GoThis is an August 2022 New York Post article about the DOE employee LWOP period ending.
Maniscalco v. New York City Department of EducationThis is the unsuccessful class-action lawsuit that teacher Rachel Maniscalco led against the DOE and city officials in 2021.
United Federation of TeachersThe UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of EducationThe DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: WorkplacesThis is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“My parents came here from the Dominican Republic, and this country is supposed to be the last free nation standing. And that's why people from all over the world come here—because of the freedom, because of the economical opportunities. . . . We felt like we had to fight for this country. We had to fight for our freedoms because there's nowhere else to run but America.” - Jo Rose
If you think it’s important for people to hear Jo’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Jo Rose, who was working as a paraprofessional in the New York City public school system when the pandemic began. She was fired in October 2021 after she refused to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Jo Rose is one of the founders of New York Freedom Rally. She has been a leader in the anti-mandate movement, organizing and speaking at countless protests, marches, and rallies.
Jo talked with me about her early opposition to pandemic measures, how losing her job affected her personally, and how she first found like-minded people gathering in Union Square, where we met for our conversation.
She also talked about how psychological tactics, racial politics, and partisanship have been deployed to divide and control the public, how the freedom movement fits into the political landscape, and where she sees things heading—both for herself and for the movement.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
More from Jo Rose:
Follow Jo Rose on Twitter: @jospeakstruth_
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York Freedom RallyThis group has been organizing protests against vaccine mandates since they were first introduced in New York City. Jo Rose is one of the founders of New York Freedom Rally.
Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International DevelopmentThis 2010 scenario planning report was produced by the Rockefeller Foundation and Global Business Network. It presents four hypothetical future scenarios “that allow us to imagine, and then to rehearse, different strategies for how to be more prepared for the future.” One of them is the “Lock Step” scenario Jo Rose mentioned. It’s described in the report as “a world of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership, with limited innovation and growing citizen pushback.”
United Federation of TeachersThe UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of EducationThe DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: WorkplacesThis is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I don't feel like I need to take this injection. I've already recovered, as I said before. I'm not sure of the risks. . . . I have a history of high blood pressure in my family. My uncle recently passed away from complications of anemia. So when I read about blood clots and heart issues, again, I’m not going to be lining up to take it. . . . . People will try to paint me as some kind of extremist. But I'm like, no, dude. . . . All I'm saying is, ‘No, thanks. Not for me.’” - Clifton Duncan
If you think it’s important for people to hear Clifton’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Clifton Duncan, a classically trained actor who was pursuing a successful career in New York when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Theaters and other performance venues in the city shut down during much of 2020, and Clifton left for Atlanta in June of that year.
When theaters and film studios reopened, they introduced vaccination requirements for both employees and patrons, and entertainment venues fell under the “Key to NYC” vaccine mandate from September 2021 until March 2022. The arts and entertainment industry has maintained widespread vaccination requirements, which are supported by the city’s private employer mandate, introduced in December 2021.
[UPDATE: The Adams administration announced on September 20, 2022, that the private employer mandate will be lifted on November 1, 2022.]
Because Clifton chose not to take a vaccine, he has been effectively barred from returning to work as an actor in New York City (as well as in Los Angeles).
Clifton talked with me about why he doesn’t want to take a vaccine, the complex reasons why the performing arts world has embraced stringent vaccine requirements, and how his perspective evolved from the earliest days of the pandemic to the present.
He also talked about the work he’s doing now, what he misses about being on stage, and his prospects for the future.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
More from Clifton Duncan:
The Clifton Duncan Podcast
Clifton has his own podcast, which you can find at the YouTube link above or on any podcast platform. He’s also on Substack.
In the episode of his podcast below, Clifton talks with fellow performer Pamela Everett Goodman about how both vaccines and NYC’s vaccine mandates have affected her family and the performing arts.
Clifton Duncan Speaks at the Mises Institute
Clifton gave a talk about his perspective on New York City’s vaccine mandates at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. You can watch it here:
Clifton Duncan on IMDB
Learn more about his career as a performer.
Follow Clifton Duncan on Twitter: @cliftonaduncan
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Actors’ Equity Association
This union represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers nationwide.
SAG-AFTRA
This union represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, and other media professionals.
Samaritan’s Purse Field Hospital in Central Park
This field hospital was set up in Central Park to treat COVID patients during 2020. It drew protests by LGBTQ activists opposed to the evangelical Christian organization running the hospital.
USNS Comfort
This 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship was docked in New York City during April 2020 to increase the city’s hospital capacity. It left after treating 179 patients.
Nick Cordero
Clifton mentioned Nick Cordero, the actor and musician whose death from COVID-19 complications shook the performing arts world.
Chris Martenson
You can watch the economic researcher and futurist on this YouTube channel, or on his own site, Peak Prosperity.
John Campbell
This retired Nurse Teacher has provided medical education throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on his YouTube channel.
Peter McCulough
This cardiologist was vice chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center and a professor at Texas A&M University. He has been a prominent critic of common public health and medical approaches to COVID-19, and has presented his own treatment protocols.
Robert Malone
This scientist did pioneering work in mRNA and DNA vaccines and has been a prominent critic of the current COVID-19 vaccines and public health approaches.
Geert Vanden Bossche
You can find this virologist and vaccinologist here on Substack. He has been a prominent critic of the mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
Thomas Sowell
A Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, Sowell is an economist, political commentator, social theorist, and prolific author. Clifton mentioned one of his books, A Conflict of Visions.
U.S Public Health Service (USPHS) Syphilis Study at Tuskegee
This clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 was designed to observe the natural progression of untreated syphilis. All of the participants were African-American men, and those who had syphilis were not informed about their diagnosis. Instead, they were told they were being treated for “bad blood,” and given free medical exams, meals, and burial insurance. They were not given treatment with penicillin, and more than 100 of the participants died of the disease.
Ibram X. Kendi
This Boston University professor is the Founding Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. Clifton mentioned his book How to Be an Antiracist.
“Key to NYC” Vaccination Mandate Executive Order
The “Key to NYC” mandate required both employees and patrons of restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms to show proof of vaccination. It began on August 17, 2021, and was lifted on March 7, 2022.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
An exception to it was later added for “Performing artists and college or professional athletes.” However, the mandate is generally enforced by private employers of performing artists in New York City.
On September 1, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced that this mandate will end on November 1, 2022.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“One person can make a change for a lot. And right now, myself and so many others are standing up, especially . . . I'm standing up more or less for my kids, because if they do this to us now, what are they going to do to my kids in the future? . . . What freedoms are they going to take away from them that myself and so many others have fought and others have died for?” - Dane Bath
If you think it’s important for people to hear Dane’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Dane Bath, who was an emergency medical technician with the New York City Fire Department for over 20 years. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and one of the responders who worked at the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of 9/11, he was working as an FDNY emergency medical services dispatcher in the Bronx when the city’s vaccine mandate was rolled out.
He applied for a religious exemption as a Christian and was put on leave without pay in December 2021. His application was denied, and his employment was terminated in June 2022. On 9/11 of this year, Dane discovered that his membership in the WTC Health Program has also been suspended. The program had paid for medication to treat illnesses he acquired as a 9/11 responder.
Dane talked with me about the severe financial consequences for his family of losing his income and then being denied the ability to collect unemployment, how the pandemic affected his children, and why his family is thinking about moving down South.
He also talked about how the city has changed since 9/11, what he thinks about the public health response to the pandemic, and how losing experienced workers may affect the city.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
‘Good Morning CHD’ Episode 128: FDNY Testimony Against Mandates Goes Viral With Captain Brendan Fogarty + Moe Olivier
Dane Bath mentioned a video of an FDNY captain whose video went viral. The video shows Captain Brendan Fogarty testifying about being fired over the vaccine mandate at a New York City Council labor oversight hearing. This Good Morning CHD episode includes both the viral video and a conversation with fired NYC teachers Michael Kane and Moe Olivier.
You can also watch Captain Fogarty and other workers testify in this video of the hearing:
The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program
The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program provides medical monitoring and treatment of WTC-related health conditions for 9/11 responders and survivors.
A Glimpse Inside of the Citywide Panel’s Black Box
This article from Teachers for Choice discusses the role of NYC’s Citywide Appeals Panel in deciding whether to accept applications for religious exemption to the vaccine mandate. It includes a PDF of a deposition of one of the panel members.
Section 75 of New York State Civil Service Law
This section of New York State’s civil service law covers removal and other disciplinary actions. This part of the law gives city workers charged with misconduct the right to a hearing before dismissal.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Bravest for Choice
An organization supporting NYC firefighters, medics, and EMTs who have been terminated or put on leave because they have not complied with the city’s vaccine mandates. This group has been part of the anti-mandate protest movement.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“These are dangerous times that we're living in. . . . Most people that have lived on planet Earth have lived under governments that were totalitarian and authoritarian, and America was different. And it's going to be a sad day where we no longer have a place where we can be free. I really hope for our children and grandchildren that there is going to be a place for them to go.” - Mary Anne
If you think it’s important for people to hear Mary Anne’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Mary Anne, who was an elementary school teacher at a public school in the Bronx. When NYC’s vaccine mandate for teachers was rolled out, she applied for a religious exemption, which was denied. She was told not to come back to work in late September 2021 and received her last paycheck in November 2021.
Like other NYC teachers, Mary Anne was offered a choice between going on leave without pay and taking a severance package that included a year of medical insurance and payment for her accumulated vacation days. She chose the severance package and has since moved to South Carolina with her two children.
Mary Anne talked with me about her religious objections to taking the vaccine, why she chose the severance option, and the practical considerations that led to her moving to South Carolina.
She also talked about the role of natural rights and government in the United States, and how the way civics and history are taught in schools has influenced younger generations of Americans.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Number of NYC homeschooled students has more than doubled since COVID pandemic, data shows
Recent articles like this one in the New York Post have noted the recent increase in children being homeschooled in New York City.
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“People need to work to earn a living. Obviously we need money to live and, you know, buy food and pay rent and all this stuff, but you also need to work for a living because it gives you purpose. Because people that don't have a purpose and that have too much time on their hands, it's never good. . . . You could tell me right now, ‘Hey, we'll give you a hundred thousand dollars . . . every year for the rest of your life, but you can't go back to work. I would say, ‘No, I want to go back to work.’” - Matt
If you think it’s important for people to hear Matt’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Matt, who started out with the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) as an emergency medical technician (EMT) in 2015. He later became a firefighter with the department, following in the footsteps of his father, uncle, and grandfather.
Matt applied for a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate as a Christian, and was rejected. He was put on leave without pay in November 2021 and terminated in March 2022.
Matt talked with me about why he loved being an FDNY firefighter, what it was like to work through the height of the pandemic in Harlem, and his religious objections to taking the vaccine.
We also talked about how his union responded to the mandate, the importance of maintaining individual freedoms in the United States, and why he sees taking a stand against the vaccine mandate as an issue that goes beyond his own interests.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
A Glimpse Inside of the Citywide Panel’s Black Box
This article from Teachers for Choice discusses the role of NYC’s Citywide Appeals Panel in deciding whether to accept applications for religious exemption to the vaccine mandate. It includes a PDF of a deposition of one of the panel members.
Uniformed Firefighters Association
The UFA is the union that represents New York City firefighters.
Bravest for Choice
An organization supporting NYC firefighters, medics, and EMTs who have been terminated or put on leave because they have not complied with the city’s vaccine mandates. This group has been part of the anti-mandate protest movement.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“People are being harmed by this vaccine, whether the news reports it or not. There's enough resources out here where you can find that people are being harmed by the vaccine, and where there is a chance of harm, there must be choice. So if there must be choice, it shouldn't be mandated. Period. End of story.” - Kenyon
If you think it’s important for people to hear Kenyon’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Kenyon, who is on unpaid leave under New York City’s private employer vaccine mandate. He had been working for his alma mater, New York University, for 18 years when the university put him on leave in March 2022. He worked as a residence hall resource manager, managing operations at the university’s Gramercy Green Residence Hall for undergraduates.
[UPDATE: New York University terminated Kenyon’s employment on August 25, 2022, for vaccine non-compliance. He plans to pursue a legal action.]
Kenyon submitted documentation for a religious exemption and had his exemption status change as the university revised its terms. His unpaid leave has no end date, leaving him in limbo.
Kenyon talked with me about the practical consequences of being on an indefinite unpaid leave, how his mother suffering a serious medical incident after taking a COVID-19 vaccine has affected his views, and his insistence on the right to informed consent.
We also talked about his religious objections to taking the vaccine, the culture of conformity he sees around him, and the problematic role of international organizations in U.S. public policy.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York University
NYU is one of the largest private universities in the United States, with its main campus in New York City.
Worldometer
Worldometer makes world statistics available to a wide audience around the world. It is published by a small independent digital media company based in the U.S.
Nuremberg Code
This internationally recognized set of ethical principles for human medical experimentation was established after the Second World War.
Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development
This 2010 scenario planning report was produced by the Rockefeller Foundation and Global Business Network. It presents four hypothetical future scenarios “that allow us to imagine, and then to rehearse, different strategies for how to be more prepared for the future.” One of them is the “Lock Step” scenario Kenyon mentioned. It’s described in the report as “a world of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership, with limited innovation and growing citizen pushback.”
Estimated Cost of Treating the Uninsured Hospitalized with COVID-19
This 2020 paper discusses Medicare payments to hospitals for COVID-19 patients, as well as supplemental payments made by the federal government under the CARES Act.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Comments
Kenyon mentioned this comment to the press by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, in which she said of her government’s public health website, “We will continue to be your single source of truth.”
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Right now they're doing things little by little. They're slowly taking away certain freedoms. Everyone said, ‘Oh no, they would never do that. They would never, they would never!’ But little by little, they are doing it. So they're making people comfortable. They make you just uncomfortable enough where you won't complain about it, and you can learn to live with it. And then once you learn to live with that, they do it again. And they slowly are taking everything.” - Christina
If you think it’s important for people to hear Christina’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Christina, who has been teaching since 2012. She was working at a middle school for children with significant disabilities when the vaccine mandate for teachers was rolled out.
Christina was told that as a Catholic, she shouldn’t bother applying for a religious exemption. She applied for a medical accommodation because she was pregnant, and was denied. Then she was told she no longer had the option of applying for a religious exemption. At the end of September 2021, she was put on a leave without pay that expires in September 2022.
Christina talked with me about the restrictive terms of her unpaid leave status, how her union failed to represent her, and how she, her husband, and their new baby had to give up their apartment and move in with her parents instead of buying a home of their own.
She also talked about why leaving teaching behind is unthinkable for her, the pervasive corruption she sees at play, and what her options may be after her unpaid leave expires next month.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
NYC District 75 Schools
District 75 schools provide highly specialized instructional support for students with significant challenges, such as autism spectrum disorders, significant cognitive delays, emotional disturbances, and sensory impairments.
New York State Alternate Assessment
This state assessment test allows students with severe cognitive disabilities to demonstrate their performance toward achieving the New York State learning standards for English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science.
Title 1 and Focus Schools
Title 1 schools serve a large number of lower-income students, and Focus schools have been identified as having poor performance.
SOLAS
The Self-Service Online Leave Application System (SOLAS) is the online system that New York City Department of Education employees use for the leave application process.
New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 6: Attorney Sujata Gibson
Civil rights attorney Sujata Gibson is representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit from which judges recused themselves after having been discovered to own Pfizer stock. She discussed the issue in our conversation here.
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“We are at a crossroads, and it could go one way or the other. People have to stop complying. People have to fight back and say, ‘No, we're not doing this anymore,’ because tomorrow afternoon they can just say, ‘Oh, another wave just hit! We’ve got to shut down the businesses and we’ve got to wear masks. . . .” And if people just say, ‘No, we just went through hell for the last two years. We don't care what you say. We're not going to comply.’ . . . Stop complying. Stop listening to people who don't give a damn about you.” - Chris
If you think it’s important for people to hear Chris’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Chris, who taught physical education for nearly 24 years at the same NYC high school. He applied for a medical exemption to the vaccine mandate on his doctor’s advice, due to his history of pulmonary embolisms. He also applied for a religious exemption as a Christian.
His applications were denied, and he was placed on leave without pay in October 2021. He was terminated from his teaching position in February 2022. He was also terminated from his coaching jobs.
Chris talked with me about his union’s failure to support him and other teachers, the practical and financial consequences of being terminated, and why he objected to other pandemic measures, such as mask mandates.
We also talked about why he loved being a teacher and a coach, what it was like to teach physical education when his school went remote during the pandemic, and how he has seen education and society change over the past couple decades.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
More from Chris:
Chris has his own YouTube channel, which you can check out here.
He recently asked New York State Senator John Liu to comment on the terminations of teachers under the vaccine mandate:
He also published a response to Michael Mulgrew on the channel:
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
Michael Mulgrew
Michael Mulgrew is president of the UFT.
New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 6: Attorney Sujata Gibson
Civil rights attorney Sujata Gibson is representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit from which judges recused themselves after having been discovered to own Pfizer stock. She discussed the issue in our conversation here.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
3020-a Teacher Tenure Hearings
Tenured educators in New York may only be terminated if there is “just cause” pursuant to Education Law §3020. Those facing termination are entitled to challenge the charges against them in a 3020-a hearing.
Nuremberg Code
This internationally recognized set of ethical principles for human medical experimentation was established after the Second World War.
Event 201
This “global pandemic exercise” was held during October 2019 in New York City. It was sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, World Economic Forum, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Everything is happening too fast, too soon. We're going like a hundred miles an hour. The life that I lived when I was a child was stellar compared to what's going on now. I can't believe what the children of today are dealing with. . . . And I don't have faith that it's going to be so easy to regain a free world, a free life, a free state. . . . I wish there were more people that would stick up for our side, whether you agree with us or not, just on a humanistic level, as humans.” - Asia
If you think it’s important for people to hear Asia’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Asia, an English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Language Arts (ELA) teacher who was the head of the ESL department in a New York City public high school.
She applied for a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and her husband, also a teacher, applied for a medical exemption. Both were denied. Asia was terminated in October 2021, and her husband in December 2021.
Asia had been opposed to vaccine requirements before the pandemic, and began homeschooling her children after New York State ended religious exemptions for childhood vaccination requirements in 2019.
Asia talked with me about her religious objections to taking the vaccines as an observant Jew, the financial toll of losing both sources of her family’s income, and how her family ended up living at her parents’ apartment in Florida.
We also talked about how New York’s pandemic-era rent moratorium affected her family after they rented their home out and their tenants stopped paying rent.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Repeal of Religious Exemptions to Childhood Vaccine Requirements in New York State
In June 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill that repealed New York State’s allowance for religious exemptions to childhood vaccines required for school attendance.
Death to 2021
This is the Netflix movie Asia mentioned. At 52:00, it includes a clip from ABC News in which Asia tells a reporter that she is about to be fired for not complying with the vaccine mandate.
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
Randi Weingarten, AFT President
Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, the union that represents teachers and other school personnel across the United States.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I loved working with the kids. I loved helping them. I loved seeing them grow and develop and become mentally stronger and emotionally stronger and socially better. . . . It was a very good job. I loved it. I didn't want to leave. . . . And what broke my heart was that I was the only therapist—social worker—there. So when I was let go, there was no one else to help the kids. And I know for a long time, that at least six, seven months, if not more, they didn't have anyone.” - Janine
If you think it’s important for people to hear Janine’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Janine, who worked as a therapist at a preschool for children with disabilities. As a healthcare worker and someone working in a school in New York City, she fell under more than one COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
She tried to apply for a religious exemption, but was told that exemptions were not being accepted. Janine was fired for failing to comply with the mandate in September 2021 and is currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit.
Janine talked with me about her religious objections to the vaccine mandate as a Wiccan, why she’s looking for a way to move away from her home state of New York, and how vaccine mandates have changed everyday life for her and her two children.
We also talked about how the response to the pandemic led her to lose trust in public officials, why as a former moderate Democrat she feels more aligned with conservatives now, and why she puts her hopes in local, grassroots politics.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency
This organization submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request to the FDA for all of the data in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine biological product file, then sued the FDA for not releasing the data. As a result, Pfizer documents were released, and are available on the organization’s website.
Erin Brockovich
This is the website of consumer advocate Erin Brockovich. Janine mentioned the movie about her in our conversation. You can watch it on Amazon or YouTube. Here’s the scene Janine talked about.
Governor Cuomo Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate for Healthcare Workers
This is the August 2021 announcement of the New York State vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. While the mandate initially allowed religious exemptions, they were removed as an option soon after it was announced.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“A lot of colleagues and people believe that this was our choice: ‘You must have had the money to be able to do this. You must be okay, and that's why you chose this.’ You have no clue! No, I chose this because I know there's something very wrong with the other road and that road I could never live with. [With] this road, I will wake up every day and be proud of my stance. As hard as it is, I made the right choice.” - Michele
If you think it’s important for people to hear Michele’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Michele, who taught math at the same middle school for 19 years. She applied for a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate and was denied in January 2022. In March 2022, her employment was terminated.
In June 2022, Michele discovered that her employment status had changed, and she is now classified as being on leave without pay. She was told by a UFT representative that her termination letter had been sent out in error, and that tenured teachers cannot be terminated without receiving a 3020-a hearing, which Michele did not receive.
Her status according to the NYC Department of Education’s Self-Service Online Leave Application System (SOLAS) is currently listed as “unpaid leave.” No further explanation of this employment status change has been provided by the DOE or the UFT.
Michele talked with me about her love for teaching, the financial and health consequences of losing her job, and why she has lost confidence in the medical establishment.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
3020-a Teacher Tenure Hearings
Tenured educators in New York may only be terminated if there is “just cause” pursuant to Education Law §3020. Those facing termination are entitled to challenge the charges against them in a 3020-a hearing.
NYC Educator Wins Religious Exemption Case in State Court!
This article from Teachers for Choice covers teacher Elizabeth Loiacono’s successful lawsuit against the New York City Board of Education to be granted a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate.
New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 6: Attorney Sujata Gibson
Conversation with civil rights attorney Sujata Gibson, who is representing plaintiffs in two lawsuits opposing New York City vaccine mandates, Kane v. de Blasio and New Yorkers for Religious Liberty v. The City of New York.
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“What's really safe for the kids at this point? Because what's going on in the schools is we have shortages. We have terrible stories of these people that should not be with children that are in schools as bodies. . . . They're not getting stable education. So it really does make you ask, [is] the cost of this mandate the mental health of the children, the stability, their academic growth? What is helping and what is hurting them?” - NYC teacher
If you think it’s important for people to hear this teacher’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with someone who has been a teacher since 2010. She was teaching art and English as a new language (ENL) at a New York City public middle school when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
She was granted a 30-day medical exemption to the NYC vaccine mandate for teachers in October 2021. Because she has an autoimmune condition, her doctors had advised her not to take a vaccine.
After a series of bureaucratic failures and in the midst of dealing with serious illness and death in her family, her request for an extension of her medical exemption was denied in November 2021. She was put on unpaid leave at the end of November and terminated in February 2022.
She was officially terminated for misconduct because she did not take a vaccine. She talked with me about the ramifications of that status, including the possibility of losing her certification, being blacklisted from teaching elsewhere with a “problem code” in her fingerprint file, and being barred from entering her school to say goodbye to her students.
We also talked about what she loves about teaching and why she’s looking at leaving the field.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Advocatz
This site run by Betsy Combier offers news and information about laws and regulations related to education in New York. Combier is a long-time advocate for teachers facing 3020-a hearings.
3020-a Teacher Tenure Hearings
Tenured educators in New York may only be terminated if there is “just cause” pursuant to Education Law §3020. Those facing termination are entitled to challenge the charges against them in a 3020-a hearing.
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I've been watching the news when they talk about the mass exodus from the NYPD. . . . Every single one of those police experts, every single former police commissioner—not one of them mentioned a vaccine mandate, which is the number one reason that all of these people are leaving. I get calls every day from guys that even took the vaccine that call me and ask me how to vest out. ” - John Macari
If you think it’s important for people to hear the John Macari’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Retired Lieutenant John Macari, who took an early retirement after 18 years with the New York City Police Department in 2021, because he did not want to comply with the vaccine mandate for NYC municipal workers. In February 2022, he and his family moved to Florida.
Macari had submitted both a religious exemption application based on his Christian faith, and a medical exemption application based on his recent recovery from a serious case of COVID-19 and subsequent antibody test results. Both applications were rejected.
He talked with me about his experience with the medical system when he was ill with COVID-19, enforcement of pandemic policies within the NYPD, and the difficult position police are in when they’re tasked with enforcing laws and policies they’re opposed to.
We also talked about his religious views on the vaccine mandate, the response of NYC’s police unions, and his pessimistic take on where the NYPD is headed.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
More from John Macari:
New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered PODCAST
This is John Macari’s new podcast focusing on the lives and careers of NYPD police.
Senseless Mandates, Soaring Crime, and a Special Career
This is another great interview with John Macari on Officer Anthony Weaver’s podcast, Diakonos: A Cop’s Calling.
Follow John Macari on Twitter: @JohnDMacari
Follow the New York’s Finest podcast on Twitter: @RetiredNYFinest
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Lieutenants Benevolent Association on Twitter
The LBA reprsents police lieutenants in New York City. The LBA also has a website, but it is not publicly accessible.
Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York
The PBA is the largest municipal police union in the world, representing the approximately 24,000 NYPD members who hold the rank of Police Officer.
NYPD Puts 4,650 Vaccine Firings on Hold: Insiders
New York Post article on the city putting terminations of the police on hold because firing police who have requested exemptions would cause the department to lose thousands of employees. Many remain on hold.
NYPD exodus ‘has become a stampede:’ PBA leader Lynch
New York Post article reporting a record 2,119 police having left the job in the first six months of 2022.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“As Christians, we believe God owns our body, bought with a price. First Corinthians, chapter six tells us that this is a temple of the holy spirit. We believe that Christ shed his blood on that cross, and he bought us with the most valuable price there ever could be. And that was his blood, his life. . . . I'm not going to do anything to violate what's God's property. I'm to be a manager of what's God's. So my body is not my own. I've been bought with a price and I have to manage that very carefully.” - Curtis Cutler
If you think it’s important for people to hear the Cutlers’ story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Curtis and Liz Cutler. Curtis started working for the New York City Department of Sanitation in 2015. The Cutlers are born-again Christians, and Curtis is a deacon at the Staten Island church he grew up in.
In spite of that, his application for a religious exemption to the New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers was denied. Some other members of his church who worked with him at DSNY had their applications approved. Curtis was put on leave without pay in January 2022 and terminated in February. He is currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city.
The Cutlers had purchased their home in Staten Island in January 2021 after years of saving to buy a house. They renovated the home over the next year, with Curtis doing much of the work himself. When he was terminated from DSNY, the Cutlers reached the conclusion that they could no longer afford the home. They are in the process of selling it and moving to South Carolina with their daughter. Their son will remain in New York with family to finish high school.
The Cutlers talked with me about their religious perspective on the vaccine as Christians, the strong opposition Curtis saw to the mandate among DSNY workers, and the role of religious freedom in U.S. history.
We also talked about how New York City’s remote schooling during the pandemic affected their two children, what happened when their son was hospitalized just as the city terminated their medical insurance, and how living in the city has changed for conservative people of faith over the years.
The Cutlers shared some before-and-after photos of the home they renovated in Staten Island. Before photos are on the left; after on the right:
Photos courtesy of the Cutler family.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Conservative Move
The Cutlers used this site in their search for a new home.
Teamsters Local 831
This union, the Teamsters Local 831, is the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, representing New York City Department of Sanitation workers.
New York State Public Employees' Fair Employment Act — The Taylor Law
This labor relations statute that covers most public employees in New York State dates back to 1967. It prohibits strikes by public employees.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Curtis’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“When I asked the doctor, ‘Why are you saying that this couldn’t be from the vaccine?’ he said, ‘Because we don't have enough long-term data to determine that it's from the vaccine, so I can’t characterize it as a vaccine injury.’ . . . If we don't have long-term data, how are you forcing people to get this if they don't feel comfortable getting this? I just remember that was the thing that troubled me the most—more than COVID, more than dealing with COVID patients—is seeing the amount of people coming in with these injuries.” - Karen
If you think it’s important for people to hear Karen’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Karen, who has 17 years of experience as an emergency medical technician and four as a nurse. She was working in the cardiac stepdown unit of an NYC-area hospital when the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020. Karen entered the medical field when she was just 16, volunteering with her local fire department to work on ambulances.
Karen worked in an emergency room through the height of the pandemic, and also monitored patients in a COVID-19 vaccination clinic during the early phase of the vaccine rollout. When her employer fell under the New York State vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, Karen applied for a religious exemption. She was terminated after her request was denied.
Karen talked with me about how patients were treated during the early days of the pandemic, the disconnect she saw between media reports and what she experienced at work in the hospital, and death certificates that she considers to have inappropriately listed COVID-19 as a cause of death.
We also talked about problems she observed in the vaccine clinic, how vaccinated and unvaccinated nurses were pitted against each other, and the unusual conditions she saw patients presenting with in the emergency room after the vaccine rollout.
The New York Mandate Podcast is listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, become a subscriber.
More from Karen:
Perspectives of a NYC ER Nurse
Karen’s October 2021 interview with the Health Freedom for Humanity Podcast
Karen’s June 2022 interview with That Nurse Show
Karen talks with fellow nurses Erin and Jodi in this interview.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Governor Cuomo Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate for Healthcare Workers
This is the August 2021 announcement of the New York State vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. While the mandate initially allowed religious exemptions, they were removed as an option soon after it was announced.
U.S. Supreme Court Opinion on Dr. A. v. Hochul, Docket No. 21–1143
On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision upholding the New York State healthcare worker mandate’s forbidding religious exemptions.
Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial
Karen mentioned a problem with Pfizer vaccine trial subjects being unblinded during clinical trials. This BMJ article discusses that topic.
Jesse Gerhard Cause of Death Dispute
Karen mentioned the case of Jesse Gerhard, a 33-year-old FDNY firefighter who died suddenly on February 16, 2022. FDNY’s chief medical officer announced that the cause of death was unrelated to the vaccine he had taken, but his family has challenged that claim and disputed reports that they supported it.
John Matland
A former healthcare worker who was fired for failing to comply with the New York State healthcare worker mandate. He is now running as a Republican to represent New York Congressional District 11.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“I think we need a labor party. I think that the only thing that's going to break the Democrat-Republican nonsense and the Third Way politics that they've created is by creating a third party that focuses on the most important thing about being an American: having a job, having a stable job.” - Danny Hulkower
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Danny Hulkower, who started working for the New York City Department of Sanitation in 2016. His application for a religious exemption to the New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers was denied, and he lost an appeal in January 2022. His employment with DSNY was terminated in February 2022. He is currently a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit and is appealing his exemption denial again with a lawyer.
Danny talked with me about his religious perspective on the vaccine as a Jew, his disappointment in his union and other workers who didn’t want to take the vaccine but ended up complying with the mandate, and the current state of public discourse.
We also talked about what it was like to work on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during the pandemic lockdowns, the exodus of many apartment dwellers in the area, and the 2020 riots.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Teamsters Local 831
This union, the Teamsters Local 831, is the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, representing New York City Department of Sanitation workers.
New York State Public Employees' Fair Employment Act — The Taylor Law
This labor relations statute that covers most public employees in New York State dates back to 1967. It prohibits strikes by public employees.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Danny’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“It was very hard to be told, after 20 years and two degrees and all the certifications and, like you said, a lot of expertise in my field, ‘Oh, it's dangerous for you to be—you can't be—around the children. You can't have contact with children.’ . . . I’m very, very attached to my school. I'm very committed to everyone there. It's like a little family.” - Chloe Pashman
If you think it’s important for people to hear the Chloe Pashman’s story, please share it! You can help build a public conversation about vaccine mandates by sharing the New York Mandate Podcast.
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Chloe Pashman, who is the education director of a CBO (community-based organization) preschool that is contracted with the City of New York Department of Education (DOE). When the vaccine mandates for DOE employees and city contractors were rolled out in the fall of 2021, Pashman applied for a medical exemption because of her history of problems with other vaccines and medications.
She was granted a permanent medical exemption and has continued to work, but she is not allowed to enter her workplace before 2:30 p.m., when DOE school hours end. She is currently waiting to find out whether her exemption will stay in place after its specified June 30, 2022 end date.
[UPDATE: Approved medical and religious exemptions for DOE employees and contractors, including Chloe Pashman’s, have been extended through September 5, 2022.]
Pashman talked with me about the medical exemption process, what preschool has been like for kids during the pandemic, and how she does her job now that she can’t be there in person during most of the day.
We also talked about the grassroots political power of parents, the anti-mandate movement in New York City, and how pandemic policies have changed her and other New Yorkers’ political views.
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Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Interview with Bobbie Anne Cox: Fighting New York's Isolation and Quarantine Rule Chloe Pashman mentioned a New York State bill that proposed state-enforced quarantines. While that bill was eventually stricken, Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration revived it as a regulation with Section 2.13 of New York State’s Communicable Diseases rules. Attorney Bobbie Anne Cox is currently representing a group called Uniting NYS in their lawsuit against the regulation. She talks about the regulation and the lawsuit in this in-depth interview with Alison Morrow.
[UPDATE: Uniting NYS won in court, but the Hochul administration is now appealing the decision.]
Day Care Council of New York
This is an organization representing boards that operate more than 200 publicly funded childcare centers and family childcare programs in New York City.
Council of School Supervisors and Administrators
This union represents principals and other administrators who work in NYC public schools and city-subsidized Centers for Early Childhood Education (ECE).
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
Mayor Adams Lifting Mask Mandate for Kids Under 5 As School Year Ends
Chloe Pashman is quoted in this New York Post article.
Danyela Souza Egorov
Democrat running to represent New York State Senate District 29.
Maud Maron
Democrat running to represent New York Congressional District 10.
John Matland
Republican running to represent New York Congressional District 11.
Head Start Mask Requirements
Head Start is a federal program that provides funding and oversight to some early education programs.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with civil rights attorney Sujata Gibson, who is representing plaintiffs in two lawsuits opposing New York City vaccine mandates, Kane v. de Blasio and New Yorkers for Religious Liberty v. The City of New York.
The plaintiffs are former NYC teachers and other municipal employees whose employment was terminated because they did not comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and their applications for religious exemptions were denied.
Gibson talked with me about those cases, how mandates fit into the legal landscape, and how exemptions are being handled.
We also talked about the precedents that current vaccine mandates follow and might set, the constitutional issues involved, and how international legal and ethical principles come into play.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Kane v. de Blasio
Sujata Gibson is representing plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
New Yorkers for Religious Liberties, Inc. v. The City of New York
Sujata Gibson is representing plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
Jacobson v. Massachusetts
This 1905 Supreme Court case upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws.
Buck v. Bell
In this 1927 case, the Supreme Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the “unfit” did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Nuremberg Code
This internationally recognized set of ethical principles for human medical experimentation was established after the Second World War.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“It doesn't seem right that you're forced to make a decision and pick up and leave where you were born, where you have your job, where you have your friends, where you have your home and your whole lifestyle. . . . It doesn't make sense that, again, depending upon where you live, the rules are different. . . . I am grateful where I moved that it's free, but I left a lot behind.” - Jennifer Mortensen
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Jennifer Mortensen, who worked as a New York City public school teacher for 20 years. She was teaching sixth-grade language arts and social studies when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Mortensen objected to the testing and remote-learning measures that were put in place at her school, as well as the anticipated vaccine mandate for teachers. She resigned from her position in September 2021, just before the mandate for all New York City Department of Education employees went into effect, and took a teaching position in Tennessee.
Mortensen talked with me about her experience teaching at the same Queens middle school over 20 years, and how things changed during the pandemic.
We also talked about why she opposed NYC’s pandemic policies, the response of her union, and her experience moving to Tennessee as a lifelong New Yorker.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
United Federation of Teachers
The UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.
New York City Department of Education
The DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.
New York Teachers for Choice
This organization of teachers and parents opposes medical mandates for employment. It was founded by New York City teacher Michael Kane.
Children’s Health Defense
This organization, founded by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., opposes mandatory vaccinations, including the COVID-19 vaccine.
Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate
This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Freedom of choice is a big deal. It's a big thing. There's one thing to have a public health emergency. And there's another to have draconian laws and measures and mandates in place. At the end of the day, they actually erode society. You're not helping anybody. What you're doing is you're tearing apart the fabric of society. You're not letting people go to work. You’re not letting them provide for their families.” - Gabriel
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Gabriel, a welder who started working for the New York City Department of Sanitation as a metal work mechanic in 2017. He worked in DSNY’s Central Repair Shop, repairing trucks and equipment. In December 2021, he was put on unpaid leave when his application for a religious exemption to the New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers was denied. His employment with DSNY was terminated in February 2022.
Gabriel talked with me about his 15-year career as a welder, what happened when his mother became ill and passed away during the height of the pandemic, and his loss of confidence in the health care system.
We also talked about union representation, why it will be tough for him to find another job as a welder despite his experience, and the lawsuit he’s bringing against the city.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
New York Freedom Rally
This group has been organizing protests against vaccine mandates since they were first introduced in New York City.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Gabriel’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“Alternative views have been sort of shut down and demonized. And I think that if we were to be given more public light, people would see that we are just people too. We’re not these evil people who want to hurt others and don’t care about others or want to see people die. . . . People will see that: ‘Oh my gosh, these are just regular people. They’re not these crazy fanatic types.’ No. We’re just regular people who have dedicated our lives to helping others.” - Krista O’Dea
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Krista O’Dea. She began working as an EMT in 2004 and joined the Fire Department of the City of New York in 2005. O’Dea became a paramedic in 2008. In February 2022, she was put on unpaid leave when her application for a religious exemption to the New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers was denied. Her employment with FDNY was terminated in March 2022.
O’Dea talked with me about working 16-18 hour shifts during the height of the pandemic, why the health care system’s response to COVID-19 was eye-opening even for a veteran paramedic, and how handling life-or-death situations over the course of her 17-year career has shaped her views.
We also talked about the personal convictions and principles that led to her decision not to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, as well as the legal case and future options she’s pursuing.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Bravest for Choice
An organization supporting NYC firefighters, medics, and EMTs who have been terminated or put on leave because they have not complied with the city’s vaccine mandates.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Krista O’Dea’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements for Workers
The state of New Jersey, where Krista O’Dea lives, also has a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for some workers.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“The mandate came down that you’ll get [the vaccine] or you’ll lose your job. And that was a lot of anxiety. I would go back and forth with it. I would say, ‘I should just comply.’ This is a career that I worked so hard for. I really wanted this career, so I don’t want to lose it. And then I would go back to: But is it right for me? Is it right for my body? Do I give up the possibility of . . . maybe not being able to have kids—just because we just don’t know—to keep a career?” - Carin Rosado
In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Carin Rosado. She began working as an EMT for the Fire Department of the City of New York in 2012 and quickly moved up to working as a paramedic. In November 2021, she was put on unpaid leave because she decided not to comply with the New York City mandate requiring city workers to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Her employment with FDNY was terminated in February 2022.
Rosado talked with me about working through the height of the pandemic, catching COVID, and the far-reaching effects of her decision not to take a vaccine.
We also talked about the lawsuit in which she’s a lead plaintiff, the New York anti-mandate movement, and the options she’s considering for the future.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Bravest for Choice
An organization supporting NYC firefighters, medics, and EMTs who have been terminated or put on leave because they have not complied with the city’s vaccine mandates.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Section 75 of New York State Civil Service Law
This section of New York State’s civil service law covers removal and other disciplinary actions.
New York State Mask-or-Vaccine Mandate
This New York State mandate from 2021 required masks to be worn indoors, but gave venues and businesses the option of requiring proof of vaccination instead.
MTA COVID-Related Requirements for Riders
Information about current requirements on NYC’s public transit system.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Carin Rosado’s employment being terminated.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe
“My body’s my only one I have, so to me, the difficult choice would be to just give everything up that I believe in to keep a job. I’ve always been a fighter. It’s who I am. So I’m not going to just say, ‘OK, if this is what I have to do to keep a job.’ It’s a job. It’s a job that I love. It’s a job that I don’t want to lose. But to me the difficult choice would be to go against everything I believe in and to look at my children and say, ‘Well, guys, sometimes you’ve just got to sell your soul.’ I’m not going to do that.” - Sophy Medina
In this first episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Sophy Medina. A Marine Corp veteran and a New York City firefighter since 2008, Medina has been on unpaid leave from the FDNY since November 2021 because she decided not to comply with the New York City mandate requiring city workers to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
We had a wide-ranging conversation about her experience working through the pandemic, why she decided not to take the vaccine, and how the mandate has affected her family, her political views, and her plans for the future.
She also talked about Bravest for Choice, an organization that supports FDNY employees who have decided not to comply with the vaccine mandate, and the legal actions they’re pursuing to oppose it.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Bravest for Choice
An organization supporting NYC firefighters, medics, and EMTs who have been terminated or put on leave because they have not complied with the city’s vaccine mandates.
New Yorkers for Religious Liberty
An organization that is “committed to the furtherance of religious liberty in New York City in the face of municipal attacks on the constitutional rights of religious people to exercise their religious liberty freely.”
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Guidance on Religious Discrimination
This document includes information on religious exemptions.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Sophy Medina being put on unpaid leave from FDNY.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
NYC Vaccination Requirement: Workplaces
This is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the city introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
Get full access to No One You Know at nooneyouknow.substack.com/subscribe