As the air quality rapidly deteriorated and a thick layer of smoke descended on New York City these last days, Mayor Adams called for people to stay indoors.
Not everyone could.
Not unlike during the days of COVID lockdowns, those who deliver food, respond to 911 calls and sell lunches on the street pushed through the public health emergency amid smoky haze and dangerous air.
“People have been really struggling, said Mohamed Attia, executive director at the Street Vendor Project. “We’re seeing people working, like the vendors that are out there. I haven’t seen any area where vendors stopped working the last few days, but of course, it’s been super difficult.”
Many vendors and workers donned masks and N95s to protect themselves from the terrible air quality, which for most of Wednesday, took the top spot for worst air quality on the planet, canceled events and doubled asthma cases in the city. The conditions were caused by smoke from hundreds of wildfires in Quebec, Canada.
“If someone had to work throughout this past few days, dealing with the orange air that we have here in New York City, that really speaks to how desperate they are and how the economic situation that they are struggling with is really difficult,” Attia said.
In many ways, this past week echoed the days of COVID pandemic lockdown, when only essential workers had to leave their homes to work.
“We saw that disproportionate burden on the pandemic on our communities of color,” said Micaela Martinez, director of environmental health for WE ACT. “This is a similar situation, where communities of color in New York City have higher rates of preexisting vulnerabilities, like asthma and heart disease. And then those communities also have the brunt of outdoor and essential workers who are going to be most highly exposed.”
Mayor Adams, Gov. Hochul and others urged New Yorkers to stay home if possible. But for those living day to day on income from selling shoes on Fordham Road, tacos on…
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