#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #USA #NewYork #NY #NYC #THECITY #News #Journal #Update - THE CITY Scoop: How Some Unvaxed City Workers Are Winning Their Jobs Back

 

View this email in your browser Dear New Yorkers, After Frank Schimenti refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, citing his opposition to the use of fetal cells in the shot’s development, he was terminated from his job at the city Department of Buildings in early 2022. To make ends meet afterwards, the Staten Islander sold his van. He debated cutting out the “extravagance” of family pizza night. He told THE CITY he couldn’t “even describe what I went through.” But last month, he got a bit of hopeful news: a Richmond County Supreme Court judge ordered the city to reinstate Schimenti to his job — with back pay. And he is not alone. In a growing number of cases, judges — not just on Staten Island — are ruling that the city improperly fired employees and ordering they be put back on the payroll. Since September, more than a dozen city workers terminated or facing termination for not complying with the vaccine mandate have won orders for reinstatement, with help from attorneys who specialize in vaccine mandate cases — and judges who have found that the city failed to adequately justify its denial of their requests for religious accommodations.  Read more here. Some other items of note: It’s Lunar New Year, which means it’s prime time for the live poultry markets of Flushing, Queens as Chinese New Yorkers buy birds for their tables and their altars. That industry is, well, playing chicken with animal rights groups pushing for a permanent ban on new slaughterhouse licenses in New York City. Subway contract cleaners who made up the crew of fill-in workers who scrubbed down train cars in the early days of the pandemic say they’ve been dumped unceremoniously, losing their gigs just days after Christmas. For the latest installment in her FAQ NYC series asking the big question, “What Is New York For?” THE CITY Deputy Editor Alyssa Katz talks with Open New York Director Annemarie Gray about the group’s game-changing ambitions. See how New York City’s doing with our newsroom’s economic recovery tracker. For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations, testing rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker. Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Monday's Weather Rating: 3/10. Showery, damp weather continues this morning. Highs near 40 later today. Rain begins to wrap up by early afternoon, and it *might* even end with snowflakes in some areas (no accumulation expected). The vibes are a whole mess. THE KICKER: Comic book fans, you have a little over a month left to see “Boundless: 10 Years of Seeding Black Comic Futures” at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The show includes photographs, memorabilia and clips from the center’s annual Black Comic Book Festival. It’s free at the library’s main exhibition space in Harlem through the end of February. Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Monday. Love, THE CITY P.S. If you liked something about today's newsletter, or didn't, let us know at zshah@thecity.nyc THE CITY's work is made possible, in part, through the support of our sponsors. Interested in becoming a sponsor of THE CITY? Contact us here.  Copyright © 2023 THE CITY, All rights reserved.