Dear New Yorkers,
As the three-year mark of her husband’s death from COVID-19 draws near, Veronica Fletcher is filled with dread — and not just for the obvious reasons.
A mother of two teenage sons and a daughter, Fletcher is a member of one of the nearly 150 families of transit workers who died during the pandemic who are now facing the end of three years of health insurance offered by the MTA.
The former city schoolteacher, who has been on disability since she was hit by a truck in 2016, is “counting down with dread and alarm” the days to that health coverage disappearing, she told THE CITY; her husband Joseph, a bus maintainer in Brooklyn, died on April 11, 2020.
“April is above my head and I’m waiting for something to fall,” she said.
The health insurance that is scheduled to expire was included in a larger family benefit program that included a $500,000 lump-sum payment to the next of kin of MTA employees who died as a result of COVID-19.
Read more here.
As New Yorkers mark three years from the city’s first COVID-19 death, THE CITY’s MISSING THEM memorial project is partnering with Photoville to launch a free public art exhibit in the South Bronx and Elmhurst, Queens. The Bronx exhibit, which opens this afternoon, will feature portraits and reflections from Joseph Fletcher's children: Joshua, Ziggy and Maddie. They shared their favorite memories of their dad and how they’re navigating grief.
Some other items of note: - Send the pachyderms packing — to freedom! After a state court case to free Happy, one of the last two elephants living at the Bronx Zoo, fell short, City Council Member Shahana Hanif is introducing a new law today, reported first byTHE CITY, that she says would “ban elephant captivity."
- The governor and mayor say build, build, build housing. But the State Assembly and Senate aren’t on the same page as the executives. Here’s what in and out of the legislature’s budget proposals when it comes to housing production – and why affordable housing advocates are worried that lawmakers’ rebuke of Hochul’s plan will make the housing crisis worse.
- A week after Flushing Council Member Sandra Ung called for a crackdown on street vendors, “shocked” sellers, most of them immigrants, stood outside of her district office to call out what they said were her ”insulting and misinformed” remarks.
- The labor giant representing hundreds of superintendents, porters, door attendants and handypersons in private residential buildings in The Bronx reached a modest deal for a four-year contract with building owners, just before their contract ended at midnight on Tuesday. Workers would get a wage increase of 50 cents an hour in the first year — but the owners would have the option to end the contract after that.
- We’re just getting started covering the 2023 City Council elections (Primary Day is June 27!) and we want to make our reporting better with your help. What are your questions about voting, your ballot or local campaigns? Text “Election” to THE CITY’s team at (718) 215-9011 to get answers, or email us at ask@thecity.nyc with “Election” in the subject line.
- Does your FYP need more local news? Follow THE CITY’s new account on TikTok and see our stories as you scroll.
- See how New York City is 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.
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