Mandate Madness in NYC: 26 Firehouses Close, Sanitation Not Picking up Garbage, Massive Protests

Let's go Brandon sign in Staten Island amid protests against vaccine mandate (Credit: Freedom News)

Massive chaos is hitting New York City because of the vaccine mandates as the deadline for city employees to be vaccinated arrived on Friday. The mandate is to be enforced on Monday.

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Anti-vaccine mandate protesters have been very active in New York City as we have reported even coming out to protest the Nets banning Kyrie Irving from playing basketball for them until he gets vaccinated.

There were massive protests this week of city employees including police, fire, and emergency services on Thursday as thousands came out in front of Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, to protest Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vaccine mandate. There are no provisions to be able to have regular testing, everyone is required to get the jab. Many chanted against de Blasio. There were also chants of “Let’s go, Brandon.” People carried signs demanding recognition of natural immunity.

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Now, the consequences of de Blasio’s foolhardy action are hitting. 26 firehouses have now been closed due to staffing shortages because of the mandate, putting lives and the city in danger.

From NY Post:

No borough or neighborhood — posh or not — were spared, with shuttered companies running the gamut from Engine 55 in Lower Manhattan, to Engine 234 in Crown Heights, to Engine 231 in Brownsville. Others included Ladder 128 in Long Island City and Engine 158 and Ladder 78 in Richmond on Staten Island, according to information provided by Malliotakis and Councilman Joe Borelli who cited the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

FDNY Spokesman Jim Long insisted the closings are not permanent, describing the companies as “temporarily out of service” and the situation “fluid” since it was shifting firefighters to units where they were needed.

That was little solace to retired electrician Vinny Agro, 63, who lives across the street from now-offline Engine 284 in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.

“We’re f–ked. We are going to toast like marshmallows,” Agro told The Post. “It’s another sad day for New York City.”

You have to give it to New Yorkers, who always can find a colorful turn of phrase that nails this crazy situation to a tee.

Another resident explained why this was especially dangerous in his neighborhood.

“Most of the houses here are semi attached frame houses. You throw a match on it and it goes up real quick,” he said. “You need a quick response…it’s scary.”

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The city said they might shut down 20 percent of the city companies, an incredible amount. 26 houses already is about 7.6 percent of the 341 companies a cross the city.

426,000 city workers total are still unvaccinated, 4,000 of whom are firefighters.

If city employees don’t get at least one jab of the vaccine by Monday, they will be suspended without pay.

Response times for police calls in Crown Heights, Brooklyn were more than two hours for some of the calls because of police calling in sick. Many firefighters have taken medical leave.

“People that aren’t retiring or quitting right out are gonna be on unpaid leave like myself. There’s not going to be enough bodies,” said the 23-year-old EMT who did not want to give his name. “You know New York City, the call volume is high and the manpower in general is bad, without all this going on. We are always needing more people. It’s going to be a little crazy.”

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro called the excessive sick leave “unacceptable.”

A memo sent Friday to the members of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association said it was “still in negotiations” with the Office of Labor Relations “for an extension to the deadline as well as alternate methods of implementation to maintain the safety of the public and choice for our membership.”

Meanwhile, garbage is piling up all around the city because there’s a sanitation slowdown over the mandates.

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Rev. Kevin McCall who has been very active advocating against the mandate in the city summed it up saying it was going to stink on Monday.

Some left garbage for de Blasio to send a message as to what’s happening across the city with trash piling up.

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Now we’re seeing and hearing “Let’s go, Brandon” in protest of this all around the country, even from a Southwest pilot.  Southwest also has been implementing a mandate.

But garbage piling high is a message that it’s hard to ignore, when you see it and it’s smelling all around you. Hopefully, de Blasio realizes that he’s putting the citizens in great danger with his actions but it’s not looking positive.

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