Mayor Eric Adams marked the fifth anniversary of the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the five boroughs of New York City by visiting NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst and paying tribute to city healthcare workers, first responders, essential workers, and the 46,000 New Yorkers who lost their lives during the pandemic.
Adams also announced that City Hall and several other municipal buildings would be lit in amber on Friday night in honor of COVID-19 Remembrance Day, paying tribute to those who lost their lives and the first responders and essential workers who worked throughout the pandemic. In addition to City Hall, Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, Staten Island Borough Hall, Brooklyn Borough Hall, and the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building will also shine amber on Friday night in honor of COVID-19 Remembrance Day.
Adams noted that NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst became the epicenter of the pandemic in New York City, which emerged as the global epicenter of COVID-19. More than three million cases have been diagnosed in the city since 2020, in addition to over 240,000 hospitalizations and over 46,000 deaths.
Speaking Friday, the Mayor commended the “healthcare heroes” who rushed to the frontlines to provide care for patients against a then-unknown virus.
Adams also pledged to ensure that New York will remember those who lost their lives during the pandemic on every COVID-19 Remembrance Day going forward.
“More than 46,000 New Yorkers lost their lives to COVID-19 in the past five years — first responders, health care workers, teachers, essential workers, and more,” Adams said. “Today, and every March 14, we will remember them. We will remember how the city came together to mask up, social distance, open up outdoor dining, test and trace, roll out vaccines, pivot to online learning, and work together in countless other ways to keep each other safe from the virus that took one too many of our fellow New Yorkers.”
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said the city is honoring all New Yorkers who lost their lives during the pandemic as well as the contributions of all frontline workers who aided those in need, describing the decision to light City Hall and other municipal buildings amber as a reminder to “hug your loved ones even tighter.”
“We will forever remember the parents, siblings, grandparents, friends and other loved ones lost to the virus and we mark their memory today by lighting up City Hall and other buildings amber,” Williams-Isom said in a statement.
NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz said the pandemic has highlighted that a strong public health system working “in lockstep” with sister agencies is essential to the collective health of the city. Katz said it is critical that the public health system is guided by engagement and trust with local communities and added that a strong health system stands as the best defense to “whatever challenges we may face.”
“Today, we are safer and stronger thanks to the extraordinary service of so many New Yorkers and the spirit of unity that defined our response,” Katz said in a statement.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos spoke of how public schools became essential resource hubs for New Yorkers of all ages during the pandemic, describing public schools as centers for local communities.
“From the food service workers who helped distribute meals to the public to the school custodians who helped hand out critical PPE to families, our city is forever grateful for the immense dedication of our school staff,” Aviles-Ramos said in a statement.
Officials in the Mayor’s Office noted how New Yorkers “sprang into action” during the pandemic by first helping to stop the spread by self-isolating and testing before eventually receiving doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Officials also spoke of how various city agencies worked to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy, pointing to how New York City Public Schools administrators, teachers and staff closed all schools and moved every classroom to remote learning to ensure that the city’s more than one million public school students could continue to learn.
They also pointed out how New York restaurants pivoted to outdoor dining, helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save almost 100,000 service industry jobs.
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) data also showcased that 7.1 million New Yorkers received at least one dose of the vaccine, representing 91% of the city’s population. Officials estimate that the vaccination rate helped prevent roughly 48,000 further deaths, 300,000 hospitalizations, and 1.9 million cases of COVID-19.
