During the COVID-19 pandemic the Parks Department leaned on its team on the frontlines extra hard to keep parks clean and green for the public to enjoy. This is a good opportunity to learn more about the agency’s workforce, in particular to shine a light on the Parks Opportunity Program. This gives entry-level workers jobs, as well opportunities for education, personal growth, and advancement in the workforce.
Today our guests are Parkies who have personal experience with our important workforce development program:
- Wanda Heath, Parks Opportunity Program Worker
- Michelle Broady, City Seasonal Aide
- Jessenea Rivero, City Seasonal Aide
- Elvin Torro Lobo, former City Park Worker
- Bernard Maguire, City Park Worker
- Elizabeth Ehrlich, former Chief of Workforce Development
We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews conducted with Parkies.
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On this show we explore the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 and how we experienced the shutdown of many parts of New York City. As schools and offices closed, playgrounds were locked, and the fear set in. NYC Parks kept running. On this episode we meet veteran Parkies who faced new challenges every day.
In the debut show, we travel to four of the five Boroughs to meet Parkies and hear their stories about the opening months of the pandemic. From the South Bronx to Rockaway Beach, the NYC Parks team recalls what the early days of the COVID-19 era was like while they struggled at work. Interviews: Anthony Bromell, Minerva Del Real, Mona Fakahani, Woo Sung Park, Desiree Paulin, and Eric Peterson.