“Standing Firm: NYC Officials Still Blocking Workers’ Return in 2024”
In a stark display of ongoing injustice, New York City workers who lost their jobs over vaccine mandates in 2021 are still fighting to return to their careers in 2024. This week, their struggle was highlighted by two contrasting scenes: a mayoral nominee walking out on their testimony, and a turkey giveaway offering support to families still impacted by these policies.
Muriel Goode-Trufant, Mayor Adams’ pick to head Corporation Counsel, exemplified the city’s continuing dismissive stance when she walked out of a City Hall hearing before fired firefighters could testify about their experiences. The Law Department she’s nominated to lead continues to appeal court decisions favoring these workers, explicitly stating they want to preserve similar powers for future “emergencies.”
Meanwhile, outside Councilman Lincoln Restler’s office in Brooklyn, former city workers gathered to distribute turkeys to families still struggling from losing their livelihoods. The event, organized by NY Workers for Choice, saw strong turnout and sparked encouraging conversations with neighboring businesses about the ongoing impact of these policies.
The contrast between officials’ closed doors and community support was stark. As Rosangel Perez of Cafecito Break reported, when workers tried to speak with Restler’s office, staff blocked the door and refused entry – even to constituents. “These heroes were fired. They have yet to be rehired and have been largely ignored by NY leadership,” Perez noted, speaking of the teachers, healthcare workers, school staff, sanitation workers, firefighters and NYPD officers who showed up representing thousands of terminated employees. Despite the rejection, the workers maintain an open invitation to Restler to discuss these issues “in private or via an interview,” with Perez emphasizing, “We can not have a successful New York if we continue to disregard one another.”
“These aren’t just nameless statistics,” Michael Kane emphasized at the event. “While Lincoln Restler, the son of a rich man, sits comfortably in his office, working class people are struggling to put food on their tables.” Kane noted that local shop owners were universally sympathetic when the coalition – including NY Workers for Choice, Cops for Freedom, Teachers for Choice, and Bravest for Choice – explained their situation. Matt Connor, a 19-year veteran of New York City Fire Service, Trustee of the National Coalition of Frontline Workers, and member of Bravest for Choice, made clear this is just the beginning: they plan to visit other officials’ offices. “We just want a vote,” Connor stated. “Even if they vote no, at least go on record with their position.”
The irony isn’t lost on those affected. As Danny Hulkower documented at the Restler office event, these politicians claim to champion workers, celebrate the underdog, and defend bodily autonomy – yet seem perfectly comfortable with thousands remaining unemployed over personal medical decisions. The arbitrary application of these rules – readily waived for celebrities while essential workers remain sidelined – raises serious questions about equal protection under the law.
As I detailed in my open letter to Councilman Restler this past weekend, I experienced this selective enforcement firsthand in 2022. After I spoke out against these mandates, Restler – who claims to champion small businesses – called for boycotts of my brewery and told the New York Times I “spread lies and wildly inaccurate information that undermined the health of our community.” In that letter, I invited him to sit down for a public dialogue about these policies. If not with me, how about with the workers? This week, he wouldn’t even address them when they respectfully congregated outside his office – instead, his staff locked the doors, refusing entry even to an elderly constituent there on unrelated business. If he and others truly believe these mandates were justified, why won’t they face those who lost everything?”
Michael Kane’s recent reporting shows nothing has changed – while Resolution 5 awaits action in the City Council, Restler maintains his support for the mandates that keep these workers sidelined. His office claims they support “the current process” for rehiring, though as Kane notes, “There is no process to get your job back… It is complete chaos and entirely unfair.”
It’s one thing to make decisions in a moment of fear and uncertainty. It’s quite another to stubbornly defend those choices years later, even as the evidence of their harm becomes undeniable and courts repeatedly rule them unconstitutional.
So I’ll ask again – Councilman Restler, will you sit down with these workers and those whose family members complied with your coercive mandates only to suffer injuries? Will you look them in the eye and explain why they still can’t return to serving their communities? Your constituents deserve more than form letters and empty rhetoric about “appropriate processes.” They deserve real answers about why dedicated public servants remain unable to support their families three years later.
The question isn’t just about vaccine policy anymore – it’s about whether we’re still the kind of city that can acknowledge mistakes and make things right.
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Joshua Stylman has been an entrepreneur and investor for over 30 years. For two decades, he focused on building and growing companies in the digital economy, co-founding and successfully exiting three businesses while investing in and mentoring dozens of technology startups. In 2014, seeking to create a meaningful impact in his local community, Stylman founded Threes Brewing, a craft brewery and hospitality company that became a beloved NYC institution. He served as CEO until 2022, stepping down after receiving backlash for speaking out against the city’s vaccine mandates. Today, Stylman lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and children, where he prioritizes family first while balancing various business ventures and community engagement. He maintains a presence on Substack and Twitter, where he explores cultural and societal issues, seeking to understand deeper patterns and meaning beyond the day-to-day news cycle. His Instagram range from wry observations on current events to more esoteric explorations.
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