Union Members who Fell to COVID-19 Honored Starting Today Throughout the System

JANUARY 25 -- Photographs of our fallen pandemic heroes will be on display in subway stations across the system in a moving and beautiful tribute that begins today.

The MTA-commissioned memorial is an eight-minute slide show with portraits provided by family members, a new poem by a former U.S. Poet Laureate, and an original score for the piano. The tribute will be playing daily on digital screens in subway stations through February 7th at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. After each airing, the presentation immediately will be shown a second time.

In the MTA press release announcing the project to the public and the media, TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said:
 
“Transport Workers Union Local 100 will never forget our union brothers and sisters who perished in service to the city. It’s our fervent hope that with this memorial the riding public also keeps them in their hearts and minds. Stop for a moment during your daily travels and reflect on these departed heroes, the lives lost, and the heartbreak being carried by their families and co-workers. May they rest in peace.”
 
The memorial can be seen on this website: https://new.mta.info/covid-memorial
 
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 136 MTA employees at NYC Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad, were infected and died due to the coronavirus, including more than 90 members of TWU Local 100. The tribute features 111 portraits collected by the authority. TWU Local 100 is working with a Brooklyn artist and design team on a permanent memorial at the Union Hall on Montague St.

Read the MTA's press release here.