“You Do You” –NYC Transit System’s Self-Mockery Campaign Backfired
M.T.A. signs no longer promote safety, but now joke about mask-wearing. They insult the memory of workers and riders who died of COVID-19.
“If the M.T.A. had deliberately looked for a way to give me or my deceased loved one the finger, they couldn’t have done better than the new ‘You Do You’ campaign — a cutesy spoof of its previous mask PSA with an insinuation that maskers had better not rock the boat. Here’s the thing: public health isn’t all about you,” said Lisa Smid, whose significant other was among the 173 people killed by COVID who worked for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (M.T.A.).
Joining many New Yorkers, Smid loathes the M.T.A.’s new masks-are-voluntary public service announcements. Amid the ongoing pandemic, the messaging deliberately makes acceptable both not masking and improper use of this critical preventive tool. The Twitter posts shared by the transit authority and New York Governor prompted outrage and criticism in thousands of quote tweets and replies. Smid’s comment to one of MaskTogetherAmerica’s responses brings back haunting memories and a flood of emotions.
Smid’s words prompted me to invite her to share her story for awareness on MaskTogetherAmerica’s social media platform because Smid can describe the worst outcomes of abandoning masks on public transit.
Smid said when the M.T.A. launched its Living Memorial to honor transit workers lost to COVID-19 in January 2021, workers were still dying of this highly contagious and evolving virus. Her boyfriend, Benjamin Schaeffer, a proud conductor of 22 years who looked out for the well-being of passengers, was the 96th among his coworkers to die in the pandemic. Since then, M.T.A. workers’ COVID deaths have risen to 173.
An exemplary public servant, Schaeffer returned to work early from his time off in March 2020 because there was a shortage of conductors, as many were already sick with COVID-19. It didn’t take long before Schaeffer, age 58, also caught the virus. Schaeffer was put on a ventilator in April and COVID took his life on April 28, 2020.
“Ben died a hero defending his city, its people, and his beloved subway,” Robert Diamond, President of the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association told The Daily News.
In “Veteran MTA conductor who once saved subway passengers from arsonist in heroic act dies of coronavirus,” we learned how New York lost one of its finest public servants. Schaeffer is remembered by his M.T.A. community as the train buff and hero honored by New York City for many valorous acts, including speedily evacuating passengers when an arsonist poured gasoline in a train car.
Besides the Daily News article, Smid invited me to read ‘We Are Not Essential. We Are Sacrificial,’ a New York Times op-ed by Schaeffer’s coworker, Sujatha Gidla. Gidla gave a poignant account of the hostile working conditions she and Schaeffer shared, and she offered this tribute to him.
In March 2020, because of the shortage of masks, the U.S. government had to preserve the scarce supply for healthcare providers. Gidla was outraged by M.T.A. warning workers not to wear masks, for fear of public panic. When the M.T.A. eventually did provide its employees with masks, the quality was poor.
“According to Ben’s co-worker, Sujatha Gidla, the N95 masks transit workers eventually received were cheaply made and had weak straps,” Smid said.
Like many others, Gidla also caught COVID and had to quarantine on unpaid sick-leave. Her experience reminds policymakers of the urgent need to raise workplace safety standards and to provide workers with personal protective equipment to prevent repeated infections and potential post-viral conditions. Workers also need paid leave so they can afford to isolate while contagious, and to avoid financial disaster if COVID disables them for weeks or months. Long COVID is a devastating health crisis that has put millions of U.S. workers out of work. Harvard economics professor David M. Cutler estimates that current Long COVID cases will, over five years, cost the U.S. economy $3.7 trillion in losses.
These serious outcomes of rampant spread of COVID-19 certainly justify the hefty expense for widespread ventilation infrastructure upgrades. Such investment is now essential to improve indoor air quality in order to prevent future airborne infections and even more Long COVID cases. The pandemic’s mounting toll of death, disability, and economic loss is clearly demonstrating that we must set policies that prioritize people’s health over individual freedom.
Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents 41,000 M.T.A. workers, created a memorial dedicated to the deceased from the seven departments at the Transit Authority, from subway and bus drivers to maintenance and car equipment workers. Union Vice Chair Ben Schaeffer’s name was engraved on the plaque, along with 109 other union members.
“Transit workers truly gave new meaning to the words ‘essential worker’ during this pandemic,” said Local 100 President Tony Utano. “Our city, our union, can survive with empty office buildings, we can survive with shuttered restaurants and bars, we can live with government by Zoom. But we can’t survive without our public transit systems and our nation’s transportation infrastructure.” (Quote from Brooklyn Paper article.)
“Memorials are important, but part of the point of remembering the past is not to repeat it,” Smid told me.
As a New Yorker myself who has lost two dear friends, both frontline essential workers, I couldn’t agree more. The world needs to remember and learn from the sacrifices of our frontline heroes.
With most riders not masking now, Smid is questioning the safety of taking the subway. “I do my best to ride during off peak hours. When I’m in a train car with someone unmasked, I walk to another part of the car or change cars. It’s not like most straphangers can boycott service because so many have no choice but to use public transportation to get to work, medical appointments, and other essential errands.”
As a New York photographer dealing with an incurable autoimmune disease, I echo Smid’s sentiments. New York officials’ politically-motivated decision to end the transportation mask requirement is backfiring. Across the country, since the announcement was made on September 7, experts in public health and other sciences have been sharing their disapproval of M.T.A.’s mockery of a critical preventive measure.
Among the millions of daily riders and transit workers, there are elderly people, the immunocompromised and those who cannot medically tolerate vaccines — the voiceless in the U.S.A. Many others may have underlying medical conditions they do not yet know about. Public transportation needs to accommodate the most vulnerable among us. Avoiding COVID-19 is a life and death matter for many. One look at America’s ranking on COVID-19 deaths in Our World in Data will help you see the urgency. (See graph.)
“You do You” can’t be our policy because America must and can do better at protecting us ALL.
(I’m grateful to Lisa Smid for graciously sharing her family’s story. Thanks also to Debbie Socolar for her editorial help.)
