U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who represents parts of the Lower East Side, rallied with union officials and public advocates yesterday against the federal government shutdown. The media event was held at Gouverneur Health, the city-run medical facility on Madison Street.
The partial shutdown is now in its 24th day, the longest in American history. “It’s not about the shutdown,”  Velázquez argued, “it’s about the people that are mostly impacted by the shutdown. And I am afraid that by hearing, watching the news, the people of this country… are getting numb. And we need to get back to understanding the human toll that this is taking.”
As WNYC reported, Velazquez was joined by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and representatives of 32BJ SEIU, the healthcare workers’ union, among others. Antony Tseng, a furloughed environmental engineer with the EPA, who has two college aged children, said he’s worried about the toll on his family.
800,000 federal workers are affected by the shutdown.
Joining with @RepMaloney @RepEliotEngel @32BJSEIU @AFGENational to call for an end to the #TrumpShutdown @realDonaldTrump has the record now for the longest shutdown in history which hurts workers, low income seniors, small businesses & our economy! pic.twitter.com/JTCa0KnNOt
— Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) January 13, 2019
