Key bookstore Strand ditches most staffers
One of New York City’s most beloved independent bookstores was forced to lay off most of its staff during its coronavirus closure, the Daily News learned Monday.
In an emotional statement posted online late Sunday, the Strand’s third-generation owner Nancy Bass Wyden lamented the economic woes that forced her to let go of most of her bookstore staff.
“In order to preserve the Strand as a business, with no revenue coming in and no clear idea as to when we can reopen our doors, we have had to temporarily lay off the majority of our staff,” she posted online.
On Monday, Bass Wyden told The News the layoffs were devastating.
“It’s just heartbreaking for me,” the emotional owner said.
All staff was paid for the week and would be compensated for accrued sick and vacation days. The goal is to rehire all employees as soon as possible, Bass Wyden added.
Roughly 188 staffers for the independent East Village bookseller were laid off while just a skeletal staff of 24 people remained, a spokesman for the bookstore told the Daily News.
Staffers were informed mostly over the phone by the store’s general manager of the lay-offs on Saturday.
The famous Broadway bookseller was recently landmarked by the New York City Council, despite Bass Wyden’s fierce opposition to the new status, which could increase costs at the building.
Founded in 1927 by Bass Wyden’s grandfather, Benjamin Bass, the Strand has filed with the Governor’s Office to be designated an essential business so it can begin processing online and phone orders, Bass Wyden said, and is awaiting a response.
MTA officials temporarily halted C train service on Monday as the coronavirus continued to run roughshod through the agency’s frontline workforce.
Transit honchos on Sunday night learned an employee at a subway crew facility at 168th St. in Manhattan had tested positive for coronavirus, agency spokeswoman Abbey Collins said.
“Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of our workforce, the MTA sent a number of workers home from the crew facility to consult with our inhouse office of occupational health,” Collins said.
Collins did not disclose how many transit workers from the 168th St. facility were sent home to quarantine.
Trains on the A line were making local stops to cover the C train service outage while transit bosses scrambled to find enough healthy workers.
C trains were back up and running in time for the evening rush, but with drastically reduced service and waits of up to 20 minutes. A trains to and from Lefferts Blvd. were still making local stops to make up for the shortage.
MTA chairman Pat Foye said on Pix11 Monday morning that at least 30 agency employees had confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from the 23 cases he reported among the workforce last Thursday.
MTA protocol directs transit workers who test positive to self-quarantine at home for 14 days, along with any colleagues who came into close contact with them.
The virus last week shut down a crucial subway crew office in Long Island City, Queens, after a worker there tested positive for the disease and 30 other employees were directed to self-quarantine.
Another three employees at the Fresh Pond bus depot in Ridgewood tested positive for the virus last week, limiting the MTA’s ability to run full service on the bus routes served by the facility.