COVID-19 Story Project
The COVID-19 Story Project is a collection of images, written works, and audiovisual works that document the experience of LaGuardia Community College members throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.
As the pandemic continues we are still collecting materials. If you would like to contribute something that represents your experience during this difficulty time, please visit our submission form here: https://shortlib.org/s/covidstories
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- The Essentials
- As I was waiting for my Lyft to pick me up from the local Stop & Shop, I spotted a flock of pigeons across the market. They seemed to be pecking the ground as if they were being fed, a visual you don't often see these days as we are all instructed to limit our outings and follow through with the mandated quarantine. I saw this man with a bag of Wonderbread, breaking it into pieces and making sure each bird recieved a ration. I approached him, "You don't see this anymore," as I pointed to the birds and the bread on the ground. He smiled and then he replied, "The people who used to come and feed 'em aren't able to come anymore. But, we gottri take turns and help out these little guys." He informed me that he was on his break from working at the Stop & Shop. He and some other colleagues come out with food items to make sure that the birds and the squirrels who once depended on the generosity of others- have something in their stomachs by the end of each day. Photographed outside of Stop & Shop 34-51 48th St, Queens, NY 11105
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- Victor Ty
- Victor Ty - Fall 2009 - NYU Langone Health Oncology Clinical Research Manager I am one of a group called Maker Nurses comprised of identified nurses, clinicians, therapists, MDs and child life specialist who innovate medical and non-medical interventions to better the experiences of patients. As you may know I design and build Lego Medial Models of medical equipment such as MRIs, CTs, linear accelerators etc. I have also been involved with the Maker community including the 3D printing community. I have been monitoring the pandemic closely since it broke out in the news in Dec 2019. When it finally hit home in NYC, including the shortage of PPE, I looked at my supplies and inventory of materials from which I could make the most use. I decided to make face shields, since I had clear acetate sheets from my days at LAGCC attending Dr. Grozav’s microbiology class. I used this for my reports back then. I also had some inventory of elastic from fashion career days and more importantly I have a 3D printer. I started looking into a face shield design that was already out there and I got in contact a couple from upstate NY that had a design ready.The first prototype was perfect and took 6hrs to make. So, I made a plan to print 3-4 face shields daily. I started printing on 3/21 and by 3/23, with my wife, our older son and I started to have symptoms. In a couple if days we all came down with COVID 19. I continued printing and I'm still printing daily for a little more than 5 weeks now. I reached out to my 3D colleagues here and Boston and they linked me to a 3D printing outfit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard called Ultimaker. In a few days they were also printing for NYU and the rest of the hospitals in NYC. I had only requested 50 pieces from them and at that time, I had about 30 completed myself. I have since printed about 120 from my printer. Since my hospital was getting a fair amount from Ultimaker, I offered the ones I made to my fellow nursing family of co-workers: from my colleagues from LAGCC to the units at Maimonides, and to the pulmonary service at NYU as they were in front and center that really needed extra PPE’s. I also provided some of the oncologists that were being deployed to the COVID-19 floors. My face shields went as far away as San Diego, CA; Northern NJ and Upstate NY. Almost all the hospitals, both HHC and private hospitals, where places where my friends and family worked. Although we are now on the downslope, we continue to print here at home, as we anticipate more need in the near future.
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- Voting Line
- Waiting on a 2 hour line for early voting at the Dix Hills Fire Station
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- What Doesn’t Kill You Still Sucks: HIV and COVID-19
- A personal essay about Martina Clark's experience of contracting COVID-19. The essay is also posted on her website https://martina-clark.com.
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- Working On the Frontlines of COVID-19, with Beside Nurse and LaGuardia Faculty Thomas Haggerty
- This news package explores the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and the eruption of the Black Lives Matter protests all over the United States, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. The protests raised concerns among officials regarding a spike in COVID-19 cases. Ironically, however, it is the black community that suffered most from COVID due a fundamental lack of healthcare resources. There is no choice but to protest for equity. Sources (for package #3 only) 1) Andrew Cuomo. “Governor Cuomo Announces Western NY Expected to Enter Phase 2 Tomorrow and Capital Region on June 3.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, June 1st, 2020. Web. June 15th, 2020. 2) NYC Mayor’s Office. “Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability on COVID-19.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, May 27th, 2020. Web. June 8th, 2020. 3) Hot 97. “Ebro in the Morning Town Hall | Presented By MetroPlus.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, May 7th, 2020. Web. June 7th, 2020. 4) Office of the Public Advocate, “Municipal Leaders From Across the Country to Make Announcement on COVID-19 Racial Disparity.” Online video clip. Facebook Live. Facebook, Week of May 18th, 2020. Web. June 12th, 2020. 5) Rabin, Roni Caryn. “Will Protests Set Off a Second Viral Wave?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 May 2020. Bio: Tanushree Sengupta is an Adjunct for the Industrial Design program in the Humanities Department at LaGuardia Community College. These audio news packages were created with the help of the LaGuardia Community College Institutional Archives, as well as students and faculty of LaGuardia Community College. They document how the COVID-19 pandemic affected New York City and the LaGuardia community. They serve as a reminder of the difficulties and challenges that were prevalent during the time. Outside of LaGuardia, Tanushree is a podcaster and educator. Her formal training is in Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering.
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