PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Raul Rivera, TLC Driver and Advocate
1:18:24
·
82 sec
Raul Rivera, a TLC driver and advocate, testified against the vaccine mandate and criticized City Council members for their lack of support for unvaccinated workers. He expressed frustration with the council's attentiveness and decision-making processes.
- Rivera emphasized that the vaccine mandate is not a law and questioned why people treat it as such.
- He accused Council Member Powers of failing to properly vet the committee, citing a potential conflict of interest with Salamanca.
- The testimony became confrontational, with Rivera accusing council members of disrespect and lack of concern for New Yorkers' rights.
Raul Rivera
1:18:24
Good afternoon.
1:18:24
My name is Raul Rivera.
1:18:26
I'm a TLC driver and a TLC driver advocate.
1:18:28
I'm a native New Yorker.
1:18:30
I am unvaccinated.
1:18:32
And, we haven't written anything down, but, you know, advocating for 7 years in this city, fighting for our rights, you do learn a few things.
1:18:42
And we learn that we're losing our rights.
1:18:45
A lot of the council members are cherry picking on what they support, what they don't support.
1:18:51
You know, you should, all of you, there should be no question, all of you should stand on your own 2 feet and support these workers that are losing their jobs.
1:19:00
You should listen to when people are testifying and put your phones down.
1:19:04
That helps too.
1:19:06
I don't know if you're hearing me, but we take the videos and we share, we share this because I don't think you council members are listening to us.
1:19:15
Again, I am unvaccinated.
1:19:17
This vaccine mandate was not a law.
1:19:20
People hear the word mandate.
1:19:21
I don't know why they think that's a law.
1:19:22
It's not a law.
1:19:23
You, Mr.
1:19:24
Powers, you, you don't even know how to vet your own committee.
1:19:26
We have, we have Salamanca on your, on your committee And his his wife received a job from the mayor, cushy job in the Bronx.
1:19:34
And we spoke to you about it.
1:19:35
Yeah.
1:19:36
All you do is you stay there quiet and you give us that dumb look.
1:19:39
You have no
Keith Powers
1:19:39
You could throw them out of the chamber.
1:19:40
You have
Raul Rivera
1:19:41
you have no you have no right for the New Yorkers.
1:19:44
No respect.
