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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and this show and others at the station are putting together a time capsule to remember this difficult and extraordinary year. Here at the show, we will spend some of our segments in the next few weeks between now and the end of the year, gathering your stories of this moment regarding the pandemic, racial justice and American democracy as seen through this year's election and election turmoil, and then we'll take those stories and we'll keep them with our transmitter, literally, physically, at the top of the Empire State Building.

We plan to reopen the time capsule in 10 years in 2030, when hindsight will truly be 2020, and we will see how this extraordinary year looks a decade hence. Our time capsule segment for today is sad but simple. We're inviting you to call in right now and see the name of a loved one you lost because of COVID-19 who was an essential worker. 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. We're inviting your one-minute tributes to loved ones who have lost their lives to COVID-19 after getting the disease while on the job.

If you knew a nurse, a doctor, another kind of healthcare worker, a person who grew, cooked, or delivered our food, anyone who was an essential worker in a meat packing plant, a nursing home, anyone who you think might've gotten COVID-19 on any kind of job, who you would like to memorialize for our time capsule with their names and just a few words, give us a call right now. We're inviting you in at 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. Again, just as a program note, Mayor De Blasio is running late because of a vaccine rollout news conference that he has going.

There will be an "Ask the Mayor" segment as usual at this time on Fridays, but it'll be last half-hour, and we're doing this time capsule calling first. Write a letter to the year 2030, put a message in a bottle for whoever hears it in 2030, to remember the person you knew and cared about, who got coronavirus because they had to work in 2020, 646-435-7280. Of course, we won't have time for everyone obviously, but we'll have time for some right now as a tribute, that will also represent some of the others, we hope. Call us, you're invited, 646-435-7280, and we'll take those tributes right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls for the year 2020 time capsule that we're putting together, as we invite you to call for this time capsule segment and say the name of a loved one you lost because of COVID-19, who is an essential worker of any kind. Lorraine in Eatontown, you're on WNYC. Lorraine, thank you for calling.

Lorraine: Hey, Brian, thank you so much for everything, and especially for this. My friend Timothy Sketch affectionately known to so many as Timo. Timo was a musician bass player for many reggae bands and also a drummer with several African organizations, and he had lung issues of his own, but he worked in a nursing home, and he was a working man. It is, go to work or you'll not be able to survive. My heart was broken, so many of our hearts were broken. Timo is well-known as a musician in the area, and it's a devastating loss. He was an amazing musician and just an amazing guy, because he was just dearly.

Brian: Lorraine, I'm glad you got to say his name and say a little bit about what made him an amazing guy on the air. I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you for calling with that. Simon in Manhattan. You're on WNYC. Hi, Simon.

Simon: Hi, Brian. How are you? Thanks for doing this. The person I want to remember is Greg [unintelligible 00:04:53], he lived on Long Island. He was a family friend who grew up basically as the type of person that felt like a family to me. Greg died earlier this year because of COVID. He was a TSA worker at JFK.

He was a great guy, a fantastic personality. He had gotten cancer years ago, and when he recovered from it, he made annual bike rides, long-distance bike rides in New York to Philadelphia, and he raised a lot of money for cancer research, [unintelligible 00:05:35], type of cancer that he was struck with, and he had an infectiously wonderful personality.

Brian: Do you think he got it?

Simon: Every year, he wrote a letter out to friends and family, and it was one of the best things you could get in the mail.

Brian: Do you think he got it working at the airport?

Simon: I do not know.

Brian: Simon, thank you for paying tribute to him. Anita in Livingston, you're on WNYC. Hi, Anita.

Anita: Hi, merry Christmas everybody. I miss Dr. Priya Khanna. Dr. Priya Khanna was a nephrologist and a woman of compassion. She was in 40s, and she's left behind with her children and her husband. My tribute goes to Dr. Priya Khanna and also her father. He was a surgeon, and Dr. Priya Khanna the nephrologist. My tribute to everybody who have lost loved ones. Merry Christmas, everybody. Praise be to God.

Brian: Anita, thank you. Thank you for doing that. I know it was hard, but now Dr. Priya is memorialized on the radio and in our time capsule for all of time. Listeners, if you're just joining us, for a few more minutes before Mayor De Blasio comes on for his weekly segment with vaccine news for New York City, among other things, we're inviting you to call in right now and say the name of a loved one you lost because of COVID-19, who is an essential worker of any kind, and we're putting this in this WNYC year 2020 time capsule we're creating.

We'll do other kinds of time capsule segments between now and the end of the year, including several, on people you lost and loved because of COVID in one way or another this year today, for those who were essential workers. Lewis in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Lewis. Thank you for calling.

Lewis: Good morning to you all. Thank you very much for this opportunity to really honor Miss Freda Ocran. She was a head nurse in North Central Bronx hospital in Jacobi Hospital, and he was an educator on both facilities, and she was the first one to die of COVID.

The very first Friday, actually she died early morning on the Saturday on the first weekend of March. She was born in Ghana. She was a dedicated daughter who maintained her family in Ghana, by her earning, since she left behind a daughter and a son and multiple friends and people who really loved her because she was such a good spirit, dedicated work-late hours. She didn't care about picking up two or three shifts whenever she was needed. She's being missed across these months terribly. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Brian: Thank you for that beautiful expression, Lewis. Peter in Brooklyn, You're on WNYC. Hi, Peter.

Peter: Hi, this is Peter. I'd like to remember my friend Matteo De Cosmo who was an art director in New York. He was just a beautifully warm, funny person who loved Nick Cave, loved rock and roll, and he was honest. He was scouting for TV show on a bus and everybody got sick that first week of March before we knew what it was. Thanks for allowing me the time.

Brian: Peter, thank you so much for remembering Matteo De Cosmo. Dylan in Woodside, you're on WNYC. Hi, Dylan.

Dylan: Hello. I'm remembering FDNY EMT Idris Bey. He was a 27-year veteran of the FDNY EMS Academy. He trained many EMTs and firefighters and the Art of Emergency Medicine. If you call 911 for an emergency medical problem, you're most likely going to get somebody that was trained by Idris Bey. He lost his life to COVID back in April this year.

Brian: Did he get it on the job? Do you know, is there a lesson for others.

Dylan: Yes. He got it while he was instructing in March.

Brian: Dylan, thank you for remembering Idris Bey. Kim in Sussex County, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kim.

Kim: Hi, I'd like to remember Doctor Michael Burgio. He was an emergency room physician here in Sussex County, New Jersey. He was a physician for many, many years, and I had the privilege to work with him for about the last five. He got sick fairly early in the pandemic, and even knowing the risk, he decided he was still going to practice emergency medicine. He was older, but he was always dedicated to his patients and a really caring co-worker and just guy all around. He leaves behind his wife, who has beat COVID, and his two children who also got the disease.

Brian: Kim.

Kim: I'd just like to remember him.

Brian: Thank you so much. Wow, so many health care workers, right, folks? In case we forgot who's on the front lines and who got it early, I know a lot of the people who our listeners are calling about so far died of COVID in the first wave in the spring, so many health care workers. As we're inviting you to call in right now and say the name of any loved one you lost because of COVID, who was an essential worker of any kind, and this is for the year 2020 time capsule that we're putting together here at WNYC, so we will remember these folks in the time capsule.

Somebody, who knows who, will open this time capsule in 2030 and hear all these names along with other time capsule segments that we're going to do. Vinnie in Ridgewood, you're on WNYC. Hi, Vinnie.

Vinnie: Hi, I want to remember my friend Tom Feeny. He was a masonry worker, and he passed away in March. Yes, thank you for the time, I just wanted to--

Brian: Tell us about him. Why'd you love him?

Vinnie: Excuse me?

Brian: Tell us about him.

Vinnie: He was just the warmest guy ever. Everybody you meet, everybody that he met, they just loved him. He lit up any room he walked in, and he was always there for me and my friends.

Brian: What was the work that he was doing that might have exposed him?

Vinnie: He worked very closely with-- We don't know how he got it, but he was just driving all over the place, working with a lot of people. It was very early when everything started.

Brian: He was out there doing masonry work and coming into contact.

Vinnie: Yes. Concrete. He built patios and pools and stuff like that.

Brian: Vinnie, thank you for paying tribute to your buddy, we really appreciate it. Caroline in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: Hi, good morning, thanks for taking my call. I just want to remember Donald Dobbs, a good friend and an avid bike rider who worked for the city's homeless shelter services. Donald belonged to several bike clubs and will be missed by many in Brooklyn and across the US. Donald died on March 30th right at the beginning of the first wave of the pandemic, and he will be missed. He was a great guy. Many loved him.

Brian: He did homeless outreach?

Caroline: Yes, and he was going to work. They were picking him up while he was getting sick. They were picking him up in a car and taking him to the different shelters.

Brian: Another story where they didn't quite realize the gravity of what was going on yet, it sounds like.

Caroline: Yes, exactly.

Brian: Caroline, thank you for remembering Donald Dobbs. Charles in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Charles.

Charles: Hello. I wish to remember Miguel Jesús Amarante. He was a 32-year-old young man, and he was a peace officer at Hunts Point Public Safety in the Bronx. He was a fantastic guy to work with. He was very interested in law enforcement. He was advancing his career in law enforcement and had interview for the sergeant's position. He left us just too quickly. He was well respected. He was the kind of officer that the city needs. He showed a lot of respect for people and got things done, and he's gone.

Brian: What would be a fitting tribute to him?

Charles: He was posthumously promoted to sergeant, the position that he interviewed for. I also later learned that there were also several other federal law enforcement positions that he had also applied for, and I'm sure he would've been great at any one of those endeavors.

Brian: Charles, thank you so much. Eleanor in Westchester, you're on WNYC. Hi, Eleanor.

Eleanor: Good morning. Thank you for taking the call. I would like to pay tribute to Yves Roseus. He's an occupational therapist working at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn. He was one of the first victims. He died in March. He was my mentor and role model. He was warm, compassionate, and as a Haitian American, he founded the very first occupational therapy program in Haiti. His dream was to bring professionals to America and have a cultural exchange. He's just a [inaudible 00:15:46].

Brian: Eleanor, thank you so much. Boy, folks, we are hearing on the phones so much the concentration in the healthcare professions, and the concentration among Black and brown people in our area, aren't we? We will do more time capsule segments, including honoring other people who've died from COVID-19 this year, but also other kinds of time capsule segments as we lock it up as a letter to 2030, as a message in a bottle to the year 2030, so stay tuned for those on subsequent shows between now and the end of the year.

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