Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Phyllis Inserillo | Chief of Staff for Councilwoman Joann Ariola Highlights Unvaccinated NYFD Getting Shafted on 9/11

Transcript

Phyllis Inserillo | Chief of Staff for Councilwoman Joann Ariola Highlights Unvaccinated NYFD Getting Shafted on 9/11 · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Phyllis Incirella works with Joanne, and maybe Phyllis will be
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the next council lady. I don't know. Could be. She
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: asked me for help. She will be. Phyllis, good morning.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: How are you?
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Sid. I'm doing well. How are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing great. So you reached out to me yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: and this is a story that does need to be covered.
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  Speaker 1: This is unbelievable. As we get set to commemorate 25 years.
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  Speaker 1: A week from today. A week from today. And I
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  Speaker 1: must say to you, seriously, Phyllis, you, Joanne, you guys
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  Speaker 1: have been so great. For folks that don't know, it
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  Speaker 1: was this lady, Phyllis, who set me up with Giovanni Galante,
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  Speaker 1: the brave, courageous man whose wife, Grace, was murdered 25
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  Speaker 1: years ago. He started the petition. Worked out well. Came
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  Speaker 1: on the show with 1,400 signatures. Had over 80,000 a
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  Speaker 1: week later. But you've done an amazing job, you and Joanne.
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  Speaker 1: With this whole 9-11, you also told me about the
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  Speaker 1: story about the event at our stadium on Staten Island
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  Speaker 1: when Mamdani basically took the speaking time away from the family.
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  Speaker 1: So you've been all over everything. Hope you're proud of yourself.
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  Speaker 1: And this one, unvaxxed New York City firefighter is forced
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  Speaker 1: to go to court on 9-11? That can't be true.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Sid, it is true. And the whole case is
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  Speaker 2: just one big joke, right? You have a firefighter who
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  Speaker 2: was in the trenches during the worst part of COVID
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  Speaker 2: when there was no PPE available. They didn't care if
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  Speaker 2: the firefighters had masks. They didn't care if the firefighters
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  Speaker 2: had gloves. They were front facing with the people that
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  Speaker 2: were dying during COVID when COVID was at its worst
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  Speaker 2: point in time. And They wait a year, put this
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  Speaker 2: mandatory vaccination mandate in place. And in March of 22,
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  Speaker 2: he gets terminated. He he sues the city. And thank
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  Speaker 2: God for Judge Ralph Porzio finds that the ruling of
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  Speaker 2: the FDNY to fire him was arbitrary and capricious, which
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  Speaker 2: means they had no legal standing as to why they
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  Speaker 2: would fire this man without having proper dialogue or trying
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  Speaker 2: to come up with a solution before just firing him.
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  Speaker 2: And he ends up. getting his job back with that pay.
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  Speaker 2: And that was in October of 2022. He's been back
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  Speaker 2: to work. There was a little kink in the system
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  Speaker 2: with that as well because the FDNY continued to play
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  Speaker 2: games and the city continued to play games, but he
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  Speaker 2: did eventually get back to work. And they never gave
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  Speaker 2: him the back pay. They appealed to that ruling. And
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  Speaker 2: it's just funny that they have set the date for
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  Speaker 2: September 11, 2026, when we're celebrating– when we're not celebrating,
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  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, memorializing the 25th anniversary of the worst day
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  Speaker 2: in New York City history. And it's just– You know,
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  Speaker 2: I think they're celebrating. That's the thing. This administration has
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  Speaker 2: no care for the victims of September 11th. They have
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  Speaker 2: no care for the FDNY members and our police officers
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  Speaker 2: and all of the first responders who were there during
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  Speaker 2: the time, who since have, many of them have become
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  Speaker 2: firefighters because of the heroic efforts they saw at that time. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, now you have A firefighter that has to
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  Speaker 2: go attend court rather than going to his memorial services
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  Speaker 2: and being with his fellow brothers and sisters that day.
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  Speaker 1: That's terrible. You want to say the guy's name or
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  Speaker 1: would you rather not have that? It's up to you.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, no. Yeah. It's firefighter Tim Ravitchi. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 2: been all over the news. You know, his his attorney,
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  Speaker 2: Christina Martinez, is a kick ass firefighter. She's actually in
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  Speaker 2: my phone is Christina Martinez, kick ass attorney for COVID mandate.
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  Speaker 2: And and, you know, they're they're obviously, you know, when
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  Speaker 2: you're in court, you want support. You want the judge
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  Speaker 2: to see that people are agreeing with with with their
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  Speaker 2: right with Judge Porgeo's decision and as well as, you know,
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  Speaker 2: why you're there fighting. And, you know, it's not going
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  Speaker 2: to be. easy to get people to attend on 9-11
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  Speaker 2: when everyone's attending memorial services. And honestly, the day should
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  Speaker 2: be a day where courts aren't even open, right? And
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  Speaker 2: we need President Trump to make this a federal holiday.
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  Speaker 2: I hate to call it a holiday, but in order
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  Speaker 2: for it to be a day where things like this
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  Speaker 2: can't occur.
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  Speaker 1: It needs to be a federal holiday. Well, you call
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  Speaker 1: it a day of remembrance instead of a holiday. So,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I've got a guy who came on this
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  Speaker 1: show a couple of weeks ago by the name of
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  Speaker 1: Jack Joyce. He's also trying to get the president to
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  Speaker 1: make the World Trade Center, a national monument, which we
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  Speaker 1: know it's private property there, so it becomes a little difficult.
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  Speaker 1: But I think you throw all the rules, all the
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  Speaker 1: rules should be thrown out the window for this day,
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  Speaker 1: including the mayor showing up that day. He did some
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  Speaker 1: interview with Marshall Kramer yesterday, and he continues to smirk
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  Speaker 1: and smile while he's talking about 9-11. He's such a moron,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't even know he's doing it. But, you know, that
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  Speaker 1: petition is probably over 100,000 by now, having checked the
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  Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. But you're right, this administration doesn't care.
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  Speaker 1: But I got news for you. The last administration, Eric Adams,
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  Speaker 1: he did a terrible job with these people. They fired
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  Speaker 1: a whole bunch of city workers because they refused to
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  Speaker 1: get the shot. Now today, Stephen A. Smith calls Kyrie
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  Speaker 1: Irving a hero and all these people who wouldn't get
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  Speaker 1: the shot back then. Now today, they're heroes, but there's
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people like this firefighter who never got
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  Speaker 1: their jobs back, who never got any money back either,
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  Speaker 1: and they're still out of work. Eric Adams did a
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  Speaker 1: lousy job with that, Phyllis.
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  Speaker 2: And you know what? He put a reinstatement process in
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  Speaker 2: place the day after Election Day. And honestly, that was
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  Speaker 2: the last F.U. to the firefighters and police officers and
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  Speaker 2: all the city workers who he had said F.U. to
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  Speaker 2: his entire administration because he had four years. to make
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  Speaker 2: this right. And we begged him. The council member and
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  Speaker 2: I had meetings with him, phone calls one after another
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  Speaker 2: with him, his deputy mayor. You know, we would explain
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  Speaker 2: to him, like, this firefighter, A, was able to go
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  Speaker 2: back to work. He is exactly situated as, for instance,
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  Speaker 2: Salvatore Maida, who is a firefighter who's still fighting to
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  Speaker 2: get his job back. And, you know, his answer was just, uh-huh.
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  Speaker 2: It's like, you know, we were talking to a wall
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  Speaker 2: the whole time.
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  Speaker 1: But you've got to admit one thing. I think I'm
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  Speaker 1: the only person, for some reason... This station, all buddies
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  Speaker 1: up to him, everybody here. I'm probably the only person
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  Speaker 1: in this city that still holds his feet to the fire.
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  Speaker 1: Don't you think?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. I mean, and Council Member Areola as well.
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  Speaker 2: Like we we we lived it with this guy. You
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  Speaker 2: know what I mean? Like we knew exactly what we
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  Speaker 2: were dealing with the whole time. It was just the
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  Speaker 2: administration was was just completely, you know, uncaring as to
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  Speaker 2: what what occurred here. And then he puts this reinstatement
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  Speaker 2: process into place in November of 2025 when he's going
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  Speaker 2: out the door, knowing that Mamdani was never going to
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  Speaker 2: fulfill the process, which is. And after it went to DCAS, right,
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  Speaker 2: you have to have a hearing with DCAS to make
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  Speaker 2: a rule change so that these workers could come back.
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  Speaker 2: Then they have to send that ruling up to the
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  Speaker 2: Civil Service Commission in the state and it has to
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  Speaker 2: be voted on there. Mamdani just never sent it up.
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  Speaker 2: And when asked about it, he acted like he had
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  Speaker 2: no idea what. The reporter was talking about, well, we
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  Speaker 2: had had conversations with his team about it. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: everything you see on television is smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: you know that. But I don't know if you know
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  Speaker 2: that today he's signing the executive order to make 9-11
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  Speaker 2: an official day of remembrance and service. Did you see that?
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  Speaker 1: Who the mayor is?
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. You talk about pandering. You talk about pandering. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: my God. I mean, it's a good thing. It's a
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  Speaker 1: good thing, but it's not in his heart. You know that.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. And that's always what we say, right? Like, we
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  Speaker 2: want you to do the right thing for New Yorkers
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  Speaker 2: and do the right thing coming from your heart. And
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  Speaker 2: when you are a terrorist sympathizer who supports people like
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  Speaker 2: Hassan Piker and Abir Kawash, you can't be both. You
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  Speaker 2: can't be someone who cares about what happened on September
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  Speaker 2: 11th and still support people like this.
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  Speaker 1: That's right. That's why maybe J.D. Vance can't be president
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  Speaker 1: because you can't be president and support Tucker Carlson. What
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  Speaker 1: is this organization, TeachersForChoice.org, Phyllis?
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  Speaker 2: So Teachers for Choice was the teacher group, similar to
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  Speaker 2: we had Bravest for Choice for the fire department, Cops
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  Speaker 2: for Freedom for the police officers. And they are the
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  Speaker 2: group that has been fighting for the teachers to get
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  Speaker 2: their jobs back and, you know, against the illegal mandate
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  Speaker 2: from the very beginning. And Michael Caine was the head
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  Speaker 2: of that organization. And he continues to fight. He is,
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  Speaker 2: you know, one of the largest voices for the teachers.
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  Speaker 2: Matt Conner from Bravest for Choice is, you know, leads
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  Speaker 2: the way for teachers. for the firefighters. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're all still fighting. John Makary, you know, still fights
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  Speaker 2: for the police officers. So we're all here.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't like me very much, by the way. He
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  Speaker 1: don't like me very much, John Makary. But go ahead.
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  Speaker 1: That's okay. As long as he does the right thing.
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  Speaker 2: Go ahead. But, you know, they are– we're a small
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  Speaker 2: group that are still fighting, and we need everyone to
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  Speaker 2: join us. I don't think people even realize that there
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  Speaker 2: are New York City teachers, firefighters, EMS workers, police officers
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  Speaker 2: that aren't allowed to go to work still. Six years
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  Speaker 2: after a pandemic.
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  Speaker 1: It's over.
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  Speaker 2: It's been over.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we keep talking about it here, and that's why
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  Speaker 1: your appearance this morning is really important, Phyllis. It really is.
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  Speaker 1: So in the final 30 to 60 seconds, is there
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  Speaker 1: any way we can do anything to make the court
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  Speaker 1: change the date? Or is it pretty much set in stone?
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  Speaker 2: It's pretty much set in stone. And I think Ravitchi
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  Speaker 2: wants to get it over with. Hopefully, the ruling is
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  Speaker 2: in favor of what Judge Porzio's ruling was. We're seeing judges,
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  Speaker 2: and definitely not Judge Porzio, but we've had judges overturn
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  Speaker 2: their own decision in an appeal. It just shows how
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  Speaker 2: corrupt the whole system is, and that there is a
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  Speaker 2: common support of this you know, way of acting towards
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  Speaker 2: our first responders and a plan, right? There's a plan here.
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  Speaker 2: They have this plan set. I don't know who the
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  Speaker 2: puppeteer is, but it was definitely with COVID to break down,
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  Speaker 2: you know, people. We had firefighters fighting with one another,
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  Speaker 2: police officers, you know, annoyed that somebody got a reinstatement,
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  Speaker 2: somebody didn't. And it can And we have to just
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: all join together and make sure that the right thing
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: is happening. And unfortunately, that happens at the voting booth.
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  Speaker 2: And we got to make sure that we're voting for
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  Speaker 2: the right person. I hope everybody is getting out to
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  Speaker 2: vote for Bruce Blakeman for governor this year.
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  Speaker 1: Excellent job, Phyllis. Great to have you. You are a
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  Speaker 1: great representative for Joanne Areola and my district, my whole neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: We will talk again very, very soon. Have yourself a
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: nice three-day weekend. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, and we'll see you September 8th on the steps
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  Speaker 2: of City Hall at 12 p.m. to support Giovanni Galante
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  Speaker 2: and all the other members of the families of those
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: who were affected by the terrorist attack.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you're not going to see me because I'll be
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: on my way to Dallas with President Trump, but hopefully
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  Speaker 1: we'll see a ton of New Yorkers. And I would
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  Speaker 1: be there, of course. The only thing that would keep
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: me away from that is the fact that I have
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: to go to Dallas for the midterm convention. But I
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: do hope a ton of New Yorkers join you that day.
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  Speaker 1: So one more time, Phyllis, give out that information.
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  Speaker 2: It's September 8th on the steps of City Hall at
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  Speaker 2: 12 noon. And that's where we'll be with the families
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: of the 9-11 victims. And we'll be there to support them.
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  Speaker 1: You're a great American, Phyllis. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, Sid. Thanks for everything.
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  Speaker 1: Bye, sweetheart. You got it. Phyllis Insarello right there works
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: with Joanne Areola, one of our five Republican Council people.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: She's terrific. They're both great, Joanne and Phyllis.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 11:17
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• 11:20
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• 11:23
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• 11:38
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• 11:41
  Speaker 3: so you never have to wonder.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?