amy: from new york citity, the epicenteter of the pandemimic ie united s states, this is democry now! >> george floyd! george floyd! george floyd1 >> what we want? >> justice! in thehe largestst nationwidide aminin theargegest nationwnwide uprisising since the 1960's, protesters shut down cities across the united states following the police killing of

amy: from new york citity, the epicenteter of the pandemimic ie united s states, this is democry now! >> george floyd! george floyd! george floyd1 >> what we want? >> justice! in thehe largestst nationwidide aminin theargegest nationwnwide uprisising since the 1960's, protesters shut down cities across the united states following the police killing of

amy: from new york citity, the epicenteter of the pandemimic ie united s states, this is democry now! >> george floyd! george floyd! george floyd1 >> what we want? >> justice! in thehe largestst nationwidide aminin theargegest nationwnwide uprisising since the 1960's, protesters shut down cities across the united states following the police killing of george floyd, an african-american man in minneapolis. at least 40 cities have imposed curfews. the national guard has been deployed across the country. thousands of people have been arrested as police violently cracked down on the protests calling for racial justice. police cars have been set on fire in cities from new york to los angeles. >> i woke up wanting to see the world burned down. and harassing black men die. he cash he put his knee on a human beings for nine minutes as he died like a zebra in the clutch of a lines draw -- job and we watch like murder porn over and over again. does s whitestt burning to the ground. they don't know what to do. amamy: the protests come as the nation facaces its biggest publc health crisis in decad

amy: mass protests continue in new york citity. blocks o of the upper east side were shut down wednesday as a massive sit-in took place outside of gracie mansion, the residence of mayor bill de blasio. meanwhile, over 200 current and former staffers of the mayor signed an open letter. their demands include cutting the police budget by $1 billion and reallocating the money to social services, including housing support and rental relief, food assistance, and health care. the letter also calls for the firing of officers who have used excessive force during the protests. this comes as the legal aid society has filed suit alleging hundreds of protesters in new york are being held for longer than 24 hours in cramped cells during a pandemic. in other news from new york, a 35-year-old afafrican american named jamel floyd has died after being pepper sprayed by guards inside the metropolitan detention center. floyd had been held at the brooklyn jail since october 2019. in california, a a massive crowd of peaceful protesters converged at the

amy: since thehe pandemic bebegn more than 130 new w york citity transit woworkers have died from covivid9. nearly 10,000 haveve returned to work aftfter being o out becausf the coronavirus. traiain operators and condtotors have reporteted the most infectionsns. for more, we're joined by y seth rosenberg, subway operator with new york city transit for 14 yearars, and a shop ststeward wh transit workers union local 100 and a member of a small coalition of transit workers called localal 100 fightback.. welcome to democracy now! describe the conditition of the subways as more and more people take them. what is happening? what are you d doing inside the subways and what is happening to the workers inside? >> thank you for having me on the show. hello to everyone. [indiscernible] crowded.e getting more as the pandemic restrictions are lifted and so forth. given the mta's horrible track record with respect to safety for us, the numbers you stated are horrific, i would say it is very stressful and dangerous situation. the safety measures are not in place to protect transit workers and riders. th