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Videos: New Yorkers Are Clapping For The Helpers
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 28, 2020
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Ana Sanchez
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 28, 2020
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Update, March 31st: New Yorkers have been clapping at 7 p.m. every single night since this effort launched. (The original plan was just every Friday night.) And it's been getting louder every night!
Original story
On Friday at 7 p.m., New Yorkers cheered on the city's essential workers from their homes. The #ClapBecauseWeCare campaign was a success, and as such will continue every <strike>Friday</strike> night at 7 p.m. until... however long this takes.
The initiative was led by the Karla Otto agency, who reached out to Gothamist just a day before the inaugural clap. "Following successful activations in Europe, we wanted to come together to clap and celebrate for all the doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, grocery store workers, restaurant workers, truck drivers, sanitation workers, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and whoever else deserves a round of applause for their continued, essential work," they wrote.
And it worked! New Yorkers, many of who have been hunkered down in their homes for weeks, cheered from their windows for two full minutes. So now the plan is to keep this going—"we are wanting to make this a weekly event," a rep for Karla Otto told us. "Every Friday at 7 p.m., we ask for the two minutes of applause for all essential workers, first responders, doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, friends, and more!"
Here's what the first attempt last night sounded like:
You can find more heartwarming videos on Instagram and Twitter.
Tagged
COVID-19
coronavirus
Clap Because We Care
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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