Southeast Queens sanitation worker dies of COVID-19

Queens sanitation worker Raymond Copeland died April 5 of COVID-19. Photo via NYC Sanitation/Twitter

By Rachel Vick

A Queens-based city sanitation worker died from complications of COVID-19 on April 5, becoming the agency’s first employee to succumb to the illness. 

Raymond Copeland, 46, worked in Queens’s district 12, which serves Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, Springfield Gardens, Baisley Park, Rochdale Village and South Jamaica. 

Copeland began working for the Sanitation department in 2014, according to his LinkedIn page.

“He was part of our dysfunctional but loving family, from cracking jokes, to partying or even, the occasional heart felt discussions about family or the job,” his friend and fellow Sanitation worker Salvatore Gomez wrote in a GoFundMe page raising money for Copeland’s family. 

“He was very well liked and will be truly missed,” Gomez continued.

Sanitation workers are considered essential employees and continue serving Queens and the rest of New York City on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.

Nearly 300 people had commented on the Sanitation Department’s Facebook post memorializing Copeland, with many commenters urging the city to ensure all city workers have access to COVID-19 testing and adequate personal protection equipment.