While locking down NYC, COVID czar partied hardy
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Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
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Location: Long Island, New York
25 Sep 2024, 5:17 am
Former NYC COVID czar fired after admitting to sex parties, drug use
Quote:
Dr. Jay Varma, who was recorded in an undercover video admitting to having participated in sex parties and using illegal drugs in violation of COVID policies that he helped to write, has been terminated from his high-level corporate job.
That’s the latest development in an ongoing story involving New York City’s former senior health advisor.
The news came in a filing from the medical technology company SIGA Technologies to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday afternoon. The filing read, in part, “The Board of Directors… terminated Dr. Jay Varma, effective immediately.”
The termination happened hours after a group of about 100 city workers who’d been dismissed from their jobs for not following COVID vaccination mandates and other COVID protocols held a rally on the steps of City Hall. They were joined by some members of the New York City Council who call themselves the Common Sense Caucus.
They said that an undercover video of Varma released last week by the conservative website Louder with Crowder was damning against Dr. Varma.
In the video, the former senior health advisor says that while the rest of the city had been ordered to socially distance, mask up, and get vaccinated, he was at group sex parties and other gatherings. Varma also says in the video that he was using MDMA, an illegal drug commonly called Molly, at a gathering.
Brendan Fogarty, a firefighter who lost his FDNY job over not having complied with the city’s COVID vaccination mandate, spoke at the City Hall rally. In an interview afterward, Fogarty, who regained his job after retiring and reapplying, called Varma’s on-camera admissions disturbingly hypocritical.
“I could care less what he does,” said Fogarty, who’s also involved in the group Firefighters For Choice, “but he affected my freedom and my ability to make a living.”
Michael Kane, a classroom teacher who lost his position over non-compliance with vaccine mandates, helped to organize the rally, with City Councilmember Robert Holden.
After the rally, Kane referenced some of the comments that the so-called COVID Czar is heard making in the hidden video.
“Dr. Jay Varma said he had to be involved in drug-fueled sex parties, which I don’t care about,” said Kane, “but [he’d said] he needed that to be his ‘authentic self.’ But what about my authentic self as a teacher?”
Some members of the city council are now calling on Mayor Eric Adams to reinstate and compensate the city workers who lost their jobs over COVID-19 policy violations.
ommon Sense Caucus Councilmember Kristy Marmorato said at the rally that she and other city councilmembers are working on a legislative measure involving the former senior health policy advisor.
Its purpose, she said: “Bring Dr. Varma in for an oversight hearing to hold him accountable.”
Common Sense Caucus Councilmember Kristy Marmorato said at the rally that she and other city councilmembers are working on a legislative measure involving the former senior health policy advisor.
Its purpose, she said: “Bring Dr. Varma in for an oversight hearing to hold him accountable.”
Varma did not respond to a request for comment that PIX11 News made on Monday afternoon. He did issue a public statement late last week, when the hidden video first came out, which said:
“Unfortunately, I was targeted by an operative for an extremist right-wing organization determined to malign public health officials and take down the public health system in America. This individual has been highly discredited and he has been banned from numerous media outlets for his homophobic slurs and racist rants.”
“In those private conversations that were secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context,” Varma’s statement continues, “I referred to events that transpired four years ago. I served in City Hall between April 2020 – May 2021. During that time, I participated in two private gatherings. I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time.”
Councilmember Robert Holden, who organized the rally and has led efforts to get dismissed city workers reinstated, also released a statement late Monday afternoon:
“Dr. Jay Varma’s firing is a step in the right direction, but the consequences for his actions are long overdue. Varma boasted about harassing people into submission over the vaccine mandate and admitted to participating in illegal sex parties, all while he, former Health Commissioner Dr. David Chokshi, and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio imposed draconian measures that shut down the entire city. The hypocrisy is outrageous. Millions were impacted by their heavy-handed policies, and the public deserves accountability. Varma’s reckless and unethical behavior cannot be overlooked, and this dismissal marks only the beginning of the consequences he should face.”
That’s the latest development in an ongoing story involving New York City’s former senior health advisor.
The news came in a filing from the medical technology company SIGA Technologies to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday afternoon. The filing read, in part, “The Board of Directors… terminated Dr. Jay Varma, effective immediately.”
The termination happened hours after a group of about 100 city workers who’d been dismissed from their jobs for not following COVID vaccination mandates and other COVID protocols held a rally on the steps of City Hall. They were joined by some members of the New York City Council who call themselves the Common Sense Caucus.
They said that an undercover video of Varma released last week by the conservative website Louder with Crowder was damning against Dr. Varma.
In the video, the former senior health advisor says that while the rest of the city had been ordered to socially distance, mask up, and get vaccinated, he was at group sex parties and other gatherings. Varma also says in the video that he was using MDMA, an illegal drug commonly called Molly, at a gathering.
Brendan Fogarty, a firefighter who lost his FDNY job over not having complied with the city’s COVID vaccination mandate, spoke at the City Hall rally. In an interview afterward, Fogarty, who regained his job after retiring and reapplying, called Varma’s on-camera admissions disturbingly hypocritical.
“I could care less what he does,” said Fogarty, who’s also involved in the group Firefighters For Choice, “but he affected my freedom and my ability to make a living.”
Michael Kane, a classroom teacher who lost his position over non-compliance with vaccine mandates, helped to organize the rally, with City Councilmember Robert Holden.
After the rally, Kane referenced some of the comments that the so-called COVID Czar is heard making in the hidden video.
“Dr. Jay Varma said he had to be involved in drug-fueled sex parties, which I don’t care about,” said Kane, “but [he’d said] he needed that to be his ‘authentic self.’ But what about my authentic self as a teacher?”
Some members of the city council are now calling on Mayor Eric Adams to reinstate and compensate the city workers who lost their jobs over COVID-19 policy violations.
ommon Sense Caucus Councilmember Kristy Marmorato said at the rally that she and other city councilmembers are working on a legislative measure involving the former senior health policy advisor.
Its purpose, she said: “Bring Dr. Varma in for an oversight hearing to hold him accountable.”
Common Sense Caucus Councilmember Kristy Marmorato said at the rally that she and other city councilmembers are working on a legislative measure involving the former senior health policy advisor.
Its purpose, she said: “Bring Dr. Varma in for an oversight hearing to hold him accountable.”
Varma did not respond to a request for comment that PIX11 News made on Monday afternoon. He did issue a public statement late last week, when the hidden video first came out, which said:
“Unfortunately, I was targeted by an operative for an extremist right-wing organization determined to malign public health officials and take down the public health system in America. This individual has been highly discredited and he has been banned from numerous media outlets for his homophobic slurs and racist rants.”
“In those private conversations that were secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context,” Varma’s statement continues, “I referred to events that transpired four years ago. I served in City Hall between April 2020 – May 2021. During that time, I participated in two private gatherings. I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time.”
Councilmember Robert Holden, who organized the rally and has led efforts to get dismissed city workers reinstated, also released a statement late Monday afternoon:
“Dr. Jay Varma’s firing is a step in the right direction, but the consequences for his actions are long overdue. Varma boasted about harassing people into submission over the vaccine mandate and admitted to participating in illegal sex parties, all while he, former Health Commissioner Dr. David Chokshi, and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio imposed draconian measures that shut down the entire city. The hypocrisy is outrageous. Millions were impacted by their heavy-handed policies, and the public deserves accountability. Varma’s reckless and unethical behavior cannot be overlooked, and this dismissal marks only the beginning of the consequences he should face.”
People like him are an important reason few are getting vaccinated and COVID persists at an endemic level. Now that most people have some immunity from getting COVID from getting the virus, or vaccines COVID is similar if not somewhat worse than a bad flu season. What worries me is when the next pandemic hits people will be so cynical of expert advice that they will not mitigate until people are literally dropping dead on the streets.
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