A Guyanese Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus operator in New York with 21 years on the job died from coronavirus yesterday, the second member of the agency’s workforce to succumb to the disease.
The New York Daily News said today that Oliver Cyrus, 61, drove buses for the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that operates a handful of express and local bus routes. He worked out of Manhattanville bus depot in West Harlem, the report said.
It added that Cyrus was born in Guyana and lived in Brooklyn.
It’s not clear when Cyrus tested positive for the disease. MTA officials on Wednesday reported 52 agency employees had tested positive for Covid-19, the same number they reported on Tuesday.
Cyrus’ death was reported hours after the MTA confirmed longtime subway conductor Peter Petrassi, 49, died from the virus.
“Oliver was well liked by all his co-workers,” said Transport Workers Union vice president Richard David. “The workers at Manhattanville are all very upset. There’s a sombre mood at the depot.”
MTA head of buses Craig Cipriano said Cyrus was “loved by his friends and colleagues.”
“The men and women of New York City Transit are doing incredible work, going above and beyond the call of duty as they have done in the past,” Cipriano said, according to the report.