Heroes of 2020: Keeping the 220 East 42nd Street Office Running Smoothly

The cheerful smiles of VNSNY receptionists Crystal Walton and Roxanne Gay greet hundreds of employees and visitors to VNSNY’s 220 East 42nd Street Manhattan headquarters every week. Or at least that’s what they did before COVID-19 safety precautions compelled the company to close the office and equip hundreds of workers with laptop computers so they could do their jobs from home while New York City shelters in place.

These days, you’ll find Crystal and Roxanne answering phones and emails and helping the HR Connect team communicate important policies and guidelines from their homes—except for the one day of the week when each makes her way into Manhattan to VNSNY’s corporate office (Crystal on Tuesdays and Roxanne on Fridays) where they sort and scan mail, update security badges and help keep VNSNY running smoothly by tending to critical tasks that can only be done from the 42nd Street office.

“To be honest, it was a little odd the first time I walked off the elevator all by myself,” says Crystal one recent Tuesday from the office. “But I knew how important it was for me to be here, and once I got used to it, it was really kind of nice. It is very quiet here right now.”

Roxanne, who commutes by express bus from Canarsie, Brooklyn to get to the office on Fridays, is delighted that her one-hour-and-forty-five-minute commute now takes only 40 minutes, even though her “express” bus now travels the local route. “Everything is closed,” Roxanne says. “It’s like a scene from the movie I Am Legend. Kind of eerie.”

This mirrors Crystal’s experience as a subway commuter, where she says “people are taking social distancing very seriously,” with only five people in a car when she gets on the train most times. While both Crystal and Roxanne admit that travelling on nearly empty public transportation can be a bit off-putting, it also offers a glimpse of hope that New Yorkers will soon “flatten the COVID-19 curve.”

From their remote locations the other four days of the work week, VNSNY’s “dynamic reception duo” are as busy as ever staying in constant contact with Michelle Antonucci, Amy Mitchell, Marian Haas and others on the HR Connect team. They coordinate meetings remotely, keeping everyone in sync using Zoom, video chats and Skype in addition to their normal reception responsibilities.

Though they miss the constant flow of people and activity, they know the work they’re doing makes a big difference to VNSNY’s dedicated nurses, social workers, rehab therapists, home health aides and other critical clinicians working on the front lines of the pandemic—as well as all their colleagues behind the scenes.

A typical workday begins at 8:00 a.m. As VNSNY’s receptionist, Crystal used to greet visitors when they walked through the sixth-floor doors of the corporate office. Now, while she’s more likely to welcome guests by Zoom or Microsoft Teams, she’s still the first line of contact for anyone who calls for HR, Compliance, or the Legal department. Needless to say, her days are still spent interacting and talking to people…a lot.

Fellow HR Assistant Roxanne spends every Friday checking items off her own “to do” list. Both receptionists also spend several hours on their day at the office opening and scanning mail, then routing scanned copies to recipients throughout VNSNY. In fact, if you’ve received an important document from the office in the last couple of weeks, odds are it was one of these two extraordinary women who sent it your way!

When asked how she keeps her spirits so high during a time of isolation and unknowns, Crystal says, “You have to find the fun in every situation. Yes, I’m used to being surrounded by people—but hey, now I’ve got the entire east side of the office all to myself!”