By MIKE LEE

Hundreds of New York City job seekers wanting a career in civil service packed the DC 37 Hiring Hall and Job Fair on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Sponsored by the union and the City’s Department of Administrative Citywide Services (DCAS), more than 25 agencies were on hand to take applications, hold interviews, and assist with civil service exam registration to help fill the City’s vacancies.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other union leaders joined DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido to greet the throngs of people that lined the block outside DC 37’s West 45th Street office.

The union’s Hiring Hall is part of a recently launched campaign called Staff the Front Lines of the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), DC 37’s national union, to recruit and retain public workers.

Despite a slight increase in hiring last year thanks to aid provided by the American Rescue Plan Act and other federal initiatives, the public sector workforce is down more than 500,000 since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of the large attendance at the first event and positive online response through social media, DC 37 is working with DCAS to plan additional hiring halls across New York City’s five boroughs.