Line-sitters making money waiting for COVID-19 tests in NYC

NEW YORK - For professional line-sitters like Robert Samuel, work has been hard to come by in 2020, until now.

“Pre-pandemic, business was great— but when March hit and NYC shut down, so did our business, so to speak,” he says.

Samuel’s latest gig is holding spots at COVID-19 testing sites, where lines are wrapping around city blocks ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Some would prefer to do it themselves, but Samuel calls it serving his community.

“It’s people who just don’t have time to wait. Maybe they have childcare issues, or they’re at work,” he adds.

Samuel founded his company, “Same Ole’ Line Dudes,” back in 2012 with several-dozen workers.

The line-sitters quickly switched gears from serving travelers and tourists to helping needy New Yorkers and others are beginning to follow suit.

For instance, people are flocking to mobile marketplaces like “TaskRabbit” to advertise their own COVID-19 line-sharing services.

In a statement, the company said: “The safety and well-being of all users on the platform is our biggest priority. We sincerely hope that our healthcare system catches up to the needs associated with COVID-19, and will continue to look for ways that our platform can assist with the overall pandemic response.”