Snapshot NY: Motorcycle Sidecar Tour Business Now Helps Health Care Heroes Get To Work
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- People are pitching in to help health care workers in unusual but helpful ways.
That includes the city's motorcycle community.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is home to some motorcycle relics of yesteryear, but their purpose has been revived.
"Something happens when you even see it. You kind of get this nostalgia that, you don't even know where you've seen it before, but you know that it's something that is meant for fun. When you sit inside, it transforms you, it's magic," said Will Davis, of Dapper Tours.
Davis re-engineered his sidecar tour business into a service delivering our most treasured resource -- nurses.
"My mother is in health care. When this thing happened, immediately it was just like this fear and angst," Davis told CBS2's Steve Overmyer. "She works about an hour and a half away from where they live in Brooklyn, so I couldn't help her. So I said let me try to go ahead and let me try to help others."
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At 5 a.m. as Brooklyn stirs, Davis is disinfecting every surface for his next hero.
"Every single morning we sanitize every single thing. After every ride we do that," he said. "When they step foot inside, they know that they feel safe."
It's a free service he's providing to keep health care workers going.
"I knew this was a moment in history that was gonna change everything. You gotta make a choice in that moment, how do you want to remember yourself? I wanted to remember myself as somebody stepping up to do something, to help. Not because I wanted anything out of it but because it was the right thing to do," Davis said.
Sidecars were created in the late 1800s as a way for passengers to ride a bike "elegantly."
They've also had a history with nurses. In times of war, these fast and nimble machines were perfect for transporting medical personnel to the front lines.
"I thought, you know, we have four of these things, why not use them to go ahead and to do the same thing? Take our infantry, our doctors, our nurses, our essential personnel to the front lines to do what they're doing for us. They're literally saving our lives," Davis said.
A venture through New York City in a sidecar gives nurses a new perspective on the city they're saving.
"Just kind of breathing, taking in New York City, you could see it actually had an effect on their stress level," Davis said. "What happens is when they're on the road, literally every person that sees them, it's almost like the queen is coming through."
"It's almost like you are ushering in royalty as you're driving them in," Overmyer said.
"People were clapping from the buildings in Manhattan," Davis said. "Not only are they getting to work safe, but they're also getting the hero's glory that they deserve."
Kindness manifests itself in many ways. A gift to be shared for free is rewarding for everyone.
"Every single person matters and if we each look in our lives to see how we can be kind to one another, the world is going to be a better place," Davis said. "Just connect with people. Be kind to one another."
Davis has started a GoFundMe page to help employ more sidecar drivers. Click here to donate.
