Essential workers across New York City marked May Day by protesting for better protections and personal protective equipment.

Health care and other essential workers are on the brink of breaking down. With agony in their eyes and their frustrations spelled out on signs, they described weeks of working in unsafe conditions.

“We were unprotected,” said one protester. “We have no face masks or cleaning supplies.”

Workers from Whole Foods, Target, Walmart and Amazon say they have been pushed from being essential workers to front-line workers without proper PPE.

Amazon, responding in a statement said, “While we respect people’s right to express themselves, we object to spreading misinformation and making false claims … We have gone to extreme measures to understand and address this pandemic.”

Across the city, from the governor’s midtown office to Times Square to the Bronx, the message is the same and demands are simple: more PPE, better paid sick leave and enhanced social distancing.

Ten alleged MS-13 gang members and associates are

facing multiple charges

for three Queens murders, an attempted murder and a separate murder plot, firearms offenses and marijuana distribution, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York announced Thursday.

According to officials, one defendant was arrested Wednesday in Maryland, five were arrested today in New York and California, and four who are already being held in detention facilities will be arrested Friday and transferred to federal custody.

"The murders and crimes of violence allegedly committed by these defendants are trademark MS-13 offenses – cold-blooded, senseless and brutally violent – and pose a grave danger to the residents of our communities," United States Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement.

The alleged MS-13 members and associates facing charges tied to three murders in Queens include Juan Amaya-Ramirez, Douglas Melgar-Suriano, Jairo Martinez-Garcia, Ramiro Gutierrez, Tito Martinez-Alvarenga and Victor Lopez.

Murder of Victor Alvarenga
Alleged MS-13 associates Douglas Melgar-Suriano and Jairo Martinez-Garcia are charged with the murder of Victor Alvarenga, who was shot and killed near his Flushing home in the early morning of Nov. 4, 2018.

Officials said the two alleged gang associates and a third individual laid in wait for Alvarenga. Once he appeared they approached him and walked with him briefly before Melgar-Suriano allegedly shot him multiple times in the head and body. As he lay writhing on the ground, Martinez-Garcia also shot him, officials said.

Murder of Abel Mosso
Alleged MS-13 member Ramiro Gutierrez and alleged gang associates Tito Martinez-Alvarenga and Victor Lopez are charged with

murdering 20-year-old Abel Mosso

on a Queens subway platform on Feb. 3, 2019.

Officials said Lopez and Martinez-Alvarenga followed Mosso onto the No. 7 train at the Main Street station in Flushing, trailed by Gutierrez. The trio

believed Mosso be a member of rival 18th Street gang

.

Soon after, the first two men assaulted Mosso in the subway car of a moving train before dragging him out onto the platform at the 90th Street Station in Jackson Heights, officials said. The attackers took out a gun but Mosso was able to initially wrestle it away from them.

Gutierrez shouted in Spanish, "Nobody get involved. We're MS-13. We're going to kill him," before grabbing the gun back from the victim and shooting him multiple times, officials said. Law enforcement later recovered video posted on Facebook of the murder.

Murder of Andy Peralta
Alleged MS-13 associate Juan Amaya-Ramirez is charged with the

murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta

, officials said. Amaya-Ramirez and two others allegedly lured the teen to the Kissena Park in Flushing, Queens, and confronted him on the night of April 23, 2018.

Peralta had a crown tattoo on his chest which the alleged gang associates mistakenly thought was a symbol of rival gang the Latin Kings. According to authorities, the three assailants fatally beat, stabbed and strangled the teen before slashing the chest tattoo.

The attackers then used Amaya-Ramirez's phone to photograph Peralta's body while displaying MS-13 gang signs with their hands. The picture was found in Amaya-Ramirez's iCloud account during a court-authorized search, officials said.

The teen's body was discovered the next morning by a hiker in the park, half naked and face down in a marsh, sources told PIX at the time.

If convicted of the murders, Amaya-Ramirez, Melgar-Suriano, Martinez-Garcia, Gutierrez, Martinez-Alvarenga and Lopez face mandatory sentences of life in prison and are eligible for the death penalty.

Conspiracy to murder and attempted murder charges
Alleged MS-13 members Marlon Saracay-Lopez and Ismael Santos-Novoa, along with alleged gang associate Emerson Martinez-Lara, are all charged with conspiring between May 2019 and July 2019 to murder a fellow MS-13 associate, authorities said.

According to officials, the target had apparently failed to kill a rival gang member as originally ordered by Saracay-Lopez and Santos-Novoa.

Saracay-Lopez, Santos-Novoa and alleged gang associate Victor Ramirez are also being charged with the attempted murder of a member of rival 18th street gang on Aug. 25, 2019 in Jackson Heights, Queens. This shooting resulted in an innocent bystander being wounded in the leg, officials said.

If convicted of firearms and attempted murder charges, Saracay-Lopez, Santos-Novoa and Ramirez face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. If convicted, Martinez-Lara faces up to 15 years in prison for marijuana distribution conspiracy and murder conspiracy.

Federal officials said four of the suspects will be arraigned Thursday, with another four facing arraignment Friday.

This story was originally published by Mark Sundstrom at WPIX.

New NYPD training videos released Wednesday clearly show officers what they can and cannot do when taking a suspect into custody,

But sometimes that training does not translate in real life.

There's already there’s a law on the books banning officers from putting people in chokeholds, but the city council wants to take things a step further, banning officers from applying pressure or restricting a suspect's diaphragm.

“It’s tough right now to be a police officer," said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan. "You have to worry that if a suspect shot at you and you put a knee on his back, that now you become the criminal.”

Monahan said these new rules have his officers fighting crime with their hands tied behind their backs.

Those in favor say that officers are merely being given a script telling them how to behave in a critical incident. However, there are still those that argue that the city council does not have expertise in police tactics.

Even so, the NYPD argues every encounter is different and a blanket law is not the answer.

A Starbucks worker in New Jersey allegedly spat in police officers' drinks, officials said Tuesday.

Park Ridge officers arrested Kevin Trejo, 21, on charges of subjecting a law enforcement officer to contact with bodily fluid, knowingly tampering with a cup of coffee while knowing it was ordered by a law enforcement officer and creating a hazardous or physically dangerous condition.

In a statement, Park Ridge Police Chief Joseph Madden said Trejo was arrested after an investigation found that he spat in the drinks of officers who patronized the store where he worked.

New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Colligan called Trejo's alleged actions "outrageous."

"Every time I think we as society hit bottom, there is a new incident," Colligan said. "Officers risk their lives daily, it shouldn't be while getting coffee."

A Starbucks spokesperson said Trejo was no longer employed by the company.

"Obviously this individual's behavior was reprehensible and not at all a reflection of how our partners or employees treat our customers on a daily basis," the spokesperson said.

Starbucks is working with the police department in the investigation.

WPIX's Aliza Chasan first reported this story.

The longstanding 'Tribute in Light' tradition is back on with a new partner, according to that group's CEO.

Frank Siller, CEO of Tunnel to Towers, told PIX11 News Friday that his group will put on the annual towers of light on Sept. 11, 2020. It had been previously canceled earlier in the week due to COVID-19 concerns for crews that put on the tribute.

No other details were available, other than that the tribute is a "done deal," a foundation spokesperson said. They did not elaborate.

The Tunnel to Towers website said Friday, “The foundation is doing everything in its power to make sure that the towers of light will once again be illuminated.”

The 'Tribute in Light' was canceled because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, 9/11 Memorial and Museum spokesman Michael Frazier said. The annual reading of the names was also recently canceled.

It is put on annually by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

“The world’s beloved twin beams of light regrettably will not shine over lower Manhattan as part of this year's tributes to commemorate 9/11," Frazier said. "This incredibly difficult decision was reached in consultation with our partners after concluding the health risks during the pandemic were far too great for the large crew required to produce the annual Tribute in Light."

Nearly 40 people usually work in close proximity for several weeks to produce the 'Tribute in Light' each year.

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum planned to partner with NYC & Company and buildings throughout the city to light up their facades and spires in blue in commemoration of the 19th anniversary of 9/11.

"In a spirit of unity and remembrance, the city will come together for a 'Tribute in Lights' to inspire the world and honor the promise to never forget," Frazier said.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001 when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center.

Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted President Donald Trump Monday morning for suggesting health care workers in New York City either lost protective masks or allowed them to be stolen.

“There’s no evidence of that whatsoever. The president did something very insulting by saying that,” de Blasio said. “Our health care workers are heroes. They’re at the front lines, they’re dealing with extraordinary challenges, extraordinary stress.”

Trump made the comments during a

COVID-19 news briefing

Sunday night. The president questioned how it was possible that the demand for masks at one unidentified hospital in New York City could skyrocket from 10,000 to 20,000 per day to as many as 300,000 per day.

“Where are the masks going -- are they going out the back door?” he said, adding that perhaps something is going on that is "worse than hoarding."

De Blasio fired back on Monday, saying he has repeatedly asked Trump to send more medical personnel to the city to relieve the stress on overworked hospital staff.

“That’s what I think he should focus on, not questioning what people are doing with the supplies,” the mayor said. “Those supplies they go in, they get used immediately.”

De Blasio also discussed the increased pressure on the NYPD as it sees an uptick in

coronavirus cases among its ranks

, the possibility that

schools may remain closed

for the rest of the year,

fines for not social distancing

and more.