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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MARCH 25 - MARCH 31, 2022
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
Queens lawmakers laud Mayor Adams’ plan to
bring new healthcare facility to Far Rockaway
PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Mayor Eric Adams is planning
to bring a new healthcare
facility to Far Rockaway under
his “Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent”
economic recovery plan for New
York City released on March 10.
The mayor’s plan outlines an
ambitious agenda to reimagine
the future of New York City’s
economy built on equity and inclusivity,
following two years
of hardship amid the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
“New York City’s recovery
cannot and will not be about going
back to the way things were.
We are going to rebuild, renew
and reinvent our city and our
economy for today, tomorrow
and generations to come,” Adams
said. “This is more than a
to-do list — it is a complete reset
with more than 70 concrete actions
we will take to tear down
the barriers to progress and
build up a strong, resilient city
with opportunity for everyone.”
One of the mayor’s initiatives
in the plan involves improving
long-term health outcomes
in downtown Far Rockaway, a
neighborhood facing disproportionate
health disparities and
impacts of COVID. Through a
new public health facility and
improvements to local parks, the
city will provide local access to
new community health resources
and wellness programs, modeled
after programs elsewhere in
the city, according to the mayor’s
plan.
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards, who has
been a staunch and tireless advocate
for bringing additional
healthcare facilities to the Rockaway
peninsula, says he looks
forward to working with Adams
to “deliver a facility worthy of
these communities.”
PoliticsNY.com
“Ending the healthcare disparities
Rockaway families face
has been a top priority of mine
for years. I’m thankful @NYCMayor
has joined the push to
bring a new healthcare facility
to Rockaway,” Richards wrote
on Twitter.
Richards, along with Senator
James Sanders Jr. and Assemblyman
Khaleel Anderson, sent
a letter to the mayor’s office on
March 4 on the importance of
bringing healthcare equity to
Far Rockaway, and a new NYC
Health + Hospital facility.
Significant progress was
made under former Mayor Bill
de Blasio’s administration to
make the project a reality, according
to the lawmakers. However,
the plan was dropped by
NYC Health + Hospitals during
last fall’s mayoral transition.
In their letter, the lawmakers
outlined COVID’s impact on
the Rockaway peninsula and
outreach equity in those communities
that have been an “abject
failure at worst.”
“With one already overburdened
hospital, St. John’s Episcopal,
and a smattering of smaller
healthcare clinics on the peninsula,
however, Rockaway families
have little to no access to the
medical care they deserve,” the
lawmakers said in the letter.
According to the lawmakers,
the closest Level 1 Adult Trauma
Center is Jamaica Hospital,
which is more than 10 miles
away, while the nearest Level
1 Pediatric Trauma Center, Cohen’s
Children’s Medical Center,
is nearly 13 miles from the peninsula’s
eastern end and more
than 23 miles from its western
tip.
“Even for families lucky
enough to own a vehicle, it can
take upwards of an hour or more
for Rockaway families to reach
these facilities,” the lawmakers
said. “Meanwhile, the Neponsit
Adult Day Healthcare Center,
which largely caters to individuals
with cognitive impairments,
has been shuttered for numerous
reasons since the start of the COVID
19 pandemic, leaving peninsula
seniors to suffer from a lack
of critical services.”
According to the lawmakers,
funding and constructing an
NYC Health + Hospitals in Far
Rockaway is a start to addressing
healthcare disparities and
improving the health and wellbeing
of its residents.
“The Queens Borough President’s
Office and the ‘World’s
Borough’ have done right by
NYC Health + Hospitals throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic,
supporting our healthcare heroes
in every sense of the word
and working day and night to
ensure as many residents as
possible get tested, vaccinated
and boosted,” Richards said.
“As we emerge from the omicron
wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
and fuel Queens’ comeback, it’s
now NYC Health + Hospitals
and city government’s turn to
finally do right by the families of
Rockaway.”
In a statement to QNS, Anderson
said it is no secret the Rockaways
are grossly underserved in
terms of healthcare and medical
needs while noting the closure of
the Peninsula Hospital in 2012
that left residents with only one
emergency room at St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital, which was
already overburdened before.
“COVID-19 had wrecked this
inadequate health system, and I
am glad Mayor Eric Adams senses
the urgency the peninsula
faces,” Anderson said. “The new
NYC Health facility recently announced
by the mayor in his economic
recovery plan is one of the
many steps to ensure healthcare
equity to Rockaway.”
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone at
(718) 260–4526.
Mayor Eric Adams is planning to bring a new healthcare facility to Far Rockaway, where St. John’s Episcopal is
currently the only hospital among smaller healthcare clinics on the peninsula. Photo courtesy of SJEH
/QNS.COM
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