The Brooklyn House of Detention has been identifi ed as one potential
site to increase hospital bed capacity. Photo by Zoe Freilich
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COURIER LIFE, MARCH 20-26, 2020 3
BY BEN VERDE
With over 1,000 New Yorkers
currently infected, the
spread of the novel coronavirus
threatens to overwhelm
medical facilities statewide
with a swell of patients, leaving
hospitals overextended
and grasping for resources.
At a press conference
on Tuesday, Governor Andrew
Cuomo estimated that
the virus will hit its peak in
roughly 45 days, on May 1,
at which time 37,200 intensive
care unit beds will be
needed.
Yet, the state currently
has only 3,000.
To make up for the massive
defi cit, large spaces will
need to be set aside for hospital
beds. In Brooklyn, local
elected offi cials have started
to scope out a few possible
sites.
In a letter to Mayor Bill de
Blasio and Governor Cuomo,
Borough President Eric Adams
identifi ed multiple publicly
owned sites that could
provide the space needed to
fi t thousands of additional
beds.
“Covid—19 cases are
growing at an exponential
rate and Brooklyn hospitals
could reach capacity in
a very short period of time,”
Adams wrote. “It is imperative
that we act now to secure
and prepare available spaces
before that becomes our new
reality.”
The sites include:
• The out-of-use Brooklyn
Detention Center on Atlantic
Avenue. The jail contains 759
cells, a kitchen and common
areas that could facilitate
emergency medical supplies.
• Public school buildings
which have multiple rooms
and are closed to students until
at least April 20.
• The boroughs many armory
buildings including
the 13th Regiment Armory
in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the
Bedford Atlantic Armory in
Crown Heights and the Marcy
Avenue Armory in Williamsburg.
The Bedford Union Armory
in Crown Heights is also
a possibility if work stops on
the long-in-the-works revamp
of the structure.
• The Brooklyn Cruise
Ship Terminal in Red Hook, a
massive structure with wideopen
spaces.
• Floyd Bennett Field/Aviator
Park in Marine Park, a
federally owned former airfi
eld with empty airplane
hangers and vast swaths of
empty land.
In addition to these spaces,
Coney Island Councilman
Mark Treyger announced on
Monday that he has been coordinating
with the Brooklyn
Cyclones and the Department
of Emergency Management
to repurpose the parking lot
of Coney Island’s MCU Park
to increase hospital capacity.
Treyger said the aim is to
set up a mobile testing site
at the minor league ballpark
which would assist in directing
traffi c away from the already
overburdened emergency
room at Coney Island
Hospital.
“We need to begin planning
ahead to assist Coney
Island Hospital set up a mobile
location away from their
emergency room since they’re
being inundated with concerned
residents rushing to
the hospital,” Treyger said.
SEARCHING FOR SITES
Offi cials look to increase hospital capacity
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