April 10–16, 2020 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 3
QUARANTUNES
Stoop musicians serenade Slope streets
By Aidan Graham
Brooklyn Paper
Church bells across the borough
will ring out every afternoon
during the ongoing
COVID-19 outbreak as part
of the new “Bells of Hope”
initiative from the Brooklyn
Diocese, Bishop Nicholas
DiMarzio announced on
April 2.
“As our city, and especially
our boroughs, remain the epicenter
of this Coronavirus pandemic,
each day we will ask
Almighty God to bring an
end to this illness which has
caused great pain and suffering
for many people,” said Di-
Marzio. “The ringing of the
church bells will inspire us
as New Yorkers and citizens
of the world, of all faiths, the
strongest of believers and the
nonbelievers, to unite in prayer
against this virus.”
The effort began on April 3,
and everyday since, churches
in Brooklyn and Queens will
chime at 3 pm daily — a time
that corresponds with the hour
in Catholic literature that Jesus
Christ died on the cross.
“The Resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the greatest instance
of love and hope in the
history of the world,” said Di-
Marzio. “We may or may not
know for whom these bells will
toll, however, we will pause to
honor those who are suffering,
who have died, and give thanks
to God for those putting their
lives at risk for others.”
The 185 operating churches
in Brooklyn and Queens were
all closed on March 20 out
of precautionary measures
to combat the novel virus,
leaving 1.5 million Catholics
without church service
for the near future.
Earlier this month, the Diocese
mourned the loss of Father
Jorge Ortiz-Garay of St.
Brigid’s Church in Wyckoff
Heights, who became the
first Catholic priest to die of
the novel coronavirus in the
United States.
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
The city will add thousands
of medical beds to Brooklyn’s
hospitals over the course of
April to accommodate the influx
of COVID-19 patients,
officials said.
Authorities will place
400 medical beds and nearly
150 intensive-care-unit beds
across the borough’s three
public hospitals — Coney Island
Hospital, Kings County
Hospital, and Woodhull Medical
Center — by May 1, the
mayor’s office announced on
April 2.
City health officials have
hired more than 1,000 nurses
and 165 doctors, physician’s
assistants, and nurse-practitioners
citywide, and authorities
plan to deploy at least
1,000 more in the next two
weeks, according to the city’s
top health expert.
“The governor has called
for hospitals to prepare for
the surge, and New York
City’s public hospitals have
been more than rising to
the challenge,” said President
and Chief Executive
of NYC Health + Hospitals
Mitchell Katz, MD. “We will
continue to work with city,
state, federal officials and the
private health systems in the
city to secure as many more
beds, health care personnel
and equipment we need to
prepare for the peak time of
By Ben Verde
Brooklyn Paper
A trio of Park Slope musicians
has turned their stoop
into a stage, entertaining
their cooped up neighbors
with soothing folk tunes
while they hide out in quarantine.
“It keeps us all sane,” said
Herschel Garfein, who plays
ukulele and serves as the
band’s lead vocalist.
With his son Lev Garfein
on the fiddle, and their neighbor
Mark Nathanson on the
accordion, the nameless trio
has been playing together on
the stoop near Third Street
and Sixth Avenue for about
seven years — but the recent
coronavirus outbreak
has turned their hobby into
a source of joy for their confined
neighbors.
“People tend to like it, it
cheers them up,” said the
younger Garfein.
The trio always makes
sure to practice proper social
distancing while jamming
out, donning masks
and keeping six feet apart,
while running through hits
such as “Tennessee Waltz”
and a folksy rendition of the
late Bill Withers’ “Lean on
Me.”
Over the weekend, around
a half-dozen passers-by gathered
around the amateur
rockers, spacing six feet
apart while singing along
and sporadically breaking
into solitary dances.
“You guys are the best
part of my day,” one neighbor
called out.
More medical beds coming
Offi cials promise relief for overburdened Brooklyn hospitals
the epidemic which is projected
to occur sometime in
April or early May.”
The city also plans to open
several makeshift hospital facilities,
including one at the
Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
in Red Hook slated to open
mid-April that will house 750
medical beds. It has not yet
been determined whether the
center will treat COVID-19
patients or hospital patients
without the virus, officials
said.
The largest addition of hospital
beds, though, will come
from 20 hotels citywide whose
beds will be converted into
hospital wards, Mayor Bill de
Blasio announced. The city,
which is renting the spaces,
has gained 10,000 medical
beds from the deal, although
officials have not disclosed
the hotels, their locations, or
the project’s timeline.
The citywide additions
come as hospitals surge
with new patients and supplies
Photo by Todd Maisel
run low. A shortage of
protective gear, such as gloves
and face masks, has caused
a spike in coronavirus cases
among hospital staff, employees
suspect.
To treat the infected healthcare
workers, a group of bipartisan
southern Brooklyn
lawmakers called on the city
to open a testing site in Bay
Ridge for first responders and
medical workers.
“Our offices have heard
from many first responders
& essential workers and their
family members that they
have been refused tests at
other testing sites in the city,”
reads the April 2 letter signed
by eight pols — Councilman
Justin Brannan, State Senators
Andrew Gounardes and
Diane Savino, Congressman
Jerrold Nadler and Assemblymembers
Mathylde Frontus,
Nicole Malliotakis, Peter
Abbate and Felix Ortiz.
“We need to get them tested
and keep them protected, not
just as a symbolic thank you,
but in recognition of the fact
that our city and state’s whole
response to this pandemic
falls apart if we cannot rely
on their lifesaving work,” the
group wrote.
City health officials, however,
suggested that the testing
site, if erected, could only
be available to public hospital
workers, because of the limited
availability of COVID-19
tests.
“We are only testing those
who are hospitalized and our
employees,” said Christopher
Miller, the senior director
for media relations at NYC
Health + Hospitals.
Hospitals throughout the city are taking precautions as people come in with
coronavirus symptoms. Here, staff at NYU Langone Brooklyn Medical Center
prepare for patients.
CORONAVIRUS
CRISIS IN
BROOKLYN
Lev Garfein, Herschel Garfein, and Mark Nathanson on Third Street.
Photo by Ben Verde
Church bells toll amid outbreak
Church bells around the borough will now ring out at 3 pm everyday.
File photo
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