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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, APRIL 19, 2020
Brooklyn Cat Cafe has launched a new initiative to help pet owners struggling as a result of COVID-19. Statia Grossman
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The Brooklyn Cat Cafe in
Brooklyn Heights has launched
an emergency foster network to
support pet owners struggling
during the coronavirus outbreak.
The folks behind the feline
palace on Montague Street have
partnered with the Brooklyn
Flatbush Area Team for Cats
and Cat Castle in Manhattan
to launch the NYC COVID Pet
Plan, which will help pet owners
if they’re struggling to take care
of their fur balls for fi nancial or
health reasons, according to the
project’s founder.
“This type of environment
can put a tremendous strain on
our neighbors and friends. We
want to ensure that not only are
humans cared for – but that contingency
plans are enacted to ensure
the wellbeing of our furry
friends,” said Anne Levin, director
of the cat cafe.
The initiative’s website provides
resources for how Brooklynites
can plan for their pet in
case they become too sick to care
for it, such as fi nding someone to
emergency foster their animal
for them.
The group also allows owners
to apply for emergency assistance
with pet food and kitty litter
if they are struggling to afford
those things amid the pandemic.
Do-gooders can also apply to
help foster pets, donate pet food,
pet medicine, cat litter, or money,
as well as volunteer for the project,
according to the website.
Levin said that she launched
the project to help ease the burden
on the city’s animal shelters.
“NYC COVID Pet Plan will
provide much needed support to
pet-owning families affected by
COVID-19 and take some of the
strain off overburdened city shelters,”
she said.
Brooklynites have fostered
and adopted cats and dogs en
masse to give them company
in the quarantine as the pandemic
ravages across the Five
Boroughs, leaving some shelters
without animals.
The Pet Plan currently covers
Brooklyn, Upper Manhattan
and parts of the Bronx, but the
group is looking for other organizations
and volunteers to help
them expand to help people in
need across the city, according
to Levin.
“During this time of immense
stress, we want to support our
neighbors to our greatest ability,”
she said.
BK gets three new
COVID-19 testing sites
The state opened a testing site in Flatbush on April 11. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
BY ROSE ADAMS
A COVID-19 testing site has
opened in Flatbush, and two
more will open in Brownsville
and East New York as part of an
effort to help minority communities
that have been disproportionately
impacted by the
pandemic.
“We are going to increase
testing and open new testing
sites to collect more data in
African-American and Latino
communities so we can better
understand why this virus
kills and has higher fatality
rates in certain communities,
and what we can do to address
it,” announced Gov. Andrew
Cuomo on April 9.
Black people account for up
to 28 percent of coronavirus-related
deaths in New York City,
although they make up only 22
percent of its population, according
to BuzzFeed News.
The Flatbush facility, located
in the Sears Parking Lot
at 2307 Beverly Rd., has been
offering drive-through testing
since its opening on April 11.
The state-operated site, which
is appointment-only, is prioritizing
residents who are at-risk
or experiencing symptoms, offi
cials said.
Later this week, state offi -
cials will open a walk-in testing
site in Brownsville, according
to a spokesman for the New
York State Health Department,
who said that the agency is still
nailing down its exact location.
The new facilities are two of
nine state Health Department
testing sites statewide, fi ve of
which are New York City. All
sites are appointment-only: To
schedule a test, call (888) 364–
3065.
On April 12, Mayor Bill de
Blasio followed in Cuomo’s footsteps
when he announced the
opening of fi ve city-operated
COVID-19 testing facilities in
predominantly Black and Latino
neighborhoods.
“We see a clear disparity
in the impact, who’s been hit
hardest, communities of color,
lower income communities,
immigrant communities, folks
who are vulnerable already
because they haven’t had the
health care they needed and
deserve throughout their life,”
the mayor said in a press conference
on April 12. “So by the
end of next week, we will create
community testing sites and
these are targeted to have the
biggest impact.”
De Blasio’s plan includes
one testing center in East New
York, which will most likely
operate out of Gotham Health,
East New York on Pitkin Avenue
by Pennsylvania Avenue.
Elderly residents or locals with
pre-existing conditions from
the community will be prioritized
for testing, the mayor
said.
City offi cials have not yet
announced the East New York
site’s opening day, or how residents
can make appointments.
The new city-operated testing
sites are the fi rst COVID-19
testing facilities the mayor’s
offi ce has opened for patients
outside public hospitals. In late
March, the mayor shut down
all appointment-only testing
facilities, citing a lack of personal
protective gear for staff,
and mandated that testing only
be available for walk-in patients
who needed to be hospitalized.
The change came only hours
after two testing sites in Coney
Island opened their doors.
Pet project
Brooklyn Cat Cafe launches service to help
struggling pet owners during COVID-19