www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY April 19, 2020 2
Work on fi eld hospital at Van Cortlandt Park put on hold
BY JASON COHEN
The work to create a $40 million
fi eld hospital in Van Cortlandt Park is
now on hold.
On April 11, Assemblyman Jeffrey
Dinowitz announced that he received a
call from the contractor who is building
the facility in coordination with
the Army Corps of Engineers last week
saying that they have been told to stop
work until the need for beds is clearer.
“I am worried that this decision is
premature, but frankly if we don’t need
the beds (due to suffi cient hospital capacity
elsewhere) then I think that
would be a major victory in our fi ght
against the pandemic,” Dinowitz said.
“However, presuming that the work
resumes as more people get sick, I am
incredibly proud that our park will be
used to help save lives.
“For my entire tenure as your assemblyman,
I have fought to protect
Van Cortlandt Park. But the lives that
could be saved at this location might be
those of someone you or I care about,
and we should do everything we can to
prevent the loss of life.”
On April 3, Parsons Corporation,
which is based in Virginia, signed a
seven-month contract to build an alternate
care site at Van Cortlandt Park.
The fi eld hospital is expected to be up
and running within three weeks and
will provide 200 beds across 12 acres to
treat COVID-19 positive patients. Work
on the hospital commenced April 4 under
the supervision of U.S. Army Corps
and FEMA.
Councilman Andrew Cohen is not in
favor of the decision to halt the work.
“The decision to stop work on Van Cortlandt
Park’s fi eld hospital in the absence
of a plan to address the widening gap in
access to care does not align with public
statements promising more, not less, relief
for the hardest-hit communities in
the Bronx,” he said on Twitter. “This decision
leaves the Bronx, one of the most
COVID-19 impacted boroughs, without
an emergency care site when the need is
greatest and when disparities in healthcare
access continue to devastate low-income
communities of color.”
As of press time, the Bronx leads all
boroughs in COVID-19 deaths, with 1,280
reported as of end of day on April 13. This
mortality rate is nearly triple Manhattan.
This is not the fi rst time the park has
been used as a medical facility. In 1916, the
National Guard used it during tensions
with Mexico.
The initial selection of Parsons did not
come without controversy.
In April 2004, Parsons was awarded a
$243 million contract to upgrade 17 hospitals
located throughout Iraq, design and
construct 150 primary healthcare centers
(PHC) and repair three ministry buildings
in Baghdad.
But, in April 2006, the special inspector
general for Iraq audited their progress
and discovered that approximately $186
million—about 77 percent—was spent on
the PHC project, over a two year period,
with little progress made.
Initiative works on feeding front line healthcare workers
BY JASON COHEN
As restaurants are
struggling to stay afl oat
and medical professionals
are working long
grueling hours trying to
save COVID-19 patients,
one eatery in Manhattan
decided to give back.
Luca Di Pietro is the
founder of Tarallucci e
Vino restaurant group,
which has fi ve establishments
in New York City.
The coronavirus caused
him to shut down four of
his fi ve locations and lay
off 90 employees.
But shortly after the
mayor’s announcement
to shutter non-essential
businesses, he knew
there was a way to help
doctors and nurses and
stay open. He launched
Feed the Frontlines NYC
— an initiative to get contributors
to buy meals
from restaurants in the
fi ve boroughs to be delivered
to fi rst responders.
“Since that fi rst delivery
my father realized
there was an incredible
amount of demand,” said
his daughter Isabella Di
Pietro, a senior at Harvard
University.
The goal of the initiative
is to keep staff employed
and pave the way
for other restaurants to
do the same as they work
to feed more healthcare
professionals.
People can purchase
a meal for $25 on their
website and she and her
family then fi nd restaurants
to deliver food to
a hospital. They have
already contacted hospitals
throughout the
boroughs that are all on
board with the program.
Feed the Frontlines
is doing 2,000 meals a
day and so far more than
20,000 have been delivered.
“We’re not making a
profi t right now,” Di Pietro
said. “It’s about survival.
We’ve been looking
really hard to push out
into the outer
boroughs.”
One restaurant they
are working with is
Tosca Marquee, 4034 East
Tremont, in Throggs
Neck.
Manager Melissa Liebman
said like Tarallucci
e Vino, they laid off a lot
of staff due to COVID-19.
Leibman praised the initiative
and said it’s a winwin
for everyone.
“We were looking for
other ways to get food
to the hospital,” she explained.
“Feed the Frontlines
helps their restaurant
because people are
buying meals for the
hospitals and it’s raising
money to help keep staff
employed.”
They are delivering
food fi ve days a week
and have brought food
to Montefi ore Moses, the
Jack D. Weiler Hospital,
Wakefi eld and Bronx-
Care. This past week
alone they served 605
individually packaged
meals to Bronx hospitals
through Feed the Frontlines.
Liebman, 41, has been
with Tosca for several
years, but never experienced
anything like this.
Since doctors and nurses
are risking their lives every
day, she said the last
thing they should have to
worry about is food.
“It’s a great organization
and I’d really like
people to contribute and
help,” Liebman said.
“Buying a meal for one
doctor doesn’t take
a lot.”
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who broke the news of the work stoppage of a fi eld hospital at Van
Cortlandt Park File Photo
Doctors at a Montefi ore hospital receive food from Tosca Photo courtesy Feed the Front Lines
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