Javits Center COVID-19 vaccine sites
to offer one-dose shots on overnights
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
New York state will turn
the mass vaccine hubs at
Yankee Stadium and the
Jacob Javits Convention Center
into 24-hour operations this week
by offering the one-dose Johnson
& Johnson COVID-19 shot to New
Yorkers during overnight hours.
It’s part of a pilot program that
the state government is launching
to have more of the vaccine
available and administered to city
residents. The move opens up
thousands of new appointments
at the two New York City sites,
as well as the New York State
Fairgrounds in Syracuse.
In a press release, Governor
Andrew Cuomo said that the Empire
State is moving to distribute
its allocation of 164,800 doses of
the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
quickly because of a reported lag
in the following week’s shipment.
A man prepares to receive his vaccine at the Javits Center. FILE PHOTO
“The White House has made
great process securing additional
Johnson & Johnson vaccines,
and New York State will receive
a large initial allocation of them
to be administered over the next
week,” Governor Cuomo said in
his statement. “There will then
be a lag in Johnson & Johnson
production until it ticks up again
roughly two weeks later. This pilot
plan will maximize the initial
doses of the Johnson & Johnson
vaccine and get as many shots in
arms as possible.”
Moreover, various county
health departments, pharmacies
and federally-qualifi ed health centers
across New York will also get
the Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The program will not impact
the administration of the twodose
Pfi zer vaccine at the Yankee
Stadium and Javits Center sites;
that will remain ongoing, and
the vaccines will be administered
separately at each site.
The Yankee Stadium site is
open to eligible Bronx residents.
New Yorkers who wish to get
a vaccine at the Javits Center can
schedule an appointment online
at the state’s “Am I Eligible?”
website, am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.
health.ny.gov, or by calling
833-NYS-4-VAX. The first
overnight appointments will be
available for 9 p.m. on March 5.
City to restart $17 billion in capital projects
that were put on hold during the pandemic
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
New York City is restarting
$17 billion worth of
capital projects which
were frozen last year amid serious
budget concerns caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced on Monday.
More than 1,700 projects will
be given the green light by the
end of March including work
on repairing city infrastructure,
building affordable housing and
schools in order to help bring
back livelihoods lost to the pandemic,
de Blasio said.
“This is a city of building things…
We build things, we keep building
things and we never stop building,
” de Blasio said during a morning
press conference.Governor Andrew
Cuomo paused all non-essential
construction in New York state last
March which was brought back in
phases in the spring and summer.
The mayor stressed the importance
of continuing school
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson, Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza,
and School Construction Authority President and CEO Lorraine Grillo announce the start of
construction of a new STEAM focused Pre-K Center in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park, Queens
on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019.
construction to mitigate overcrowding
as the city prepares
to bring all students back into
PHOTO BY MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE
classrooms by September.
“Lots of communities still experience
overcrowding in schools
and that is going to be the case
again in a few short months,”
said de Blasio. “So we have got to
get back to work building more
school capacity in the communities
that need it the most.”
New York City public schools
have long struggled with overcrowding
and small classrooms
with the Department of Education
reporting that out of its 1,413 school
buildings 618 are crowded, according
to a Citizens Budget Commission
report released in 2019. The
report adds that the buildings can
hold 520,000 out of the city’s over
1 million public and charter school
students but that capacity is 95, 984
seats fewer than required.
The mayor’s decision to pause
school construction projects during
the coronavirus pandemic was
a missed opportunity to address
capacity issues Leonie Haimson,
executive director of Class Size
Matters, told amNewYork Metro.
Having schools closed, although
unfortunate, provided a good
time for renovations and school
expansion projects which in
pre-pandemic times were usually
done in the summer months.
18 March 4, 2021 Schneps Media
/health.ny.gov
/conference.Gov