LOGGIN’ THE LINE
Boerum Hill woman tracks local CityMD wait times on Twitter
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A Boerum Hill woman has
taken to Twitter to provide
real-time updates on the line
outside CityMD, giving locals
looking to get tested for
COVID-19 a sense of the wait
times at the neighborhood’s
urgent care facility.
“I live on the same block
as the CityMD, so I walk by
it countless times a day,” said
Francine Ricchi. “Since I’m
already walking by I thought
it would be nice to tweet out
how many people were waiting.”
Ricchi posts pictures of
the queue outside the Atlantic
Avenue healthcare outpost
near Nevins Street to
her account @CityMDLine
several times each day since
Nov. 11, when she noticed
lines of people waiting for
tests amid a recent spike in
coronavirus cases.
“It was becoming signifi -
cant,” she said. “All of a sudden,
I saw everyone on the
line.”
COURIER L 4 IFE, NOV. 20-26, 2020
The Brooklynite was inspired
by a similar account
monitoring the line outside
the Court Street Trader Joe’s
in Cobble Hill, which was
launched in the spring by
bored Brooklyn Heights resident
Jacob Shwirtz, who was
easily able to keep track of
the line for the grocery store
from his apartment window
across the street.
Ricchi, who knows Shwirtz
personally, said he encouraged
her to start the account
when she fl oated the idea, and
he has promoted it on his own
line tracking account.
CityMD — which recently
began offering rapid testing
for the virus — typically
counts around 20 people on
line, but the number can
jump to more than twice that
on busy days, according to
Ricchi, who advised people
looking to avoid the wait to
arrive before opening.
“You have to get there at
least a half hour before opening
time,” she said.
While her effort focuses
on the Atlantic Avenue outpost,
Ricchi also retweets pictures
of lines outside other
CityMDs around the fi ve boroughs
that people send her
way.
“If you send me what other
locations look like I can post
them,” she said.
She’s already gotten praise
from locals and in area social
media groups, and the Brooklynite
said the initiative has
allowed her to connect with
neighbors and offer them a
useful tool.
“I’ve been in this neighborhood
since 2005, so it’s a
good way to connect to other
people who live around and
just give them a resource,”
she said.
CityMD did not immediately
return a request for
comment.
29 people wait outside CityMD on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill on the morning of Nov. 13.
Francine Ricchi/@CityMDline
LET US BE YOUR
"DESIGNATED
REPRESENTATIVE "
AND
HAVE THE RESPONSIBLE INSURANCE
COMPANY PAY TO REPAIR YOUR CAR TO
FACTORY SPECIFICATIONS AND 'DELIVER
IT TO YOU WITH THAT NEW CAR
SHOWROOM LOOK WHILE DRIVING AN
IMMEDIATE REPLACEMENT CAR RENTAL
A short drive thru the Battery Tunnel from Manhattan