A new role could emerge for ballparks during the coronavirus pandemic, as parking lots are eyed for testing sites and other uses by public health officials and elected leaders in some areas.
With the response from public health officials and elected leaders to the pandemic continuing to evolve, one of the challenges is ensuring that jurisdictions and hospitals have the resources that are needed to address the crisis. In the Philadelphia area, officials are planning more coronavirus testing sites, with Philadelphia Task Force One members seen Tuesday setting up what is expected to be a testing site next to Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Phillies.
In Brooklyn, a contingent of public and team officials met Tuesday in the parking lot of MCU Park, the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones (Short Season A; NY-Penn League). According to a local official, the ballpark’s parking lot was being explored as a possible way to expand the capacity of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island, coming during a point where New York City elected leaders anticipate that more resources will be needed to prevent overcrowding at hospitals. More from PIX11.com:
Councilmember Mark Treyger met with several officials to work on a plan to use the parking lot of MCU Park in Coney Island to expand the capacity of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island.
Treyger, along with staffers from Congressman Hakeen Jeffries’ office, Con Edison, Coney Island Hospital, the NYPD, NYC OEM and the Brooklyn Cyclones — who play at MCU Park — worked on the plan to “better serve seniors and vulnerable” people in Coney Island.
Treyger also thanks City Hall for their support and called it a team effort.
Mayor [Bill] de Blasio said pop-up hospitals and ICUs and dormitory-like infirmaries could come to New York City if hospitals become overcrowded, which is not at all out of the question.
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