A month ago I wrote an article calling for New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo to convert the Kingsbridge Armory into a temporary emergency COVID-19 hospital due to the fact that it was only a matter of time before the virus ravaged the people of our borough.

I wrote this not to be an alarmist but because I was painfully aware of how Bronxites were at greater risk of developing severe symptoms of COVID-19 than any other resident in New York City due to the fact that our borough has consistently been the unhealthiest county in not just the city but the state.

Of those at greatest risk: Asthmatics, diabetics, residents with cardiovascular disease, and the obese, The Bronx has some of the highest rates in the state in each of these categories if not the highest in almost all of them.

And now, because of these very comorbidities which we warned would lead to devastating consequences, our borough has one more sad distinction to add to that list: The Bronx has the rate of infection for the coronavirus than any other borough in the city according to the most recent data available from NYC Department of Health.

This doesn’t mean that there are more people who tested positive for COVID-19 or died as a result from the virus. What it simply means is that the rate of infection is much higher in our borough and a person in The Bronx has a greater risk of dying from it than a resident in, say, Manhattan.

In fact, the mortality rate in The Bronx is more than twice that of Manhattan where in our borough it’s 2,406 Covid-19 positive cases per 100,000 people versus Manhattan’s 1,036 positive cases per 100,000 residents.

It’s a sobering and painful reminder to the rest of the world that the tale of two cities which Mayor Bill de Blasio first campaigned to end is still alive and well in The Bronx.

I say to the rest of the world because we in The Bronx know all too well that this city still operates on inequalities ranging from housing, income, education, and yes, health outcomes.

It is a tale of two cities that is clearly divided by race.

And the mortality statistics clearly show this with Blacks and Latinos dying at twice the rate as White or Asian.

All of this is tied to the policies of our elected officials who have kept our borough in poverty.

We have billions of dollars pouring in for market rate housing in the poorest congressional district of the nation with many of our local elected officials supporting such developments but where are they fighting for the health of our residents?

A social media campaign of #Not62 isn’t how you solve a humanitarian and health crisis which many have harped on to bring attention to The Bronx being the unhealthiest of 62 counties in the state.

The same politicians who push this campaign are the same ones who welcomed FreshDirect, a truck reliant and intensive business, to pollute our already deadly air in an area already plagued with some of the highest rates of asthma in the nation.

And it’s not like our residents haven’t organized against these attacks on our health.

Residents and Bronx community based organizations like South Bronx Unite, Nos Quedamos, The Point CDC and so many others have been fighting for the health of our communities, collectively for decades.

There’s a lot of talk about personal responsibility and that ultimately it’s up to the individual to take care of their situations but the people who say that live comfortably in places where they have access to clean air in wide open spaces, parks that are maintained as much as Central Park is, access to quality health care, access to healthy and fresh foods, high paying jobs, quality and FREE education.

To anyone wondering why The Bronx ended up as the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in America, one not need blame or look at our residents, but instead the politicians who have kept us in poverty and have prevented us from enjoying the basic public benefits that the richest nation in the history of the world should have bestowed upon its citizens.

I mean, we still pay our taxes.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, aka the coronavirus, upending our lives and how we function as a society, this particular story of a 16 year old kid from The Bronx adapting to the new reality gives us something to smile about.

Alexis Loveraz, a student with a 4.0 GPA at Harlem Prep High School and a math wiz has gained hundreds of thousands of followers on the popular video social media app TikTok with his tutorials.

@alexis_loveraz

Here’s a refresher, Rational Fractions! Comment for any other topics to go over! ##algebra1 ##algebra2 ##school ##democracyprep ##onlineschool ##corona

♬ original sound – alexis_loveraz

According to Alexis, he’s reaching not just kids from The Bronx but across the country and the world now that remote learning has become a reality for most students across the globe where COVID-19 has forced countries to shutdown.

CBS reports that students are praising him for being able to explain mathematical concepts better than their own teachers.

We want to give Alexis a big thank you for showing how Bronxites are always ready to help others!

Check his page on TikTok for more videos!

Watch the CBS interview video below:

Update: Soon after the announcement, Governor Cuomo said that there has been no decision made. We shall see what the status is as New York City mayors have legal authority to shut down schools.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced this morning that nation’s largest public school system will be closed through the end of the current academic year.

It’s been almost a month since they were first shutdown and transitioned into remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown across the city and state.

Hundreds of thousands of Bronx students along with the rest of the city’s 1.1 million school children will lose out over 3 months of in-class instruction due to the pandemic.

The New York Times writes:

Roughly 1,800 schools across the city’s five boroughs have scrambled to adjust to remote learning since they were initially closed on March 16, a sudden shift that has presented educators with perhaps the largest challenge of their careers and turned well over 1 million parents into part-time teachers.

The first few weeks of online learning have already transformed the relationship between the city’s students, parents, and educators, who have come to rely on each other in ways unfathomable even a month ago.

They add:

The loss of learning and social interaction brought on by the months of school closures are incalculable, and the full consequences of the shutdown will never be completely known. But the virus has already changed the school system even beyond the mass closures: The economic crisis created by the pandemic has led to significant budget cuts for schools.

This will be disastrous for our already struggling students and perhaps particularly students living in shelters as The Bronx has the highest rates of such children.

What will happen to our kids?

Read the full article here.

A group of mostly South Bronx elected officials across all levels of government have signed off on a letter requesting that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo use his executive authority and open an emergency COVID-19 Health Campus at the Harlem River Yards in Port Morris.

The letter calls on the governor to utilize the approximately 8 vacant acres of land at the yards, which is located just 1 block south of Bruckner Boulevard between Lincoln and Willis Avenues and the Harlem River, for a COVID-19 field hospital, a rapid-testing facility, and temporary barracks for medical personnel.

The request is being made after a report by The City which showed that Bronx residents are dying at a higher rate from COVID-19 than residents of any other borough.

Such a facility would be in addition to the field hospital already at the New York Expo Center in Oakpoint and the one going up on the Van Cortlandt Park parade grounds.

Not mentioned in the letter, which we feel is also a good option, is the acres of open parking lots at Yankee Stadium which would also serve as a good location due to its immediate proximity to highways and the subway, and a Metro North Station.

Personally, we think this is a far superior location due to ease of accessibility.

Either way, we support any additional support we can get.

See the letter below signed by almost a dozen Bronx elected officials and the Third Avenue Business Improvement District.

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Jackie Edwards’ cough started sometime this week, accompanied by aches that radiated through her body.

While she had not had any confirmation she has the novel coronavirus that’s already killed almost 1,600 in New York City, the 50-year-old resident of NYCHA’s Bronx River Houses is certainly worried.

“I’m scared now that I actually have it and my kids are gonna get, you know — I have six children in my home,” she told THE CITY on Friday morning, speaking from her Soundview apartment.

“I can’t even hardly move,” Edwards added. “My head hurts.”

If her suspicions are confirmed with a test, Edwards would become one of more than 56,000 recorded cases of COVID-19 in the city — 10,765 in The Bronx

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While the number of confirmed infections in the borough is in line with its 17% share of the city population, the stakes for anyone who contracts the virus are far higher in The Bronx than anywhere else in the city.

Through April 2, Bronx residents have accounted for an outsize one in four coronavirus hospitalizations, data from the city Department of Health shows.

And in no other borough are residents more likely to succumb to the virus than in The Bronx, where residents have died at a rate double that of the city, according to THE CITY’s analysis.

As of Friday, 480 had died.

In The Bronx, which has long grappled with lower-than-average life expectancy and high incidence of chronic health conditions like asthma and diabetes, those infected with coronavirus die at a rate three times higher than those who live just a river away in Manhattan.

“Manhattan has more people but The Bronx has more than double the fatalities from COVID-19,” noted Councilmember Ritchie Torres (D-The Bronx), who tested positive for the virus last month and has asthma.

Pre-existing Conditions

Public health experts say it’s likely The Bronx’s elevated death rate is tied to the borough’s high rates of diabetes, asthma and hypertension, some of the nine illnesses linked with coronavirus complications.

Despite longtime efforts by health advocates and elected officials to change course, the borough ranks last among New York State’s 62 counties in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s survey of health outcomes, including premature death.

The Bronx logs more ER visits for asthma than in any county in the state. The Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization have classified people with asthma as high risk.

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The borough also has the state’s highest share of adults — 16% — with diabetes.

Doctors who’ve treated people with diabetes and COVID-19 say the condition can weaken the immune system.

The New York Academy of Medicine’s Image:NYC project surveying the health of older New Yorkers has flagged five Bronx neighborhoods — Kingsbridge Heights, East Tremont, Mott Haven-Port Morris, Crotona Park East and Melrose South — as having the city’s highest rates of senior citizens with preventable diabetes hospitalizations.

“We’ve done so many things to help and address and improve the health outcomes, but nothing seems to be working to improve things,” said Paulette Henriquez, executive director of Bronx Health Link, a health education and advocacy group and member of the #Not62 coalition — a reference to The Bronx’s last-place ranking.

“A lot of it has to do with the poverty in the area,” she said.

‘It Just Terrifies Me’

Doctors treating Bronx residents say they see the results every day.

“If you have a background of inequality, whether it’s social determinants, access to health care, or anything else, and you throw a virus on top of that, what you’re going to get is exactly what we have, which is people who start out poorer and sicker and are going to get sicker,” said Dr. Neil Calman, president of the Institute for Family Health, which leads the Bronx Health REACH coalition.

“We haven’t even seen the peak of this illness, and the number of people in families that are going to be sick,” he said. “It just terrifies me to think about what we’re going to be facing.”

Medical professionals at the Institute are conducting around 650 phone and video check-ins each day with patients, many of them reporting anxiety, depression and, for some, suicidal thoughts.

Fully understanding why Bronx residents have been disproportionately affected by the virus will take extensive study, Calman said.

“There are other factors at play that you have to look at as well,” he added. “One is when were the first cases in The Bronx, and what kind of resources did we have in The Bronx to do contact tracing and other things that were done probably more precisely in other boroughs?”

Testing Out of Reach

Some elected officials, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Torres and Councilmember Vanessa Gibson (D-The Bronx), point to a lack of coronavirus testing in high-risk parts of the borough as influencing the hospitalization and death rates.

“It’s disgusting,” Williams told THE CITY. “What is clear is that the city and state did not have a plan for a viral outbreak in 2020. And what’s clear is they don’t have a plan for vulnerable populations right now — they simply don’t.”

“I still haven’t seen a plan of how we’re going to test better in these areas,” he added.

Gibson points to recently released data from the city health department, which shows Highbridge and Morrisania, in the southern Bronx, as having the most cases in the borough.

The area’s only public hospital, Lincoln Medical Center, does not have a COVID-19 testing site, Gibson said. Instead, sick South Bronx residents have to travel elsewhere for their diagnoses.

“We’ve been looking at additional space” including sites at Yankee Stadium parking lots, Hunts Point and elsewhere — “because as of right now the ones that did come on-line are nowhere in our community,” she said.

Testing locations at Jacobi Hospital, Co-op City behind Bay Plaza and Lehman College are all in the northeast or in the northwest Bronx.

“If you don’t drive,” says Gibson, “it’s hard to get there.”

‘Virus Factories’

Jackie Edwards’ fear for her family is magnified by the knowledge that others who work closely with her at another NYCHA development have suddenly fallen grievously ill.

Henriquez calls the NYCHA developments that dominate much of the South Bronx “virus factories.” The borough is home to one in four of the city’s more than 400,000 public housing residents.

More than a fifth of NYCHA tenants are over the age of 62. Many residents of public housing work, but have limited financial means. Meanwhile, many NYCHA tenants are affected by persistent mold, pests and lead paint.

“People are living in such congested conditions,” Henriquez said. “Multiple family members, eight, nine, 10 in one family group — and it’s multi-generational.”

While the tenants and resident association leaders in Bronx NYCHA buildings who spoke with THE CITY have not seen outbreaks in their developments, they said coronavirus precautions are changing the pace of life in their communities.

Seniors, once staples on outdoors benches in the spring, have essentially vanished, said Cornell Nolton, longtime tenant association president at Butler Houses in Morrisania.

“We have a lot of people here with heart problems, a few on dialysis machines. We got a lot of problems that make them vulnerable to the virus,” he said.

Nolton, who describes himself as “older than 60,” had been visiting the sick and shut-in on Sundays for the last five years, he said.

But now, at the urging of his doctor, he said, “I try to stay away.”

Nolton said he doesn’t know of anyone who’s sick.

But, he noted, “I’m not going to everyone’s apartment.”

Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen

Faced with the worst global pandemic in modern history and a wave crashing upon the shores of our hospitals as more and more patients infected with COVID-19 aka the coronavirus require hospitalization, we need Governor Andrew Cuomo and the federal government to convert the vacant Kingsbridge Armory into an emergency coronavirus hospital

One such facility is already being constructed at the Javits Center in Manhattan but our borough not only has the space to but we need it to in order to help save as many lives as possible.

There’s no question that our hospitals need to expand capacity to prepare for the rising cases of patients needing hospitalization due to severe symptoms from COVID-19 so why not use this large, vacant space that’s been sitting unused for decades?

New York State Assemblyman José Rivera, who represents the 78th Assembly District where the Kingsbridge Armory is located, has called Governor Cuomo to do just that.

In a press release dated March 22nd, Assemblyman Rivera says, “I believe it’s important [to] have a second temporary hospital located in New York City, so I call on Governor Cuomo to designate The Bronx’s Kingsbridge Armory as the site of the fifth temporary hospital.”

Rivera added, “The Kingsbridge armory, at almost 5 acres, is possibly the largest armory in the world and yet remains substantially vacant and underutilized, apart for a small National Guard unit that uses the annex in the rear of the armory as its temporary quarters.”

With some of the worst health outcomes in New York City, the state and in fact the nation, Bronx residents are disproportionately at a greater risk for COVID-19 and life-threatening complications so having such a facility within our border is critical if we’re to succeed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, high risk groups for severe illness as a result of COVID-19 includes:

• People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
• People who have serious heart conditions
• People who are immunocompromised including cancer treatment
• People of any age with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] >40) or certain underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, such as those with diabetes, renal failure, or liver disease might also be at risk

The Bronx has the highest rates of hospitalization for asthma in the the entire state of New York as well as the highest morality rate in the state. In the South Bronx, those rates are significantly higher and 9x the national average.

In terms of heart disease, The Bronx also has the highest rate of cardiovascular related deaths in New York City indicating that a significant portion of the population suffers from such conditions.

Rates of HIV in The Bronx are also among the highest in New York placing them in the immunocompromised category and as far as obesity goes, 30% of Bronx residents are obese and 16% of Bronx residents are diabetic and is the highest rate in the state of New York.

So as you can see, while expanding capacity at Javits is necessary, doing the same at the Kingsbridge Armory is critical if we’re going to save as many as possible, particularly some of the most vulnerable populations in the country.

Please, Governor Cuomo, do the right thing and use the Kingsbridge Armory!

The Archdiocese of New York Has issued the following statement:

(New York, NY) In light of the continued concern surrounding the coronavirus, and the advice of medical experts, all Masses in the Archdiocese of New York will be canceled beginning this weekend, March 14-15, 2020.

This development follows upon today’s decision of Dutchess County to prohibit gatherings of more than 20 people.  It is also intended to provide clarity and consistency throughout the ten counties that comprise the Archdiocese of New York (Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Dutchess).  

Churches will, however, remain open for private prayer.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, urged the faithful to remember in their prayers all those whose lives have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. “Let us pray for all who are sick, as well as doctors, nurses, caregivers, and all those working hard to combat the disease. We should also remember those whose lives have been otherwise disrupted, especially anyone who has lost income from a loss of work during this difficult time.”

A private Mass will be celebrated in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and will be available on many cable systems via the Catholic Faith Network and its website at www.catholicfaithnetwork.org, livestreamed on the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral website at www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/live, and broadcast on radio on The Catholic Channel of Sirius XM (Channel 129).

New York City Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza said in a tweet moments ago that the city determined there was no positive test for COVID-19 in connection to the two schools closed today after reports of a student who had allegedly tested positive for coronavirus.

Chancellor Carranza went on to further state that the schools will reopen tomorrow and that the building was disinfected.

But parents and people began replying furiously demanding that all schools should close and that by keeping them open would put lives at danger.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of New York will shut down Catholic schools beginning March 16 for two weeks and many private schools across Riverdale have already closed as well as colleges and universities.

Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency which band gatherings of more than 500 people which prompted the closing of Broadway, The Met and many other institutions yet we’re still keeping schools open?

UPDATE MARCH 12, 2020 8:22PM: City will reopen schools tomorrow as no positive result of COVID-19 was found in connection with the schools.

Two co-located New York City Public Schools in Mott Haven which share the same building have been shut down due to student who tested positive for COVID-19, otherwise known as the coronavirus.

Just yesterday we wrote about how multiple private school and college campus closures in Riverdale is leaving that part of The Bronx and the city like a ghost town.

Located at 360 East 145th Street, The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology along with South Bronx Preparatory: A College Board School will both be closed for at least 24 hours as crews disinfect the building.

According to the New York Times the city’s Department of Health will also be working to identify others who may have come into contact with the student to determine if further testing or quarantine is required.

Combined, there are about 1,300 students attending both schools but so far, coronavirus is mysteriously sparing children and no one really knows why.

But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t carriers so closing these schools out of abundance of caution is necessary in order to “flatten the curve” and minimize the spread of the disease and not overwhelm our hospitals.

In the mean time, take care of yourselves (and others)!

Correction: We previously reported Kinnert Day School as having been closed as per a list reported by The New York Times, however, according to the head of school Rabbi Aaron Frank, the school is still open.

There is no other area of The Bronx and perhaps in New York City that is feeling the impact of the rapidly spreading coronovirus than Riverdale.

First SAR Academy closed last week a student’s father tested positive for COVID-19 (otherwise known as coronavirus).

This particular individual is now linked to over 50 cases of the virus in New York and lives in New Rochelle which is now under a 1 mile containment zone to help stop the spread of the virus as best as possible.

Now Horace Mann, Riverdale Country School, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Manhattan College, College of Mount Saint Vincent are closed.

All students living on campus at both Manhattan College and College of Mount Saint Vincent have been ordered to move out of campus for the time being through Spring Break which begins next week for most of the schools.

Currently only Mount Saint Vincent had one student test positive for COVID-19, but all the schools are closing down out of an abundance of caution to help limit the spread of the virus in a race to “flatten the curve”, or help spread out the rate of infection as to not overwhelm our fragile healthcare system.

Other Bronx schools outside of Riverdale which have shutdown are Fordham University and Bronx Lighthouse Charter School in the South Bronx neighborhood of Foxhurst.

As testing increases and more and more people test positive for COVID-19, the rise of school closures is expected to rise and teaching moved to online/distance learning for the time being.

Several schools are already discussing the possibility of continuing teaching virtually well beyond March and into April or the foreseeable future depending on how the current pandemic plays out.

There are some folks calling this mass hysteria and saying that coronovirus is no more deadlier than the flu and even if that is the case, the point is that we need to not overwhelm our hospitals and intensive care units which can only handle so much.

What we do know at the moment is that people with underlying chronic medical issues like diabetes, heart or lung disease and older adults appear to be more susceptible than the general population when it comes to developing more serious complications from COVID-19.

What does that mean for the people of The Bronx who have some of the highest rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in New York City and the nation?

Diana Hernández, a South Bronx resident and an assistant professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health had an op-ed published in the Daily News on Monday and writes:

“First, for many working-class and poor people, social distancing is aspirational, at best, due to the realities of work, home life and transportation. Lower-wage workers may be more likely to be exposed to infected individuals by virtue of occupations in the service industry where encounters with the public are more common. In addition, they are more likely to be subject to wage versus salary employment, anemic sick-leave policies and unequal health-care access. Employees who benefit from more flexible work arrangements can take time off more easily without losing money and may also have access to superior healthcare facilities that are more capable of handling this emerging health threat.

“Dense living conditions stemming from poverty and low wages may also increase the risk of exposure and transmission to others in doubled- and tripled-up households. Limited access to private vehicles also means greater reliance on public transit, including to seek medical care, and the corresponding risk of infection therein.

“Lastly, health disparities make everything worse. Low-income and other marginalized groups are impacted by more sickness and less optimal outcomes across a spectrum of conditions and diseases. Under such circumstances, disadvantaged groups fare worse not because of the new exposure, per se, but because a compromised health status and suppressed immune function make it more difficult to ward off a new infection or survive its impact. “

In the meantime, let’s do the best we can to protect ourselves and others.

Here are some tips via the Center for Disease Control’s website:

Take steps to protect yourself

Clean your hands often

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid close contact

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick
• Put distance between yourself and other people if COVID-19 is spreading in your community. This is especially important for people who are at higher risk of getting very sick.

Take steps to protect others

Stay home if you’re sick

• Stay home if you are sick, except to get medical care. Learn what to do if you are sick.

Cover coughs and sneezes

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.
• Throw used tissues in the trash.
• Immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, clean your hands with a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Wear a facemask if you are sick

• If you are sick:  You should wear a facemask when you are around other people (e.g., sharing a room or vehicle) and before you enter a healthcare provider’s office. If you are not able to wear a facemask (for example, because it causes trouble breathing), then you should do your best to cover your coughs and sneezes, and people who are caring for you should wear a facemask if they enter your room. Learn what to do if you are sick.
• If you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers.

Clean and disinfect

• Clean AND disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.
• If surfaces are dirty, clean them: Use detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.

To disinfect:
Most common EPA-registered household disinfectants will work. Use disinfectants appropriate for the surface.

Options include:

• Diluting your household bleach.
  To make a bleach solution, mix:
  • 5 tablespoons (1/3rd cup) bleach per gallon of water
    OR
  • 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water
  Follow manufacturer’s instructions for application and proper ventilation. Check to ensure the product is not past its expiration date. Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser. Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted.
• Alcohol solutions.
  Ensure solution has at least 70% alcohol.
• Other common EPA-registered household disinfectants.
  Products with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogens pdf icon[7 pages]external icon claims are expected to be effective against COVID-19 based on data for harder to kill viruses. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products (e.g., concentration, application method and contact time, etc.).

Complete disinfection guidance