Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris, Assembly Members Barnwell, Mamdani, And Gonzalez-Rojas, Council Members Cabán And Won Join Woodside On The Move To Announce Series Of New Covid-19 Testing Sites Throughout Western Queens This Week

WOODSIDE, N.Y. – Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, Assembly Members Brian Barnwell, Zohran Mamdani, and Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Council Members Tiffany Cabán and Julie Won, and Woodside on the Move announced a series of new pop-up Covid-19 testing sites for the week of January 3 throughout western Queens. These sites aim to ease long waits for testing services western Queens residents have experienced in recent weeks.  

“The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has created great new demand for Covid testing. Western Queens is underserved by the number of testing sites available, and we need more – now,” said Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris. “I am glad we are finding more partners eager to help deliver results in this community and serve those who need Covid-19 testing. We need the city and state to do their part and increase capacity, as well.”

Testing will be available at the following sites:

• Monday, January 3 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Tornsey/Lou Lodati Playground
• Tuesday, January 4 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM near 60-15 Woodside Avenue
• Thursday, January 6 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM outside the Queens Public Library – Broadway (40-20 Broadway)

PCR nasal tests will be administered by Healthline Force on a first-come, first serve basis. There is no cost and no appointment necessary.

High-resolution flyers for each site are available here.

“We were able to quickly partner with Woodside on the Move, other community partners, and my colleagues in government to make sure we brought multiple covid testing locations throughout the district,” said Assembly Member Brian Barnwell.  “Thank you to all involved for helping bring these sites to our community.”

“The need across our city is clear: we need to increase COVID-19 testing capacity and we have to ensure we are doing so in under-resourced communities. Western Queens was hit particularly hard at the height of the pandemic and omicron variant cases are only surging. We’ll continue to work with community-based organizations, like Woodside on the Move, and our government partners to increase capacity and advocate for even more. We also continue to ask that the city and state get creative and send test at-home kits to New Yorkers' homes where they can test safely,” said Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas.

 “We are in the midst of a crisis - NYC has just hit a 23% positivity rate - and yet it still takes hours in the cold for our neighbors to get tested. We have been calling on the City to remedy this immediately by installing additional city-run sites across the neighborhood, and we continue to do so. Yet we cannot afford to wait and so I'm proud to continue partnering with my colleagues to bring another testing site to Western Queens in the meantime. This will bring some much needed respite to our constituents, though the true solution to this crisis continues to be the City rapidly scaling and staffing up a testing operation that meets the true demand of New Yorkers,” said Assembly Member Zohran K. Mamdani.

“The continued omicron surge should be a wakeup call to all our elected leaders that we have to do much, much more to keep our neighbors safe from this deadly and debilitating disease,” said Council Member Tiffany Cabán. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in increasing our testing capacity, and committed to pushing for more robust measures to safeguard the public’s health and safety."

"I am glad to work with my partners in government and Woodside on the Move to ensure that Western Queens has the testing resources necessary to keep us safe, and we need even more investment in this from the city and the state if we are to keep up with demand as cases surge. " said Council Member Julie Won, "Expanded testing capacity paired with robust vaccination is the best way to combat the rapidly spreading Omicron variant and any future variants that may appear over the next year."

"Along with our leaders in government and Queens Library, Woodside on the Move is happy to bring this free service to our neighbors. With the need for testing in our community ever increasing, so is the response to meet that need by our state and city representatives,” said Steven Raga, Executive Director, Woodside on the Move