COVID's Toll In Midtown & Hell's Kitchen: 140 Deaths, 3,500 Cases

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Compared to some neighborhoods, Midtown has been somewhat spared by the coronavirus. But that is of little comfort to the loved ones of nearly 100 neighborhood residents who lost their lives to COVID-19.

The end of 2020 provides a chance to reflect on the scope of the virus's toll in New York City, and in Midtown. The coronavirus likely arrived in New York in early February, meaning it has been with us for all but one month of the year.

All told, at least 140 Midtown residents have died from COVID-19, according to the most recent data released Tuesday by the city. More than 3,500 positive cases have been confirmed across the neighborhood's five major ZIP codes.

The hardest-hit area was 10036, a ZIP code covering Hell's Kitchen and Central Midtown, including Times Square. At least 40 people there have died, or more than one in every 1,000 residents.

Those numbers, unthinkable at the start of the year, are lower than in many other parts of the city. The 10025 ZIP code on the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights has had death rates more than double those in some Midtown ZIP codes, while hard-hit Corona, Queens has reported 443 deaths in just one ZIP code.

"COVID-19 has had a devastating impact across New York, including right here in Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and Midtown," said State Sen. Brad Hoylman, whose district includes those neighborhoods.

Hoylman said he is "still stunned" by the loss of his friend Judy Richheimer, a journalist and activist in Chelsea who died in March.

"She joins over a hundred others in the area who’ve helped make our community what it is today," he said.

Official death and case counts are likely lower than the true number. In the early days of the pandemic, New York's overall death rates were far above normal, suggesting that many New Yorkers may have died from the virus without ever being tested.

The pandemic's impact here was felt early on, as Midtown, the city's business hub, emptied out dramatically in March. The neighborhood also hosted front-line medical centers, like the temporary hospital at the Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen, and the USNS Comfort hospital ship, which docked at Pier 90 on the Hudson River.

The Javits Center hospital closed in May after treating just under 1,100 patients, while the USNS Comfort only treated a few dozen.

After the rate of new infections slowed over the summer, case rates have ticked up again in the past few months. In the week between Dec. 20 and Dec. 26, most of Midtown's ZIP codes ranked around the middle of the pack in Manhattan by the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive — but rates remained several percentage points higher than during the summer.

"May their memories be a blessing, as their lives surely were," Hoylman said this week. "I look forward to properly celebrating these lost lives with our neighbors when it’s safe to assemble again."