Hell's Kitchen School Stays Open For Coronavirus Testing

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — The temporary coronavirus testing site that opened last week in a Hell's Kitchen school building was extended through this week as the city works to alleviate long lines that began in the run-up to Thanksgiving.

The site at Park West High School (525 West 50th St.) opened Monday and will stay open daily from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Friday, a spokesperson for New York City Health & Hospitals confirmed.

The Park West site was first announced last week, following complaints that Hell's Kitchen lacked a single city-run testing site, forcing residents to take an hourlong walk to the closest site: Bellevue Hospital on the East Side.

Last month, State Sen. Brad Hoylman, whose district includes Midtown, Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea, wrote a letter to Health + Hospitals CEO Mitchell Katz asking that the city place its next testing site in the area.

Other nearby sites include a self-testing micro site at the Amtrak Waiting Room in Penn Station, open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and a COVID-19 Express rapid testing site at the Chelsea Health Center (303 Ninth Ave.). The rapid site is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but appointments must be booked online.

On Monday, the city unveiled a new online tool that will show wait times at city-run testing sites to help residents avoid long lines.

People are still waiting hours in line for testing at CityMD. But you have other options:

* Public hospitals and clinics
* Dept of Health express sites
* Pop-up sites at schools
* Self-test micro sites

Many have short lines. Results usually in <48 hrs. Details by borough: pic.twitter.com/N9RSratZZb
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) December 1, 2020

Anna Quinn contributed reporting.