Mayor de Blasio Announces New Production Line Making Surgical Gowns for NYC Healthcare Workers

NY City Hall Press Office Photo

NEW YORK—Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the Brooklyn Navy Yard where manufacturers are making surgical gowns to keep our healthcare workers safe. The City is working with manufactures to create production lines for protective equipment critical in the fight against COVID-19. Public hospitals have at least a week’s worth of gowns to protect their workers, but private hospitals and nursing homes are running low. Every piece of equipment counts in the fight to save the lives of New Yorkers.

“New Yorkers band together in a crisis - and this production line is exactly the kind of solidarity that will get us through this. Day by day, we are assessing what we need to keep our frontline workers safe– and the ability to produce protective equipment here in New York City is critical,” said Mayor de Blasio.

SUPPLY PRODUCTION

Today, Mayor de Blasio visited a production line run by Crye Precision, a design and manufacturing company based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that is producing gowns with the help of women’s wear brand Lafayette 148 and other sewing shops at the Yard. The Administration projects over 300,000 gowns will be produced by the end of April by factories across the City.

Last week, Adafruit, a Manhattan-based company that makes machine components; Makerspace NYC, a community workspace for industrial manufacturing at Brooklyn Army Terminal; Bednark Studios, a custom fabrication company at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; and Duggal Digital Solutions, a custom printing company, produced and distributed 127,000 face shields to the Department of Health. Over the next three months, local industrial firms will manufacture up to 1.5 million face shields.

In March, the New York City Economic Development Corporation began coordinating with local businesses to manufacture needed medical supplies at scale as part of the COVID-19 emergency response. The Administration facilitates coordination with the Department of Health to ensure products meet the City’s safety standards and protocols. The City has received over 2,000 responses so far to its call for local production.

SAFE STREETS PILOT UPDATE

Last night, the Administration reached a decision to suspend the safe streets pilot. This is a part of our ongoing effort to use City resources wisely to promote social distancing. Over the past two weeks, overcrowding was not an issue, but we did not observe enough people utilizing the open space to justify the presence of the over 80 members of the NYPD across the four sites. We are still open to reviewing other innovative ways to open public space to New Yorkers and may adjust course as this situation evolves.

DOG RUNS

Today, NYC Parks is closing dog runs as a part of ongoing efforts to maintain social distancing in public spaces. The City has been monitoring parks closely, and has observed overcrowding at dog runs and received numerous complaints. This week, NYC Parks will also remove any remaining basketball rims and tennis nets and lock up all courts with a gate, including handball courts. On Friday, the City closed all playgrounds. Our parks remain open for the people, and dogs, to enjoy.