Hard-Hit Brooklyn Nursing Homes Get Coronavirus PPE

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Brooklyn nursing homes will receive long-overdue protective gear after they were struck by a wave of coronavirus deaths and infections.

Eric Adams, the borough's president, on Thursday hand delivered 1,000 pieces of emergency supplies to Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

It's a delivery that came amid reports of a makeshift morgue at the home, widespread deaths at facilities across the state and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's announcement that morning of a probe into those facilities' apparent high death rate.

But Adams and Council Member Robert Cornegy didn't place blame on the Crown Heights nursing home. Instead, they called out an overall lack of preparedness.

“We knew at the beginning that this population was a vulnerable population,” Adams said. “But we left them stranded instead of giving them the support that they deserve.”

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Adams thanked family members for calling his office and telling him the facility’s staffers didn’t have basic supplies. He motioned to stacks of jumpsuits and boxes of N95 masks near him.

Those will be delivered not only to the Crown Heights nursing home, he said, but also Cobble Hill Health Center where 55 patients died — the most reported in the state.

Deliveries of masks and other personal protective equipment have become an almost daily ritual for Adams, who has distributed them to NYCHA residents, transit workers and many others.

“It is unconscionable that we are not giving these basic supplies to people on the front lines,” he said.

Adams said he was happy to hear Mayor Bill de Blasio will increase supplies to nursing homes. The mayor's office announced Thursday morning the city would "surge" hundreds of staff and increase PPE by 50 percent.

“They need our support more than ever, which is why we are stepping in and sending more staff and support to assist those who protect and care for our most vulnerable," de Blasio said in a statement.

Cornegy said Crown Heights' facility’s workers and their colleagues across the borough have taken a lot of criticism, but he argued they actually epitomize what it means to do a lot with only a little. He said they deserve love and appreciation for their work.

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