Columbia Dorms Should House NYers With Coronavirus, Pol Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN — An Uptown council member is asking the city to use Columbia University's empty dorms to house New Yorkers with the coronavirus who cannot safely self-quarantine at home.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez suggested the Columbia dorms in a list of "temporary relocation sites" that he asked Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to consider this week so that those who test positive for COVID-19, but can't safely self-quarantine themselves at home, have a place to go.

The relocation sites, he said, would particularly help New Yorkers from lower-income neighborhoods who live in crowded apartments and therefore cannot stay at home with coronavirus without the risk of infecting their families.

"Right now to do a self quarantine is a privilege and we want to turn it to a right," Rodriguez said in an online video about the proposal Tuesday.

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Rodriguez specifically suggested Columbia University and City College in Harlem could be used. He also said the city should consider Washington Heights' Armory Track on Fort Washington Avenue and the United Palace Theater on Broadway, which would have the capacity to house hundreds of New Yorkers.

The call comes after coronavirus case data broken down by zip code released by the city last week revealed that the lower-income parts of New York City seemed to be the hardest hit by the virus.
19 of the 20 lowest concentrations of coronavirus cases hail from affluent zip codes, the New York Times reported.

Rodriguez particularly pointed to "underserved and immigrant communities" in Northern Manhattan, the South Bronx and neighborhoods in Western Queens, which have become hotspots for the coronavirus. One Washington Heights zip code with 308 cases had the highest case count of any zip code in Manhattan.

"These are New Yorkers, that even though are among the most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus pandemic due to the disadvantages created by poor and hard living conditions, often times work as essential workers or cannot otherwise afford to work from home," Rodriguez said.

Data released after Rodriguez' call for relocation sites showed that Hispanic residents are also more likely to die from the coronavirus than other New Yorkers.

Hispanic New Yorkers make up 34 percent of the people to lose their lives to COVID-19, despite representing 29 percent of the population, and Black New Yorkers make up 28 percent of the fatalities despite representing 22 percent of the population, data show.

"As an entire nation pays attention to our response to this pandemic and looks for guidance in our actions, we'll be remembered for how fairly we treated our most vulnerable New Yorkers," Rodriguez wrote.

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