City funds crucial step in bringing trauma center to Rockaway

Money for a $300,000 land transfer pivotal to getting a trauma center in the Rockaways was funded through the city budget this week, Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers announced.  Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit

By Ryan Schwach

The money needed to fund a key step in the fight to build a trauma hospital in the Rockaways was included in the city’s budget this week.

Following calls from locals and politicians to include the $300,000 to facilitate a land transfer for a potential trauma center site, the Adams administration and City Council stayed true to their commitment and included the funds in the city’s budget passed on Monday.

The funding will go toward transferring the potential future site of a much-desired Rockaway trauma center on Beach 62nd Street from its current owner, NYCHA, to the city.

“For too long, Far Rockaway has lacked access to trauma care,” said City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, who has spearheaded the local push for a trauma center. “This $300,000 commitment clears a key hurdle in building the trauma center our community so desperately needs. I thank Mayor Adams for his leadership in committing this funding, and I remain grateful to our partners in labor, healthcare, and local government for standing with us to deliver on this site for the trauma center. This is not just an investment in infrastructure — it’s an investment in lives.”

Brooks-Powers, her elected colleagues and several locals rallied on Friday calling for the money to be included in the budget after the Adams administration reportedly promised it would be several months ago, according to Brooks-Powers.

“Our administration has always said that the Rockaways should not be left behind, and under our administration, they never will be,” Adams said in a statement. “We are proud to work in lock-step with Councilmember Brooks-Powers to ensure that the Rockaways has access to the health care it deserves as we take this step to ensure we are keeping New Yorkers safe and healthy, and as we make New York City the best place to raise a family.”

In a report last year, a task force dedicated to studying the possibility of bringing a trauma center to the Rockaways identified the site in question, located on Beach 62nd Street, as a possible site.

The report pointed out the area would not require any demolition, is near a subway station and is not adjacent to nearby residences.

Currently, the closest level one trauma center for most Rockaway residents is around 10 miles away at Jamaica Hospital, which takes more than half an hour to get to, often made more difficult by ever-present traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway.

“The nearest emergency trauma facility is approximately 10 miles away, and response times continue to place people's lives at risk,” said Community Board 14 District Manager Felicia Johnson. “This proposed trauma center would be the first step in writing decades of disinvestment and neglect, ensuring that all New Yorkers, regardless of their zip code, can access life saving medical treatment when it matters most.”