State eyes Aqueduct Racetrack for temporary hospital site

State officials want to build a temporary hospital at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park. Photo via Governor's Office livestream

By Victoria Merlino 

The state has identified Ozone Park’s Aqueduct Racetrack as the potential site of a temporary hospital to fight the rising tide of COVID-19 in Queens, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. 

Cuomo said via Twitter and at a Friday press conference that he wants to build a temporary hospital at Aqueduct as part of a plan to add 1,000 hospital beds to each borough. The state will also consider building hospitals at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the College of Staten Island and the New York NY Expo Center in the Bronx.

The state also plans to build temporary hospitals in the counties that surround New York City.

"We know at this point that any scenario will overwhelm the capacity of our healthcare system and we are continuing to work aggressively to increase our state's hospital capacity and flatten the curve," Cuomo said Thursday.

 "Our top priority is finding more beds for patients and getting the ventilators we need to ensure our most vulnerable patients are being treated properly, and we are actively scouting new locations for temporary hospital sites,” he added.

Queens has the most COVID-19 cases in the city, with 8,214 of the 25,573 total cases as of Friday morning. 

Aqueduct did not immediately respond to a request for comment.