Where to get tested for COVID-19 this week in Queens

People line up at a CDC COVID-19 testing location Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, in Queens.  AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

By Jacob Kaye

Officials say more at-home COVID tests are on the way and more testing sites are coming to the borough after residents have been forced to wait for hours in the cold for the past two weeks in their efforts to find out whether or not they are positive for the highly infectious Omicron variant.

Lawmakers and local leaders across Queens have spent the past several weeks calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Kathy Hochul to expedite and expand testing throughout the borough. Residents report wait-times upwards of two hours and say the borough’s limited testing capacity has left young children and working people vulnerable.

On Monday, Hochul announced that the state will ship out 2 million testing kits to New York City public schools in the coming days. The governor said she intends the tests to be used in a way that allows schools to stay open, despite rising case numbers.

“All of us agree, we have a strong public interest in keeping our kids in school,” Hochul said. “We went through the social experiment of keeping them isolated and what teachers had to go through, and the parents and the children, was extraordinary. Results are now showing that the learning did not continue the way it should have.”

The governor said how schools and school districts choose to implement the tests is up to them. In total, around 3 million tests are expected to be made available to schools across the state.

“We want to make sure that these schools stay open,” she said.

The state also sent an additional 600,000 testing kits to the five boroughs at the start of the week, the governor said.

In Queens, around 13.63 percent of people tested came back positive on a 7-day average on Sunday, Dec. 26. The borough had the second highest positive test rate in the city. Queens also recorded 15 COVID-related deaths over the weekend, the second most when compared to all counties in the state.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city’s testing sites sped up the times in which tests are returned to residents – results for PCR tests are now being made available around 24 hours after the test is taken.

“I don't blame anyone if they don't, if they look at a site and they look at a line, it doesn't matter to New Yorkers, whether it's a city-sponsored site or a private site, they just see, you know, testing wheel line,” de Blasio said. “We've had a very different experience at the city sponsored sites in terms of the turnaround time test results…obviously the goal here is to make sure the information we put out there is accurate and people can get appointments. I know there's been a huge, intense demand.”

In Queens, a new testing site opened in Astoria at the Variety Boys and Girls Club. The new site, which was sponsored by City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, State Senator Michael Gianaris and Variety Boys and Girls Club CEO and former City Councilmember Costa Constantinides, will be open through the end of January.

Additionally, the state launched a new testing site at York College Monday.

This week, there are a little over 40 city, state and federally sponsored free testing sites in the borough.

Where to get tested

NYC Health + Hospitals Sites (for ages 2 and older)

Elmhurst Hospital (Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.), Queens Hospital Center (Monday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Far Rockaway Sorrentino Recreation Center (Monday-Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.).

NYC Department of Health COVID-19 Express (by appointment only, nyc.gov/health/covidexpress)

Corona Health Center and Jamaica Health Center (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). 

Test and Trace Sites (ages 4 and older, PCR tests)

Culture Lab (Monday-Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Queens College Student Union (Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., saliva-based PCR tests only), Elmhurst/Newton HS (Monday-Thursday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Beach Channel Educational Campus (Monday-Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Mobile test sites (Rapid and PCR tests available, all sites ages 4 and above)

Telephone Playground (216-98 75th Ave, Oakland Gardens, NY 11364, Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec. 27 – Jan. 2). Our Lady of Sorrows Church

(Corner of 37th Ave & 104th Street, Queens NY 11368. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec. 27 – Jan. 2). Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto Park (95th Ave, Queens, NY 11419. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). Life Camp INC (111-12 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). Park of the Americas (Corner of 104th Street and 41st Street, Corona, NY 11368. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). LaGuardia Airport (Terminal B Parking Lot, 1 Central Terminal Dr, Queens NY 11371. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). Senator Comrie’s Office (113-44 Farmers Blvd. St. Albans, NY 11412. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). John F. Kennedy Airport (Located next to Terminal 5 Airtrain Station, Queens, NY 11430. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). NYCHA Woodside (Streetside Parking at 50-37 Newtown Road, Queens NY 11377. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). ELMCOR (98-19 Astoria Blvd, Queens NY 11369. Monday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27). Rochdale Village (165-90 Baisley Blvd, Queens NY 11434. Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Dates: Dec 27 – Jan 2). SACSSNY (143-06 45th Ave., Queens NY 11355. Wednesday – Thursday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Dates: Dec 29 – 30). Mt. Moriah AME Church (116-20 Francis Lewis Blvd., Queens NY 11411. Friday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Dates: Dec 31 – Jan 2). Sts. Joachim & Anne Parish (Robard Lane & Hollis Ave., Queens NY 11429. Sunday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Dates: Jan 2). Pomonok Playground (Kissena Blvd. &, 65th Ave, Flushing, NY 11367. Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dates: Dec 28 – 31). Raymond O’Connor Park (209-1 32nd Ave, Bayside, NY 11360. Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dates: Dec 28 – 31). L/CPL Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground (42nd St &, Greenpoint Ave, Woodside, NY 11377. Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dates: Dec 28 – 31). 

CDC Mobile Sites

Queens Valley Playground (Mon–Thu, Sun, 7 a.m. through 5 p.m.). Travers Park (Mon–Thu, Sun, 7 a.m. through 5 p.m.). Helen Marshall Playground (Mon–Thu, Sun, 9 a.m. through 5 p.m.). Hart Playground (Mon–Thu, Sun, 9 a.m. through 5 p.m.). 

State Test Site

York College Performing Arts Center (Mon–Thu, 9 a.m. through 7 p.m.)

For saliva-based PCR micro-sites, visit bit.ly/HH_testsites.