You are reading

Forest Hills Added to Area of Concern as COVID-19 Cases Rise in Neighborhood

COVID-19 testing (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Oct. 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin

City health officials are keeping a close eye on Forest Hills as COVID-19 cases in the neighborhood are rising, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

The City added the neighborhood, represented by the 11375 ZIP code, to its watch list of communities where coronavirus cases are growing.

“We have a watch list, 11 ZIP codes,” de Blasio said during a press briefing Monday. “We’re adding one more to the watch list and that is ZIP code 11375 in Forest Hills, Queens because we’ve seen a rise in the positivity level there.”

The 12 ZIP codes on the watch list have seen a rise in COVID-19 positivity rates over the last few days, but the rates haven’t yet reached a cluster-level spread.

Other Queens neighborhoods on the watch list include Rego Park (11374), Auburndale (11365), Fresh Meadows (11366) and Jamaica Estates (11432).

The neighborhoods on the watch list are second to a list of nine ZIP codes the city has identified as cluster areas.

The cluster neighborhoods have had positivity rates of 3 percent or higher for seven days or more and include Kew Gardens (11415), Kew Gardens Hills (11367) and Far Rockaway (11691) and several south Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Mayor de Blasio also warned Monday that Rego Park (11374) is close to being bumped up to the list of COVID-19 clusters — where all schools are set to close tomorrow.

It’s one of two ZIP codes on the watch list that de Blasio said he is most concerned about. The other ZIP code is for Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.

Rego Park has had a positivity rate above 3 percent for five days. The neighborhood will be designated a hotspot if the trend continues for just two more days.

“We hope that pattern breaks literally today, but if those two [zip codes] go past seven consecutive days they would go into this higher level list where we’d want to see greater restrictions,” de Blasio said. “But let’s hope and pray that is not the case.”

Rego Park’s latest 14-day positivity rate was at 3.49 percent, according to city data.

Nine hotspots where schools will close Tuesday. Rego Park is in danger of being added to this list

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Lone gunman sought for firing shots into a St. Albans park, causing property damage: NYPD

Police from the 103rd Precinct are searching for a gunman who fired shots into a St. Albans park on the evening of Sunday, Apr. 28.

A man was walking past 156-11 108th Ave. at around 5:30 p.m., when he pulled out a handgun and fired several shots into Marconi Park, striking the window of a car and damaging a window on a nearby home, police said, adding that there were no injuries reported during the shooting incident. The gunman fled on foot in an unknown direction. He remains at large and an investigation into the reckless endangerment case is ongoing.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Queens

May. 3, 2024 By Aidan Pellegrino

This weekend, thousands of people all over the world will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a holiday commemorating Mexico’s victory over the French Empire in the battle of Puebla in 1862.

Jamaica teen faces up to 25 years in prison for attacking grandmother heading to church: DA

A 16-year-old Jamaica boy was indicted by a Queens grand jury for shoving a grandmother down the steps of a Jamaica Hills church as she was heading to Sunday mass on the morning of Apr. 7.

The defendant, of 89th Street in Jamaica, was arraigned Wednesday in Queens Supreme Court on a 12-count indictment charging him with first-degree assault and first-degree robbery for attacking 68-year-old Irene Tahliambouris in front of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church and stealing her property and car.

Long Islander ordered to pay restitution for stealing share of Queens Village family home willed to niece: DA

A Long Island man was sentenced Wednesday in Queens Supreme Court for filing fraudulent paperwork to claim he fully owned a Queens Village home when his niece had actually inherited half of it. Wagner Recio, 52, of Butler Boulevard in Elmont, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to filing falsified documents the previous year in order to obtain a mortgage against the value of the Queens Village property and kept the financial proceeds for himself.

According to the charges, Recio and his brother, Alejandro Recio, jointly owned a house on 220th Street in Queens Village as Tenants in Common (TIC), allowing each owner undivided interest to sell, transfer or borrow against their own share in the property.

Queens Village man identified as victim in fatal shooting at South Ozone Park nightclub: NYPD

Homicide detectives from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park are still investigating the cause of a fatal shooting that occurred early Monday morning in front of a South Ozone Park nightclub. While they have yet to identify the gunman or establish a motive, they have determined the victim’s identity and notified his family.

The NYPD announced on Tuesday evening that Temel Phillips of 102nd Avenue in Queens Village was the man who was shot multiple times in front of the Caribbean Fest Lounge at 116-14 Rockaway Blvd., more than nine miles away from his home.