You are reading

Richards Calls for the Immediate Opening of Citi Field as a Vaccination Site

Citifield and Donovan Richards (Twitter)

Feb. 7, 2021 By Christina Santucci

Queens politicians say city and state officials are not playing fair with vaccine distribution.

More than two-dozen elected officials representing the borough urged the governor and mayor Sunday to open Citi Field as a COVID-19 vaccination site immediately. They argue that Citi Field should be open as a vaccination site NOW — just like Yankee Stadium, which opened Friday.

“We need our fair share of resources to ensure that our residents are vaccinated at a proportional rate to that of our city counterparts,” according to the Queens elected officials, who penned a letter to the governor and mayor today.

The letter was written by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and co-signed by three state senators, 10 assembly members, 11 council members and Congress Members Carolyn Maloney, Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks. It was prompted by the opening of Yankee stadium as a vaccination site Friday.

The mayor heralded the opening of Yankee stadium and said that Citi Field would open in a “matter of days.”

Citi Field, however, was initially scheduled to open Jan. 25 but was delayed due to vaccine shortages. De Blasio announced Jan. 12 that it was going to open Jan. 25 and would become a 24/7 vaccination site and that they would be able to vaccinate between 5,000 and 7,000 people per day.

Queens officials called the opening of Yankee Stadium–prior to Citi Field–as “unacceptable,” especially since the stadium had been announced as a vaccination location before the home of the Bronx Bombers.

“Comparatively, Queens is not receiving the same level of dedication in regards to new vaccine distributions,” the letter stated.

The elected officials also called for additional vaccination sites to be opened in parts of the borough that they say have been “largely ignored.” Those areas include Whitestone, Beechhurst, Bayside, Fresh Meadows, Oakland Gardens, Glen Oaks and Queens Village.

Elected officials described Queens as “the epicenter of the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic,” and said it was their responsibility to go to bat for the borough residents.

The letter noted high COVID-19 positivity rates in parts of Queens close to Citi Field. The zip code 11355 in Flushing had a positivity rate of 15.12 percent — the highest in the city — for tests taken from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, according to city Department of Health data.

The Queens politicians also cited demographic data showing a disparity between the number of white, Black and Hispanic residents receiving vaccines, and urged officials to target distribution to vulnerable residents.

“Too many lives have already been lost, so we cannot waste any further time in getting this vaccine to those who need it most,” the letter stated.

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

A slice of legacy: Carlo’s Pizzeria keeps Sicilian tradition alive in Middle Village

Jul. 18, 2025 By Christy Hinko

On Metropolitan Avenue, between 74th and 75th streets in Middle Village, Carlo’s Pizzeria isn’t just a place to grab a slice — it’s a place where history is folded into every piece of dough, sauce and cheese. The beloved neighborhood pizzeria has been serving Queens for nearly 60 years, now led by third-generation owner Anthony Caruana, who proudly carries forward the dream his grandfather brought from Sicily.

Ridgewood mother and daughter arrested for attacking woman over parking spot: NYPD

A Ridgewood mother and daughter were arrested Monday after they ambushed a young Black woman who tried to park her car in a spot in front of their apartment building that they frequently cordon off with garbage cans and traffic cones.

A family friend was standing at the northeast corner of Onderdonk Avenue and Putnam Avenue at around 7:30 p.m. when the 21-year-old Jada McPherson tried to park her car in the spot. The man placed a garbage can in her way. She drove off and circled the block multiple times. She tried to pull into the same spot one more time, but the man tried to stop her again. McPherson got out of her car to confront him, and an argument ensued.