New COVID Testing Site Opens In Astoria At Boys And Girls Club

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A new COVID-19 testing site has been established in Astoria in a move leaders say is much needed for Queens.

The Variety Boys and Girls Club in Astoria opened as a testing site Monday, Dec. 27 and will be open for Queens residents through the end of January, a news release said. The site is at 21-12 30th Road in Astoria.

Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and Council Member Tiffany Cabán announced the new testing site Monday. Last week, these three leaders called on the city to add more testing sites throughout western Queens.

“NYC is the epicenter of the Omicron variant today and yet it can still take hours in the cold for our neighbors to get tested," Mamdani said in the news release. "We have been calling on the City to remedy this immediately, and we continue to do so. But we cannot afford to wait, and I'm proud to continue partnering with my colleagues and Variety Boys and Girls Club to bring another testing site to Astoria. This will bring some much-needed respite to our constituents, though the true solution to this crisis continues to be the City rapidly scaling and staffing up a testing operation that meets the true demand of New Yorkers."

“The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has created great new demand for Covid testing," Gianaris said. "Western Queens is underserved by the number of testing sites available, and we need more – now. Working with my colleagues, we continue delivering real results here in western Queens – it’s time the city does the same.”

“With omicron continuing to surge, it is vital that we continue to increase our capacity to test, treat, and vaccinate our neighbors," Cabán said. "This is another important step toward meeting the scope of the public health emergency we face. I’m proud (to) partner with my colleagues to do all we can to keep our constituents safe."