More Forest Hills COVID Test Sites Open This Week To Meet Demand

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Free COVID sites are popping up across Forest Hills during the week of Jan. 10th, following calls from neighbors for more local, accessible testing options.

The Forest Hills Jewish Center will host a COVID test site run by LIJ Forest Hills, which previously operated at MacDonald Park, and several community non-profits will administer coronavirus testing, too (scroll through the list below).

News of these sites comes after a COVID testing mix-up last week, which added insult to injury for many neighbors who've been calling for more free testing sites in the neighborhood recently amid a spike in local cases.

Here's where free testing sites are operating in Forest Hills this week:

Forest Hills Jewish Center: 106-06 Queens Boulevard

• Open Mon-Thur., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. (or until supplies run out)
• PCR tests
• No ID or insurance required (though people who are insured should bring proof of coverage)

Rego Park Seniors Club: 63-36 99th Street

• Open Mon. and Tues., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Rapid and PCR tests
• Photo ID required; insurance not required

Beth Gavriel Bukharian Congregation: 66-35 108th Street

• Open Mon., 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• PCR tests
• No ID or insurance required

Kew Gardens LIRR Station: Austin Street entrance (near Austin Street and Mowbray Drive)

• Open Tues., 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• PCR tests
• No ID or insurance required

Bukharian Jewish Community Center: 106-16 70th Avenue

• Open Wed., 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• PCR tests
• No ID or insurance required

These free sites are the latest to open in New York City a few weeks into the area's latest omicron-induced coronavirus surge.

While hospitalizations and cases remain at their highest levels in months, newly reported cases have shown signs of leveling off recently, prompting some experts to say that the wave already peaked.

To find another place to get tested for COVID-19, use the city's official map or visit a walk-in Health + Hospitals site. To get vaccinated or boosted, visit vaccinefinder.nyc.gov.