City Offers Free COVID Tests At Douglass Street Pool As Cases Spike

BROOKLYN, NY — Park Slopers can now pick up free at-home COVID-19 testing kits while visiting a local pool as the city faces criticism for its handling of a dramatic new wave of infections.

The Douglass and DeGraw Pool, located near Third Avenue between its two namesake streets, is handing out testing kits as of Wednesday as part of a citywide initiative to battle the latest BA.5-fueled COVID surge — the worst in New York City since January's Omicron peak. Park Slopes ZIP codes had an average positivity rate of 16.32 percent during the week of July 3, just exceeding the citywide 15 percent positivity rate.

The test-handout initiative, which includes 57 Parks Department pools and recreation centers, builds on the city's existing network of about 1,100 at-home test distribution sites, including libraries, community centers and museums.

Expanding the city's at-home testing network comes as Mayor Eric Adams recently cut back on brick-and-mortar PCR and rapid testing sites and scrapped the city's color-coded COVID alert system — choices he's defended amid criticism.

"It's clear that New Yorkers prefer the reliability, the convenience, and the immediate results provided by at-home tests," Adams said Tuesday after announcing the Parks Department testing initiative.

"We're not going to hold onto something that's an old weapon merely because we had it," he said earlier this month, defending the choice to eliminate the COVID alert system.

Instead, the administration has shifted its focus to COVID-19 treatment options — offering access to antiviral medicine at some mobile testing sites and launching a new 24-hour treatment hotline.

"We're going to create new weapons to fight this new war," Adams said.

Distribution of testing kits at the Douglass and DeGraw Pool will be handed out to pool-goers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

The Red Hook Recreation Center, located at 155 Bay Street will also hand out testing kits from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Find a full list of the city's at-home testing kit distribution sites here.