It started yesterday. The four huge tents near the Westchester County Center building in White Plains are being dismantled 18 months after their creation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the spring of 2020 to handle COVID patients. As far as I know, those tents were never used for anything. Not for their original purpose of treating COVID patients and never for vaccinating people.
Maybe the reason is the same as why the military hospital ship sent to New York harbor was not used by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Neither the governor nor the Westchester County Executive George Latimer wanted any credit to go to the federal government ... of the previous administration. Or it could simply be gross incompetence, which is at least as believable.
Here are five posts at this blog addressing the issue, which was ignored by the local sympathetic media.
Vaccine for COVID-19: County Executive favors teachers (union). Friday, January 15, 2021
Supplies have been cut but there were massive problems already from New York State down to Westchester County with elected officials not able to plan, organize or administer. All while they're licking themselves and preening.
The Westchester County Center building in White Plains is the major location for vaccination. But for some reason, the four large tents that had been created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the spring (2020) to handle COVID patients have not been used to vaccinate. Were any patients ever treated in those tents?
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Why is Westchester removing HUGE unused tents that could be COVID-19 vaccination sites? Sunday, January 24, 2021
You can't make up stuff like this.
Friday, January 22, 2021 at 11:18 AM the south most of the four tents adjacent to the Westchester County Center building was observed being dismantled ...
Today, Sunday January 24, 2021 at 10:57 AM all four tent roofs had been removed...
The Westchester County Center building is the only substantial COVID-19 vaccination site currently in White Plains...
So why the sudden rush to destroy unused resources just when they might finally serve a good purpose? Is there an explanation other than incompetence?
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$43 million County Center emergency hospital included those four HUGE unused tents being dismantled. Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Those tents have large steel structures and external equipment for plumbing and heating/cooling. People could live in them in an emergency. Take a look before they are gone...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers converted the County Center and adjacent parking lot into emergency hospital that had 110 beds as COVID-19 hospitalizations skyrocketed. The cost for the transformation was $42.9 million.
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Westchester County disabled but did not dismantle those four HUGE tents at the County Center. Thursday, February 11, 2021
Since the County Center building is still the primary building in White Plains used to vaccinate people against COVID-19, the adjacent tents could have provided much additional space for that purpose. But rather than use them to vaccinate, Westchester County removed the tops in January supposedly to make room for additional parking, which was not needed. Then rather than complete the removal of the tents, they sit there as of February 11, 2021: unusable and still occupying possible parking spaces...
The tents were intended for COVID patients, so they should easily be useful for simple vaccination. No COVID patients ever used those tents. They were created when Westchester County and New York panicked rather than planned a year ago. Now Westchester County is further wasting the many millions of dollars spent on these tents.
Who is responsible for these decisions?
Where is the oversight?
Where is the media attention to this?
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County Center has vaccine but Westchester County clinic does not. Huh? Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Vaccine for COVID-19: County Executive favors teachers (union). Friday, January 15, 2021
Why is Westchester removing HUGE unused tents that could be COVID-19 vaccination sites? Sunday, January 24, 2021
$43 million County Center emergency hospital included those four HUGE unused tents being dismantled. Tuesday, January 26, 2021
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