GNYHA offers the following to highlight significant events taking place in the New York region over the next two weeks.
World Pride
New York City World Pride will begin tomorrow (June 26), culminating with the Pride March on Sunday (June 30). These events are expected to draw millions of participants. Pride weekend will begin with a concert at the Barclay’s Center Wednesday evening in downtown Brooklyn. On Sunday, the Pride March will begin at 12:00 p.m., leaving from 5th Avenue and 26th Street, progressing in a U shape, and ending at 7th Avenue and 23rd Street. There will then be a celebration in Times Square from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Floats and volunteers will be in a staging area from 26th to 32nd Street and 5th Avenue to Park Avenue for several hours before the start of the parade. Traffic patterns will be significantly affected by the march and surrounding events. There are a number of pre-determined pedestrian crossings and established emergency routes. Please see more detailed information on the attached slides and information sheet, provided courtesy of NYU Langone.
July 4
On Thursday evening (July 4) the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Show will necessitate a number of street and bridge closures, and changes to traffic patterns that could impact hospital staff access and emergency vehicle routes. Most notably, the Brooklyn Bridge and FDR Drive will be completely closed as of 2:00 p.m., and the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges will be closed to bike and pedestrian traffic at 7:00 p.m. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel will be open but only in the westbound direction. Please see detailed information on the attached slides, provided courtesy of NYU Langone.
Suggested Actions for Hospitals in Impacted Areas
For the World Pride march, hospitals located south of Central Park in Manhattan should consider communicating with staff and patients about travel plans, and should encourage the use of public transportation. Hospitals are also encouraged to undertake planning related to emergency vehicle routes. These same hospitals as well as those in the northern areas of Brooklyn should consider similar actions related to July 4th festivities.
City Actions and Information Sources
New York City Emergency Management will have command vehicles present for all major events. Additionally, the New York Police Department will activate its Joint Operations Center for both the World Pride march and July 4th festivities. Traffic information for World Pride events can be found on the New York City Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Weekend Traffic Advisory. Traffic information for July 4th festivities will be available on the New York City DOT Special Traffic Advisories page early next week.