The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 1,200 New Yorkers who live in the Big Apple’s public housing complexes and sickened another 6,600 tenants there, according to new stats released by City Hall on Monday.
All told, 1,241 New Yorkers who live in the city’s public housing complexes have died from COVID-19, with 943 of the fatalities following positive tests.
The remaining 298 died before they could be checked for the coronavirus but passed away as they suffered from the awful disease’s symptoms.
The Health Department list shows that Manhattan’s Grant Houses was among the hardest hit complexes — 22 residents died after testing positive for the disease or exhibiting its telltale symptoms, the second-highest reported of any Housing Authority development.
The news shocked the development’s tenant leader, Carlton Davis, who said residents at the massive Morningside Heights complex had been left in the dark.
“We’re not getting any reports here,” Davis told The Post. “We’re not getting communication on what’s actually affecting us.
“I’m stunned,” he added, about the figure. “We figured five, maybe six.”
The Health Department stats also revealed that a total 127 residents of the Grant Houses tested positive for the virus, including 16 of the 22 people who died, with the other six seen as probable coronavirus.
City officials said they attempted to contact Davis before the release of the list Monday.
Brooklyn’s Marcy Houses have seen the greatest number of COVID-related deaths of any of the Big Apple’s public housing development, city stats show. Two dozen tenants there died after testing positive from the disease or coming down with symptoms.
Overall, the Health Department reported that 7,818 NYCHA tenants have tested positive since March 1.
The data also shows that three developments Queens and The Bronx round out the list:
- The Bronx River development lost 21 residents to the pandemic, including 15 cases confirmed by coronavirus tests;
- The Pomonok Houses in Queens lost 18 tenants;
- The Morrisania Air Rights highrises in the Bronx lost 17 tenants.
The de Blasio administration finally released the data amid mounting concerns and weeks of questions about the toll the pandemic was taking on NYCHA, which is home to many of the city’s poorer and more elderly residents — two groups considered especially vulnerable to the deadly disease.
“If the numbers are right, the NYCHA community has actually done a lot better than you thought they would have,” said Judith Goldiner, the Legal Aid Society’s top attorney on its NYCHA cases. “They’re in stable apartments, it’s dense but they have separation. It’s not like a nursing home or a shelter.”