Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Arrives in NYC Harbor

The USNS Comfort floating hospital ship arrived in New York City on Monday morning. The 1,000 bed ship which has not been seen in the NYC since the 9/11 terrorist attacks will be treating non-coronavirus patients as city hospitals continue to be overwhelmed with new patients.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Cuomo were both at Pier 90 to welcome the ship as it docked shortly after 11 a.m., along side many city residents who joined in documenting its arrival.

On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said during his press briefing that the USNS Comfort “also brings medical personnel, which frankly are more important than the beds in this case.” And in a tweet on Monday morning he says the ship brings, 1,000 beds, 1,200 medical personnel, 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy and a laboratory.

On the arrival of the massive ship, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, “We just got some major reinforcements in teh COVID-19 fight — the USNavy’s Comfort has arrived in New York City. 

The Mayors office later tweeted some photos of the ships arrival and quoted de Blasio indirectly thanking the federal support, “We have evidence here we are not alone. We are not alone. Our nation is helping us in our hour of need.”

Governor Cuomo was less coy in his thanks to the federal government in a message that will presumably be read favorably by Trump. He says, “Welcome to New York, USNS Comfort. We knew from the outset that expanded hospital capacity was critical. We asked and the federal government answered. This ship is a step forward in our fight against Coronavirus.”

This is one of the rare uplifting moments in the past few months and many New Yorkers were quick to share on social media. 

Cover Image Courtesy of Lou Paskalis