Walk-In COVID Testing Will Be Available at Two Subway Stations Beginning Monday, Dec. 27 and Expand to Five Additional Subway Stations Beginning Thursday, Dec. 30
Pop-Up Sites Part of Effort to Combat Winter Surge in COVID Cases
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced COVID-19 testing will be available at pop-up vaccination sites at subway station stops beginning today, Monday, Dec. 27. This marks the first time state-funded COVID-19 PCR testing will be conducted at New York City subway stations.
The walk-in PCR testing will be offered seven days a week beginning in Manhattan at the Times Square-42nd St subway station from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and at Grand Central Terminal from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. However, testing will not be available at these two locations on New Year's Day.
Testing at five additional locations across New York City will begin on Thursday, Dec. 30:
• Penn Station (Manhattan) Monday – Sunday, 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
• Broadway Junction (Brooklyn) Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• E. 180th St (Bronx) Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Roosevelt Ave (Queens) Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Jamaica–179th St (Queens) Monday – Friday, 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
The testing sites at Penn Station and Jamiaca-179th St will be closed on New Year’s Eve, and all sites will be closed on New Year’s Day and open again either on Sunday or on Monday as noted.
The state-funded testing program provides anyone, including those visiting New York, the opportunity to get tested without an appointment.
“The recent COVID surge means we need to maximize the number of testing locations, including within the mass transit system,” said MTA Acting Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “Thanks to Governor Hochul, all agencies of government are joining forces to ensure that New Yorkers can get a vaccine, a booster, or a test quickly, and conveniently.”
In May of this year and in collaboration with the MTA, New York State began a COVID-19 vaccination program that provided the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at pop-up sites in various subway stations. Currently, Moderna vaccines and boosters are being offered. To date, more than 37,000 people have been vaccinated at those sites.
The MTA's pop-up vaccination sites at Times Square-42nd St and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Av-74th St currently offer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and the site at Grand Central Terminal will also offer vaccine booster shots beginning Monday, Dec. 27. Information on booster shots at MTA pop-up vaccination sites is available here.