LIFE DURING PANDEMIC, JANUARY 2022

 My son thought it was a good idea to have COVID testing done to make sure he's not infected, even though we just had a test about a week ago.  Negative result, whew.  A little bird told me to try the simple, walk-in service at Nathan's Pharmacy at the corner of Bath and 19th Avenues.  Alas, it was closed, possibly because it was Sunday, maybe more so because it was the New Year weekend.  Once or twice I saw some testing van by Calvert Playground so I made a trip there.  Alas, no van.  It was there when I needed it, not there now when I wanted it to be there.  I pulled into a parking spot and searched for "COVID testing near me" in Google Maps app.  I already had my preference for the Brooklyn Army Terminal (B.A.T.), so that was all I could see, in particular a LabQ site in the area.  The site was listed as the LabQ office on some floor in Building A.  I went there once before.  They weren't supposed to take any patience that day, so I was told, but they were nice enough to take me in.  Mobilize to the B.A.T., let's go!

Street parking wasn't readily available as usual.  Cars were double-parked near the few queues in the area.  I decided to park on the pier for once.  There was plenty of room.  A short walk over to Building A and there was a sign on the door that told us to use their Mobile Service on First Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets.  It had to be Rapid Testing because the line went around the block.  Just a block away at the corner of 58th Street and First, near the entrance to the B.A.T. campus, there was another, shorter line.  We took that queue, since the difference is really a day or two, at least from what we experienced on Staten Island, with Pro Health, when we took both PCR and Rapid.  It was a decent day, not as cold as that day we were on the queue for Pro Health.  The line moved fast, too, we were done in about an hour.  With Pro Health, we had to wait for hours just to register, they had to scan our insurance card, asked about our preferred pharmacy etc.  Then we had to go back to our car to wait to be called in.  The queue length maybe the same but because of the extra paperwork the whole ordeal was like five hours versus today's one.  I decided not to waste a test resource and let my son go in by himself, even though I was on the queue for about an hour myself.  Son said it was a saliva test, not the nose-swabbing type that we experienced a few times before.  Whatever, they didn't ask him for his insurance card.  While we were on the queue, a staff member showed us a QR code to scan, to register before going in.  I tried but never got any confirmation email, but the idea is good.  Instead of two or three staff people doing all the typing for the entire queue, let the patients register themselves while they have time to kill.  On an unrelated note, booster shots were still administered, you would enter the gate by the bus stop.  Or wait outside by the gate if the guard tells you so.  Then further toward Second Avenue, there was another test queue, another mobile unit named DocWorks or something like that.

I saw some people carried containers of fried chickens and biscuits so I thought there was a KFC nearby, perhaps in the same building with the Dunkin nearby.  That was not the case.  We decided to patronize Wendy's at Caesar's Bay instead.  Traffic was bad on the Belt Parkway, just before the merge with the off-ramp of the Verrazano.  Took the local to swing by Poly but it wasn't much better.  Once I was on the Belt then it was all good.  The parking area by Five Guys was chaotic, people leaving and pulling in as if they own the place.  There were plenty of space just a few yards away but people just had to park right next to the building.

Now we wait for the results.

WENT TO B.A.T. FOR COVID-19 TESTING

As part of return-to-campus, my son's school requires him to test for COVID-19.  I recalled seeing video footage of testing places having long queue of cars and thought that would be a safe way to get it done.  Everyone in their own cars, whoever getting tested just need to stick their head out the window to get the brush stuck up their nostril.  I also recalled seeing someone Facebook friends' post that the testing site at the Brooklyn Army Terminal (B.A.T. or just BAT) had no queue at all, you get in and out very quickly.  It's a huge place that I drive by whenever the BQE South has too much traffic and I take Second Avenue to the Belt Parkway.  Surely there's enough room for a long queue of cars.

I drove my son to BAT around 12 noon.  It was not an ideal time to be in the area.  Years ago there may be plenty of room for a long queue of cars but much has changed in the area.  There's a relatively new building erected to house a Ford service center, taking a chunk out of the parking lot.  Then there was some road construction along Second Avenue, running from 58th Street toward the entrance to the Belt Parkway, two-way traffic was controlled by a few road workers with STOP and SLOW signs.  The nearby hospital, now under NYU Langone, expanded and took a few new buildings, resulting in more traffic in the area.  The COVID-19 test site is a walk-in.  What's worst was that just north of Third Avenue it was alternate-side street cleaning between 11:30 A.M. and 1 P.M. that day. I could have just dropped off my son, he's old enough to do the test himself, but I was already in the area, I wanted to accompany him in.  Alas, with the construction and alternate-side sweeping, there was just no place to park, not even the parking meters were available.  We went to have lunch elsewhere and came back to squat in a place and waited in the car for 1 P.M. to arrive.  Supposedly, they cannot ticket a car that has a driver sitting in it, but I have no faith in the ticket agents, but I also have no choice.

At 1 P.M. or so we walked the few blocks to the test site.  There was no queue at all.  Literally in and out less than 15 minutes.  Fill out some quick form, verbally, sign some electronic pad, look up to the sky and let the lab technician stick the brush up your nostril, all done at walk-by windows.  There was even a mobile restroom that we used before heading back to the car.  Restrooms in NYC are even more difficult to come by these days.

The B.A.T. COVID-19 test site was really quick.  There were many booths to take care of clients if the queue was long.  Some bus stops right by the entrance so it's not totally unreachable by public transportation.  Depends on where you live, you may need to spend time with subway-to-bus transfer etc.  If you drive, find out the street-sweeping regulation, which days of the week, between what hours of the day, and time your arrival so you can easily get a spot.  There's no drive-in testing so be prepared to park or just to drop out your "patient".