It took just 15 minutes for City workers to run out of free face coverings at a mask distribution site in Williamsbridge Oval Park on Tuesday, May 5. Distribution of the masks was scheduled to take place between noon and 2:00 p.m., but empty folding tables were already being moved back inside the park’s recreation building by 12:20 p.m. as residents were still arriving. “We gave out 1,700 masks,” said a City worker who did not wish to be identified.

 

New Yorkers across the five boroughs began receiving free masks and face coverings on Saturday, May 2, at a variety of sites across the City including grocery stores, at Mitchell-Lama public housing, and in public parks. The Parks department has been assigned 100,000 cloth masks out of a total stock of 7.5 million, for distribution to residents over the next two weeks. The masks are being distributed at sites in different parks throughout the five boroughs, including in 11 parks in the Bronx, on various dates in May.

 

Ira Herschast, who lives in Co-op City on the east side of the borough, said he was glad he showed up 30 minutes before distribution started at Williamsbridge, adding that he learned of the Norwood mask site location after calling 311. “I got on the [Bx] 28 bus and it was an easy ride for me,” Herschast said of the approximate 40-minute journey. “I’m pre-diabetic so I need to have a good supply [of face coverings],” he added.

 

For others who showed up just 20 minutes after the event began, it proved frustrating when they saw no tables set-up, no masks left, and the doors to the recreation center already closed.

 

Norwood resident, Tania Fuentez, 53, could not believe the supply of face coverings had been depleted in just 15 minutes. Fuentez described herself as disabled, and said she urgently needed this particular piece of personal protective gear. “I have rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes [type] 2,” she said. “My health is compromised.”

 

Her frustration at not receiving a face mask was made worse because of what she described as price gouging by local pharmacies. “I paid $14 for two masks at a pharmacy on Bainbridge Avenue,” Fuentez said. “I keep calling 311 to report the gouging but can’t get through.”

 

Residents were warned about price gauging by stores and supermarkets at a virtual Bronx Community Board 7 board meeting on March 24. Price gauging is illegal, in fact. New Yorkers can report sudden and unexpected increases in consumer goods such as hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, or other health and sanitation-related products by calling the consumer hotline toll free at 800-697-1220. This line is available seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

 

Residents can also file an online complaint with the Department of State Consumer Protection Division here. Alberto Roldan from the Department of Consumer Affairs highlighted during the March meeting that stores are prohibited from charging more than 10 percent of what they were charging for products before the crisis.

 

Roldan said that the Attorney General’s office was also tracking food overpricing incidents, and that small businesses are sometimes unaware of their rights when it comes to prices. In fact, businesses are allowed to increase prices but they have to be comparable with what they, themselves, are being charged for the products by suppliers.

 

If there are any suppliers who are squeezing small businesses, Roldan said this should be reported. New Yorkers can file a complaint here with the NY Attorney General’s Office. Roldan can be reached at ARoldan@dca.nyc.gov or on (212) 436-0396.

 

Last month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made wearing a face covering in public a requirement for all New Yorkers, especially in situations when they can’t maintain the minimum required social distance of six feet from others. Because some people may have contracted COVID-19, but may not be showing any symptoms, health experts consider a face covering essential to prevent the further spread of the virus.

 

Although the masks distributed as part of the City’s special mask campaign are not the same medical-grade quality as those used by health care workers, Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week that he defends those store owners who deny access to any shoppers not wearing a mask. “No one goes into a grocery store, a supermarket or a pharmacy without a face covering on,” he said. “If you try to, the people of the store have every right to send you right back the other way out.”

 

The latest available data on COVID-19 cases, based on patient addresses, shows that ZIP codes 10458, covering Fordham Manor, Fordham Heights and Little Italy, 10463, covering parts of Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil, Marble Hill and Van Cordlandt Village, and 10467, covering Norwood, Olinville, Gunhill Houses and Parkside Housing Project are now among the leading areas for COVID-19 in the Bronx. The case numbers in these ZIP codes are now surpassing some neighborhoods in the South Bronx, once considered a hotspot for the virus.

 

Overall, the Bronx has the highest number of positive cases per capita in the city with a rate of 2,667 cases per 100,000 people. It also ranks third in terms of actual case numbers of all counties across the State, with a total of 40,181, behind Queens and Brooklyn which have 55,450 and 48,550 cases respectively. Nassau county trails the Bronx with 37,593 cases.

 

Citywide, though there continues to be a significant downward trend in the number of positive cases, hospitalizations, and deaths since the start of May, both the governor and mayor are asking New Yorkers to continue to practice social distancing, to wash their hands regularly with soap for at least 20 seconds, and to wear a face covering when out in public.

 

Back in the Bronx, at St. James Park in Fordham, a lone Parks’ department employee sat at an empty table in front of the recreation center telling latecomers that there too, face coverings had run out in just 20 minutes on May 5. Residents who went to both St. James Park and Williamsbridge Oval Park and who didn’t receive face coverings were told to come back again at noon on May 7 for another round of mask distribution.

 

On hearing the announcement, Fuentez said she would be at Oval Park much earlier the next day. “If it’s going to be first come, first serve, then I’ll be out [here] by 10:00 a.m.,” she said.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed additional reporting to this story.