City asks New York state for use of Javits Center as 'medical surge facility'

As New York City faces an exponential rise in coronavirus cases that threatens to overwhelm its hospital capacity, City Hall has asked New York state for permission to use its sprawling Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s far West Side as a “potential medical surge facility.” The de Blasio administration is still awaiting a response, said Omar Bourne, a spokesperson for New York City's emergency management department.