Navy’s ‘floating hospital’ USNS Comfort arrives in New York Harbor

March 30, 2020 Alex Williamson

The USNS Comfort passes beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge en route to dock at Manhattan's Pier 90. Photo: Arthur De Gaeta/Brooklyn Eagle

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The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort came sailing under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge this morning to boost the city’s health care capacity during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Comfort will dock at Pier 90 in Manhattan.

The 1,000-bed hospital ship will take on patients not infected with the coronavirus to ease the burden on the city’s hospitals during the pandemic. Photo: Arthur De Gaeta/Brooklyn Eagle

Governor Andrew Cuomo asked President Trump to deploy the 1,000-bed hospital ship to New York City, the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak, to treat patients who do not have COVID-19 while the city’s hospitals are overwhelmed with patients who do. There have been 33,474 confirmed coronavirus cases in the city as of Sunday evening and 776 COVID-related deaths. A shortfall of at least 15,000 ICU beds is anticipated across the state.

The Comfort was previously deployed to New York City following the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.