BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Two companies took four days to convert space in Brooklyn Navy Yard into a factory making face shields protecting against the new coronavirus.
The quick turnaround and collaboration by printer Duggal Visual Solutions and designer Bednark Studio is nothing less than a “wartime” effort, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Volunteers working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard facility will make 50,000 plastic face shields by the week’s end alone for first responders and others fighting the coronavirus, de Blasio wrote in a tweet.
“This is really an example to everyone in this city and everyone in this nation about how we’re going to fight back,” he said.
Days ago, this building at @BklynNavyYard was empty. This week, volunteers got to work — and they’re building hundreds of thousands of face masks for our hospitals to use in the fight against COVID-19. You can join this fight! Head to https://t.co/8rFXzYGM6s for more. pic.twitter.com/rVmZ8FFuvY
— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) March 27, 2020
Workers in the facility put together sheets of plastic and strings of elastic into face shields for nurses, doctors and other front line coronavirus responders, Bednark owner Michael Bednark told Gothamist. He worked with his Duggal counterpart Michael Duggal to secure a supply chain and put their Brooklyn Navy Yard spaces to use, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.
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Health officials have reported shortages of vital protective supplies as the coronavirus epidemic grows.
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