About the Project
NYU students Alyssa Alvarez, Charmaine Dimaculangan, Rhea Verma and Mihaela Kracun assisted the NYU Langone Health Section for Health Equity and Department of Population Health with the COVID Closures (CoClo) Project. The goal of the project was to systematically assess the impact that COVID-19 has had on the food retail environment in New York City (NYC), the former U.S. epicenter of the pandemic. This project utilized an innovative combination of methods to determine the operational status of food retail stores, restaurants and produce vendors in six NYC neighborhoods – higher resourced, lower resourced and Chinese ethnic neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Web-based, call-based and in-person data collection was conducted to survey the environment at multiple time points following July 2020; pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 peak (May-July 2020) have already been assessed. This will allow for evaluating longitudinal changes to the food retail environment. Data was collected on the operational status (i.e., open, temporarily closed, indefinitely closed), changes in services provided (i.e., curbside pick-up, delivery, outdoor seating), and type of restaurants (i.e., chain or non-chain, counter or table service).
About the Project Organization
“Guided by a three-fold mission to serve, teach, and discover, NYU Langone Health has achieved the stature of a preeminent academic medical center. We are home to 10 specialties ranked in the top 10 nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report.”
“NYU Langone Health’s Department of Population Health is one of the first departments of population health to be launched at an academic medical center. We are a diverse group of faculty and staff working on pressing challenges in New York City and around the world. Our twin goals are to improve health for all while simultaneously reducing health inequities.”
“The vision of NYU Langone’s Section for Health Equity, part of the Division of Health and Behavior, is to promote health equity for racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations. We do this by conducting research on the effectiveness of various strategies to reduce health disparities, such as community health worker programs. We also provide education and training for health professionals doing health equity work and help to develop policy that promotes health equity and encourages participatory action.”
About the Students
Alyssa Alvarez, Charmaine Dimaculangan, Rhea Verma and Mihaela Kracun are graduates of the NYU School of Global Public Health, having earned their Master of Public Health (MPH) degree.