New York Blood Center Opens In Long Island City
BY LIZ GOFF

The sun glistens from the floor-to-ceiling walls of the just-opened New York Blood Center on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City. The two-story, state-of-the-art blood processing center stands out in the crowded neighborhood of industrial buildings, small retailers and auto-related businesses.

Announcing that the Blood Center is open for business, Larry Hannigan, chief financial officer of the New York Blood Center, said the 200 people who work at the new site are happy to be in Long Island City.

"They love the neighborhood and its access to cultural institutions, along with its close proximity to subways, highways, shops and restaurants," Hannigan said.

The site will serve as a primary processing and distribution center for transfused blood to medical facilities in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

Hannigan said onsite production laboratories, cell therapy, administration, learning and development conference areas at the new site will contribute to the center's mission to increase community health by expanding the knowledge of blood-related diseases and treatment techniques.

The new center will also house the New York Blood Center cord-blood laboratories, where placental cells are stored in liquid nitrogen for use in leukemia treatments, Hannigan said.

The new facility is located on Vernon Boulevard, in 75,000 square feet of space that once was the site of a warehouse. Renovations are underway for storage of the center's mobile blood collection equipment, including a fleet of vans.

Hannigan said the center will host blood donation drives several times each year at the Citicorp building and at several other Queens locations.

Anyone interested in donating blood can find a listing of dates, times and locations online at www.nybloodcenter.org.