Jennifer Lyne has a niche job. She is a New York City location scout for movies and tv, meaning she knows the city in a way not many others do. She constantly on the lookout for the perfect locations and creating contacts with property managers. Unfortunately, her job isn’t needed right now because of corona virus halting movie and tv production.
In late March, when the city was beginning to understand the extent of the effect the virus would have, the Greater New York Hospital Association created a task force to find places to build overflow hospitals. Because of how well they knew the city, Lyne and other location spots volunteered.
At first, Lyne was daunted by the idea of working with people who know the healthcare industry in and out and know what it takes to build a hospital from scratch. But it soon became apparent that building as hospital and finding a space that could be turned to a hospital quickly are two completely different skill sets. Lyne was in her element. You needed to find a location and quickly the permission and permits to use it. That is what Lyne was already doing as her job. And she was used to dealing with tight deadlines.
Someone had the idea to used abandoned floors of the old Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, a fellow scout was able to give photos of the space immediately to the task force because she had already checking it out as a location to film the show FBI.
Although the city’s hospitals were able to handle much more than they originally thought, the task force is happy to help the city stay prepared. They are also helping other cities learn how to find spaces.
As Lyne said it is “the ultimate scout.”
