By Gus Saltonstall
Measles has been in the headlines as of late. With more than 900 confirmed cases across the country so far in 2025, it is already the second most-active year for the disease since the United States declared measles eliminated in 2000, according to multiple reports, including The New York Times.
The majority of measles cases this year are connected to an outbreak in the Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas region.
In New York there have only been four confirmed measles cases this year, with three of them coming from New York City. There have been no confirmed cases of measles on the Upper West Side.
Recently, the publication Gothamist created a map of the measles vaccination rates by ZIP code among children 24 to 35 months old in the five boroughs.
A rate of 95 percent is needed for herd immunity, but the citywide rate for this age group currently sits at around 81 percent, according to the data. This is a decline from an 88 percent vaccination rate in New York City in 2019 for the same age bracket, ChalkBeat reported.
Here are the measles vaccination rates for kids 24 to 35 months old in each Upper West Side ZIP code, according to Gothamist.
- 10025: 80 percent
- 10024: 87 percent
- 10023: 76 percent
- 10069: 82 percent
Importantly, these vaccination rates are also expected to grow for this cohort of two-year-olds as they approach kindergarten, as New York has strict school vaccination rules that require children to get two doses of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.
The first of these doses, though, is generally given within the first 12 to 15 months of life.
The state also does not allow for religious exemptions.
“There are numbers that are still deeply troubling,” Hochul said in a press conference about the measles vaccination rates in the state.
The lowest measles vaccination rates within New York City were seen on Staten Island, where no ZIP code had higher than 74 percent, according to Gothamist.
You can find out more — HERE.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
yeah, Staten Island + good job MAGA parents, keep it up ! Don’t let the libs tell you what to do with your kids. I fully encourage conservatives to keep it real, don’t be woke and skip all vaccinations for yourselves and your family.
I think if you don’t want to vax yourself or your kids, then you should be allowed to opt out….provided you never, ever set foot outside of your own private property. Problem solved! 🙂
And what if they do? I really hate being told what to by liberals. As does the rest of the country. This is why Democrats are in the trouble they are. Covid made you crazy, you think you can tell people what to wear, which business can be open. This is why President Auto pen pardoned Fauci.
Covid made people crazy? Apparently “Liberals” made more people crazy lol.
In related news, https://www.salon.com/2025/04/28/maga-loves-a-tantrum-how-public-meltdowns-became-the-preferred-method-of-communication/ .
And maybe we could also eliminate the Staten Island Ferry, just to be on the safe side?
I realize you were being sarcastic however it is typical of liberal thinking.
Nah, I was being at least half serious; let’s not hasten to rule out quarantine. Further, I would never object to SI’s secession.
The mentality like yours is the problem. Too much toxicity, intolerance and hatred towards your fellow New Yorkers. All because they don’t share your point of view.
Oh, have I trespassed on some entrenched Reich-wing monopoly? How gauche of me!
I honestly don’t care whether you say toMAYto or toMAHto, or your stance on death metal music or “The Last of Us”, but I do mind, for example, dictatorship and its enablers. Deal with it.
Dear @ecm, every time I see your snarky and rude comments I’m wondering if you talk to everyone like this? Do you talk like this to your parents, colleagues? Or you enjoy this type of conversation under the guise of your pseudonym? Are you that angry?
PLEASE, Flo, don’t allow my spirited demeanor to push you into totalitarianism’s embrace. That would be sad indeed.
I would answer all your questions but for … moderation. Everything in.
You just proved my point.
What?
10023 has 76 percent, only 2 percent higher than SI, but much lower than the rest of UWS zip codes.
So what is your point again?
Staten Island has no ZIP code with *HIGHER* than 74 percent!
So it actually gets a lot worse, as low as 65% according to the Gothamist link, not just a 2% difference.
Yes. Because telling parents how being MAGA is stupid is ABSOLUTELY going to encourage them to vaccinate their kids.
Also plenty of conservative people – thr majority – vaccinate their kids. And again,shaming conservative parents l- if they are not vaccinating their kids, that would really work.
And I would sincerely bet that of all unvaccinated kids, some come from families where the parents don’t believe in vaccines drom a MAGA-tyle of conspiracy theory, and some come from families where the parents don’t believe in vaccines due to coming from a more progressive world view.
I agree it that comment is unlikely to change any minds. Maybe a measles outbreak will do the trick…
It used to be the case that there was a mix of anti vaccine views on the left, but these days most of the anti-vaccine cranks and kooks have followed RFK into the MAGA cult
Yeah, 10023, with 2.5x the household income of Staten Island, is 24% MAGA, according to you… Or Hell’s Kitchen and Williamsburg…
But sure, do tell us what to do with our kids…dear esteemed public health professional…
I really don’t care why someone is not fully vaxxed , right left or center, if they are able to but opting out based on bs religious, conspiracy or political reasons. I’m not necessarily wishing bad things on you but if your kid gets measles + experiences a bad outcome because of your stupidity, I’m cool with it.
As the mom of a three month old, I rely on herd immunity and high vaccination rates to keep my baby safe. As we learned during COVID, unfortunately in matters of public health, personal choices can affect the wider community. I’m grateful that NY has such strict vaccine requirements for daycares and schools, but wish parents were aware enough of the dangers to stay on top of vaccine schedules before they’re required to.
@ Kay:
I hope you meant to say “I rely on VACCINES, herd immunity and high vaccination rates to keep my baby safe”
If not, you’re part of the problem.
Infants can’t be vaccinated until one year, per the standard schedule. 6 months at earliest, if traveling or in an outbreak, but even then it’s not as effective as later on due to how infants’ immune systems develop. So yes, I rely on herd immunity.
As for all you xenophobes in the comments — that sounds like an outreach problem. We need a robust public health system and schools that have the capacity to stay on top of the requirement. I’m sure “residents” also slip by when schools are not strict, so don’t save your ire for recent arrivals.
Her 3 month old isn’t old enough for vaccines.
Check out the 2025 CDC vaccine schedule. They recommend Hepatitis B at birth, and at 2 months another Hep B, as well as rotavirus, DTaP, HiB, PCV, and IPV. Not to mention the vaccines they recommend during pregnancy, which includes COVID (x3), influenza, RSV, and TDaP. So if a mother is following the schedule, at 2 months of age her baby will have had, or been exposed to in utero, 13 separate injections of a total of 11 different antigens.
Strict requirements at schools? Not for everyone. Our new arrivals were not required to, only residents.
Everyone !! the rules for those out of NY State have 30 days. But after that, no difference where you come from.
Absolutely huge difference re where you came from. The local kids won’t be able to attend at all without proper vaccinations. As far as immigrant kids, nobody checked if they finally complied with the 30 day requirement. I’m speaking from the first hand knowledge, how about you?
Depends on the school. My school (part of NYCPS) is strict when it comes to vaccinations. The pupil secretary, who keeps track of the vaccines, is known as ’30 and out’ because she will excise any student who does not fulfill their vaccine requirements…in a heartbeat. However, some schools do let vaccine requirements slide for too long. Also, many childhood vaccines come in a series, so it would be impossible for someone who has never been vaccinated to become fully vaccinated in 30 day’s time because certain vaccines must be spread out over months, some even years.
Yes, they were given a 30 day grace period, but barely anyone complied and still stayed at school nevertheless. Nobody checks or follows up.
You have no idea how many complied unless you are privy to the school’s student health information, covered by HIPAa (federal privacy act).
It is sadly unsurprising Staten Island Republicans refuse to vaccinate their kids.
What’s going on with the 15-20% of kids on the UWS? Is that just the baseline percentage of kooks these days?
Where did you get the fact that Staten Island republicans refuse to vaccinate their kids? I’m assuming you simply made it up as your crowd does.
Easy, I read the article, compared the vaccination map to the voting data & considered the anti-vaccine rhetoric coming out of the Republican party. Correlation is not causation etc etc but not that much of a stretch with a little critical thinking…
I am Republican, I believe in vaccination, my wife and I have always followed our doctors advise for our family.
I am glad to hear it. You’d already make a better HHS than RFK
You really amuse yourself at other people’s expense.
why is no one referencing the high population of Orthodox Jewish families on the UWS….there’s your 15-20%. They don’t vaccinate.
That’s not always as true as it used to be, and unless they’re Modern Orthodox they would usually not be in public schools anyway, just saying, and please let’s not assume and name entire groups of people with zero stats to go along with your labeling, really unnecessary to point fingers.
Good point, that’s news to me but that would explain it – it does say there is no religious exemption so is it that the Orthodox aren’t following? Or not in public schools?
Not in public school
According to your bulletproof logic 15-20 percent of UWS kids are poor victims of MAGA parenthood. Especially in 10023 zip code.
Yeah we have some kooks and cranks even on the UWS (or Orthodox as uwsider suggested).
So what’s with Staten Island then? Overrun with unvaccinated illegals according to OPOD apparently?
UWS Dad, Do you think that the 900 cases so far this year nationwide have anything at all to do this Biden’s and Harris’s OPEN BORDER? Of course it does.
When a MAGA or MAGA-lite person uses “of course” and appeals to “common sense” in an argument (see OPOD above), it’s time to get the old fact check ready.
Nope
In west Texas? It’s possible, but noticing you don’t seem to be citing any evidence…
But more to the point what’s up with Staten Island? I suppose that’s because of all the illegals there too?
No outbreak in SI
It’s sorta like driving around without a seatbelt, everything goes fine until it doesn’t…
I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t vaccinate your child against a preventable disease. It makes no sense.
Some don’t do it because of the religious reasons; others because of ignorance and poor education. Don’t know anyone who didn’t vaccinate their kids because of their political views.
How many Millions of unvaccinated unvetted illegals did Biden or the people who controlled Biden let in the Country?
My band The Radical Left with lead guitarist Commie Pinko + the legendary Unvaxxed Illegals horn section has a new record coming out – “Sleepy Joe’s Open Border Cafe”. Look for the first single featuring singer Woke Snowflake – “Don’t Cancel Me Bro”
It’s the only song libs have on a loop.
Ah, there you are!
Btw, I think you should change your name to “MAGA Mad Libs.”
Btw I don’t care what you think about my name or anything else for that matter.
WSR, what is the criteria for comments screening? Insults and derogatory language are ok as long as they come from radical left?
I’m a moderate democrat, but I’m sick and tired to see the radical left attacks on anyone who is not with them.
If you read OPOD’s daily comments, all of which are political no matter what the topic, you would not think this was is any way inappropriate.
Thanks, I’ll be here all week, Try the veal.
Agree, gets pretty tiresome.
Often I am surprised at what they let OPOD post!
Thoughts are scary, especially when people think differently than you.
Is ‘MAGA Mad Libs’ really any more derogatory than ‘radical left’?
Yes
The change from 2019 is seven percentage points. Not insignificant, but nothing crazy and frankly not that surprising after Covid. It seems that New York City has always had a lower vaccination rate than the rest of the country perhaps due to a variety of issues, including less access to healthcare poverty, etc.. back in 2019. The national vaccination rate was well into the 90s and New York City was 88%. That rate is now 81% in 2025.
That seven percentage points could mean the difference between achieving herd immunity and not achieving it.
As someone who lost a sibling to measles, I’m also baffled by parents who opt out of vaccinations. And the argument that ‘my child is strong enough’ is painful to hear. My sister was healthy but measles is worse than many people think. The measles vaccine was not available at that time. The success of the vaccinations has led many to forget the ravages of measles, polio, etc.
In some developing countries, parents walk for miles to get their children vaccinated. No vaccine hesitancy when children around you are dying.
And whooping cough cases are also on the increase for the same reason. This is also risky.
Thank you for your constructive comment, and I’m sorry for your loss. As a pediatrician, I view the issue of vaccinating children not as political but a
s one of parental responsibility to protect children’s safety and well-being, like placing young children in a car seat or requiring children to wear a bicycle helmet. These interventions have decreased childhood mortality rates, but few have made as large a difference as routine vaccination. Billions of vaccines have been administered safely over the past several decades because every parent wants the best for their children. I can only hope that cooler, apolitical heads will prevail.
Let he who is up to date with his covid boosters cast the first stone.
I like the name.
Thanks!
This should not be political. I do know that there are many “exceptions” for non-vaccinated kids which is not fair to the kids who cannot be vaccinated due to illness or other issues. During an outbreak there needs to be accountability. If I had an infant right now, I would be terrified.