[VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED BELOW]

Hospitals, nursing homes and senior facilities in low-lying areas in New York City evacuated thousands of patients Friday after Mayor Michael Bloomberg mandated the move in preparation for Hurricane Irene.

Facilities including Brooklyn’s Menorah Home & Hospital for Aged & Infirm and the Palm Beach Home for Adults, Queens’s Oceanview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Staten Island University’s two campus hospitals shuttled patients to alternative venues such as Long Island College Hospital and Kings County Hospital Center.

Inpatient evacuation at Coney Island Hospital began Friday at 8 a.m. and was expected to finish by 8 p.m., with more than 200 patients dispersed to five other hospitals around Brooklyn and one in Queens.

YWN PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos by Shimon Gifter.

To watch video from a mobile device, click HERE.

(YWN Desk – NYC)