Strike Debt. Strike Debt is an off-shoot of Occupy Wall Street, and last week-end's actions took place in coordination with an announcement that Strike Debt had purchased $1 million in medical debt -- which Strike Debt then abolished ! Here is an update about the Strike Debt action, as reported byThe Villager :
The loss of St. Vincent’s, currently undergoing conversion into market-rate housing, has left the Lower West Side without a hospital.
“For 161 years this hospital served working-class New York people,” said District Leader Paul Newell, a member of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital. “This hospital was closed by fraud, greed and debt.”
Paid Sick Days. After three years of pressure from community activists, unions, feminists, and other elected officials, Speaker Christine Quinn finally stopped blocking the paid sick leave bill. A watered-down compromise bill was nominally agreed to, but Mayor Bloomberg has already promised to veto it. If the veto is over-ridden, the bill won't fully go into effect until October 2015. Nobody knows yet if people, who may take a sick day in 2015, will be able to find a hospital to go to if they are gravely ill, given the rate that New York City hospitals are getting closed down in order to be converted into luxury condos ?
Long Island College Hospital (LICH). We received word about another letter published inThe New York Daily Newsabout a hospital closing, this time about LICH :
Brooklyn needs LICH
Brooklyn: It’s impossible to imagine downtown Brooklyn without Long Island College Hospital. LICH has been serving this community for more than 150 years. Since SUNY Downstate announced its plan to close LICH in February, scores of friends and neighbors have told me their LICH stories — of emergency care for their sick child or for an elderly parent, of wonderful, caring doctors, nurses and staff. People in our communities fear not having an emergency room nearby — for the heart attack, stroke or asthma attack where minutes can mean the difference between life and death. This will be a real loss for downtown Brooklyn. Jane McGroarty
There was a forum in Redhook, Brooklyn, last Thursday, where Speaker Quinn could offer no solutions on how to save LICH. According to Twitter, Speaker Quinn was jeered. Brooklyn voters are expressing growing disappointment and are now making a promise not to vote for Speaker Quinn.
Note : If you use Twitter, please help to re-Tweet any #saveLICH or #LICHtweets. If you author your own tweets, please add the#Gov1% hashtag. A few weeks ago, it came to be that some Occupy activists were targeting Gov. Cuomo on some of his policies that benefit the 1 percent. When Occupy activists began making "Gov. 1%" signs, it really bothered the governor. Perhaps if he sees enough #Gov1%tweets, it may prompt him into action.
Asbestos Worries. We have heard that Sen. Brad Hoylman's office is taking the lead to follow-up on the community's concerns about the containment and removal of hazardous construction materials, including asbestos, at the former Coleman Building. But we don't know what is causing Sen. Hoylman's office to be unable to give us an update about the former Coleman Buidling. His office keeps providing updates on some of the buildings on the campus, which have already been open as luxury condos. But the community is worried about the removal of hazardous materials at the former Coleman Buidling, but we receive no responsive information from Sen. Hoylman's office. Once we receive an update, we will share it with you.
Dr. Nirav Shah. Lastly, we are copying Dr. Nirav Shah, the state health commissioner. Please feel free to e-mail your concerns to him directly at :nrs02@health.state.ny.us
Bullying. Last week, a major housing activist released a voicemail recording that shows how Speaker Quinn bullies activists, so that she can ride roughshod over activists.
If anybody in the community, who has been working for a full-service hospital to replace St. Vincent's, has experienced any harassment from Speaker Quinn or from anybody in her office, please let us know.
Thank you for all that you do.
