Officials Protest 'Secret' Plan to Close LICH - Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Officials Protest ‘Secret’ Plan to Close LICH This Weekend
SUNY Says It’s a `False Rumor’
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Eagle
Long Island College Hospital
(LICH) doctors say they
were told by SUNY Downstate
administrators to transfer
all their patients out by
Friday so that LICH could be
shut down by Sunday.
Dr. Alice Garner, head of
the neonatal unit at LICH, said
“I received verbal orders that
we are to transfer all patients
by tomorrow so they can shut
us down by Sunday. We did
not receive one written word
to substantiate this. We were
told the surgical areas and the
G.I. suite will be closed tomorrow
in direct violation of the
restraining order, putting the
community at risk.”
Hundreds of protesters
shouting “Shame on SUNY!”
gathered in the 97-degree
heat outside LICH in Cobble
Hill Thursday afternoon after
getting the word.
As dozens of cars honked
their horns in solidarity, state
Sen. Daniel Squadron, Councilman
Steve Levin, Public Advocate
Bill de Blasio and Councilman
Brad Lander told the
crowd that SUNY officials refused
to meet with them or
put the orders in writing to
avoid legal culpability.
“They’re acting like thieves
in the night,” said de Blasio.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, state Sen. Daniel Squadron, Councilman Steve Levin, and Councilman
Brad Lander lead a crowd to LICH’s administrative suit to try to get answers after SUNY Downstate refused
to meet with them on Thursday.
Eagle photo by Mary Frost
“I have one question: Where
is Mayor Bloomberg Where
is Governor Cuomo SUNY
Downstate is moving more
aggressively than ever to shut
down the hospital this community
needs in violation of
a court order. We’re not standing
for it. SUNY is violating the
law and the public trust.”
All four officials headed
into LICH to attempt to meet
with hospital administrators,
while security guards tried
to block their way. The officials
and a handful of nurses
and staff made it to the
administration floor, where
they asked to speak to interim
CEO James Karkenny.
Karkenny, however, ordered
them to leave and threatened
to call the police. Sen.
Squadron said, “You refuse to
speak to elected officials”
“You’ve been asked to
leave,” Karkenny barked.
“You barged in illegally!”
Councilman Lander replied,
“You’re closing the hospital
illegally.”
Karkenny then locked
himself inside his office and
refused to come out.
While barricaded on the
fourth floor, Sen. Squadron
called Carl McCall, head of
the SUNY Board of Trustees,
explaining that Karkenny “refused
to have a private conversation”
with elected officials.
“People need to understand
a public health emergency
is playing out in Brooklyn,
and it is SUNY’s fault,” said
an exasperated Councilman
Levin. “Placing the ambulances
on diversion at LICH has
overwhelmed other hospitals
in the area. They are putting
real people’s lives at risk. It’s abhorrent
and inexcusable.”
Lander said he brought
his son to LICH when he
has bronchiolitis. “He had
to spend a couple of days in
the hospital. Where did we
take him LICH. What happens
tomorrow if a child in
Red Hook gets bronchiolitis
Or if someone in Brooklyn
Heights goes into cardiac arrest
People are going to die.”
Levin said that what
SUNY is saying directy contradicts
what the staff was
told. “In our experience, the
staff, doctors and nurses are
telling the truth. SUNY refused
to meet with us today.”
De Blasio said that he expected
a “bait and switch”
with SUNY. “They must tell
us the full truth about what
their intentions are.”
As Thursday’s drama
played out,1 statements from
representatives across Brooklyn,
Borough President Marty
Markowitz and City Council
Speaker Christine Quinn
came in support of LICH, saying
SUNY has “gone rogue”
and calling for an independent
overseer.
SUNY Downstate spokesperson
Robert J. Bellafiore issued
a statement late Thursday
that SUNY was not closing
the hospital this weekend.
“Patently false statements
and rumors about the
immediate closure of LICH
obfuscate the truth, which
is SUNY’s commitment to securing
proposals to provide
healthcare services in the
community. While SUNY has
made it clear that it will not
continue to operate LICH, as
is reflected in the state-approved
sustainability plan
for Downstate, the hospital
is not closing this weekend.
No hospital in New York
state can close without the
approval of the Department
of Health.”
LICH Dr. John Manny confirmed,
however, that LICH’s
operating rooms were closing
Friday, “at the end of shift.”
Return of Downtown-Bay Ridge
Bus Isn’t a Done Deal, Pols Warn
By Paula Katinas
Brooklyn Eagle
Don’t pop the champagne
corks just yet. The restoration
of the B37 bus line is
not a done deal, according to
two Republican lawmakers
who warned riders not to celebrate
too early.
State Sen. Marty Golden
(R-Bay Ridge-Southeast
Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman
Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay
Ridge-Staten Island) said it’s
not a sure bet that the MTA
will vote to bring back the B37
line when it holds its board
meeting on July 24.
“There are no assurances,”
Golden said as he stood
with Malliotakis and Bay
Ridge Community Council
President Renee Dorsa in
a bus shelter on Third Avenue
and 75th Street Thursday
morning to call on the MTA
to approve the proposal.
“There is still one week
left in this fight,” Malliotakis
said at the press conference.
Malliotakis, who noted that
the MTA will be considering
the possible restoration of
several bus lines around the
city, not just the B37, said that
she, Golden and other elected
officials in Brooklyn are eager
“to make sure the B37 remains
part of the proposal.”
The MTA eliminated the
B37 and other bus lines in 2010
when the agency was faced
with a budget crisis. The B37
ran from Bay Ridge to Downtown
Brooklyn along Third
Avenue. The MTA rerouted
the B70 to Third Avenue for a
portion of its route. But transit
advocates points out the
B70 turns from Third Avenue
onto 69th Street and doesn’t
go any further north, leaving
residents of Sunset Park and
other neighborhoods north
of Bay Ridge without a Third
Avenue bus.
Golden, Malliotakis, and
Dorsa made a pitch for the
B37. “This is a bus line that
goes from Fort Hamilton all
the way to Borough Hall. Our
seniors cannot access the R
train,” Malliotakis said. The R
train stations do not have elevators,
and many seniors find
navigating the stairs difficult.
As a result of the lack of
transportation options, seniors
“have to spend extra
money they don’t have to pay
for car services,” she said. Malliotakis
added that her mother
is one of those seniors. “She
has a doctor whose office is
near Borough Hall. It’s hard
for her to get down there. She
is always asking me about getting
the B37 back,” Malliotakis
told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
“The B37 is vital for seniors,
people with disabilities
and for our youth,” Dorsa said.
Golden said a bus is needed
to run the full length of
Third Avenue so that people
can get to Lutheran Medical
Center, go shopping in
Downtown Brooklyn and get
to jobs in the court system
and in Bush Terminal.
In other matters, Golden
expressed concern about
the impact the closure of the
Montague Street tunnel will
have on subway service. The
tunnel, which accommodates
the R train, will be closed for
14 months starting in early August
so that the MTA can repair
damage caused by Superstorm
Sandy. Golden
questioned whether the MTA
can meet its 14-month timetable.
“They haven’t opened up
those walls. They haven’t seen
what’s behind there,” he said.
Golden added that he has
been holding ongoing talks
with MTA President Thomas
Prendergast about adding
transportation services to
make up for the lack of a direct
link for R train riders. Prendergast
has agreed to increase service
on local express buses by
25 percent, Golden said.
It’s important to keep up
the pressure on the MTA, Malliotakis
said. “The squeaky
wheel gets the oil,” she said.
Golden, Malliotakis and
other advocates of the B37
have at least one sympathetic
ear on the MTA board. Allen
Cappelli, the Staten Island
member of the board, said recently
that the B37 is “on the
verge” of being restored. “I am
hopeful that the MTA board
will approve this plan unanimously
at the next full board
meeting,” he stated.
Brooklyn-born Businessman
Runs for Mayor as Independent
From Associated Press
A millionaire tech businessman
on Wednesday entered
the race to replace
Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
saying the current group of
candidates would take the
city backward.
Jack Hidary announced
he would be running as an
independent.
Born and raised in Brooklyn,
the 45-year-old Hidary
made his fortune in technology,
and is the co-founder of
dice.com, a job website.
Hidary said he decided to
get into the race because the
current candidates didn’t offer
forward-thinking policies.
“It is clear that New York-
Jack Hidary, tech businessman
and mayoral candidate.
AP Photo
ers understand that the current
crop of candidates want
to take us back to tired policies
and machine politics,”
he said. “They want a new, independent
choice.”
He touted his experience
creating businesses and jobs
as among his strengths. His
campaign said he’s raised
more than $450,000 in donations.
Hidary told the Associated
Press he plans to take part in
the public financing system
as well as use his own money.
The field is already a
crowded one, with multiple
candidates on both the
Democratic and Republican
sides seeking their parties’
nomination. The primaries
are in September
and the general election in
November.
Bloomberg is finishing
his third term in office.
2 • Brooklyn Eagle • Friday, July 19, 2013