In North Shore-LIJ and Christine Quinn Plan for St. Vincent's, a Fear of Union-Busting

OP-ED : Update on Community Effort to Create a Hospital to Replace St. Vincent's in the Lower West Side of Manhattan

When a deal was announced for the transfer of bankruptcy assets from the 501(c)(3) charity that was St. Vincent's Hospital to the private real estate developer tycoon William Rudin at values that may not fairly represent the full market value, the bankruptcy assets transfer was hailed as a health care miracle, because it would replace the Level 1 Trauma Center that was St. Vincent's with a first aid clinic.

But just a mere examination, at first blush, of the beneficial transfer of assets to insider creditors, the jobs that it would create, and the services it would provide, show that this deal is fraught with potential legal challenges.

The transfer of St. Vincent's principal assets -- its real estate -- to the Rudin family, who has always had an ''inside track'' on condo-conversion plans -- may be fraudulent, if the transfer does not happen at full market value prices. There is also community concern that the North Shore-LIJ landlord taking over the first aid clinic is going to hire only non-union employees for the 400 jobs that are expected to be created at the first aid clinic, and that the new clinic will forbid any efforts at collective-bargaining ; presently, only approximately 36 per cent of North Shore-LIJ employees receive union benefits. The services to be provided by the first aid clinic will not be able to treat ''women in labor, patients with severe trauma such as gunshot wounds or open fractures, or those requiring immediate surgery or cardiac interventions.'' In the face of the lack of life-saving services to be provided by the first aid clinic, and even the dishonest comparison of ambulance response times between 2008 and 2009 (even though St. Vincent's closed in 2010), predictably Deputy Mayor Christine Quinn can still be ''encouraged'' by the flimsy outpatient center.

Meanwhile, here is a video of a press conference outside Friday's appellate court hearing in connection with a freedom of information lawsuit.

Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital? (Pt. 23) - Freedom of Information from g. sosa on Vimeo.

As Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Christine Quinn try to destroy the social safety net by trying to close firehouses, shut down senior citizen centers, cut childcare, layoff teachers, pretend like votes don't go missing, build luxury condos on the hallowed ground of St. Vincent's Hospital, make money from government information, and end Progressive Era reforms, we are left to wonder. When will the focus of irresponsible real estate development at the expense of the middle class spark a voter backlash, that will lead to mass protests at the city's legislature, or a revolution of the likes that have been happening elsewhere ? What will be the spark that will trigger mass protests in New York ?

(Christine Quinn is Speaker of the New York City Council, but she has made her bed alongside Mayor Bloomberg on many controversial issues that often times she acts more and more like his Deputy Mayor than an independent voice for Democratic Party ideals.)

Budget Cuts In New York City Will Result In Massive NYPD And FDNY Layoffs

What Does Christine Quinn Do to Stop Mayor Bloomberg's scorched earth plan to Keep Laying Off More and More Police and Firefighters ? Nothing, as usual.

In newly-released plans of how the New York City plans to cut important services that underpin public safety and public health, a growing outrage is being expressed that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget cuts are going too far.

''The city's Independent Budget Office projected yesterday that by June 30, 2012, the Police Department will have shrunk to 34,413 uniformed personnel, a record low since the 34,825 that were on the force on that same date 20 years ago when crime rates in the city were near epic highs,'' reported The New York Post.

"Crime statistics show there is a breaking point, and we're at it," City Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, told The Post. "We can't absorb any more public safety cuts."

''The IBO further reported the Fire Department will have 10,282 uniformed personnel on June 30, 2012, down from 10,911 this year, and the lowest level since at least 1980, when the IBO first started tracking the numbers.''

Everybody seems to be outraged by the proposed budget cuts, and the impact it would have on teachers, police, firefighters, and even the City Morgue. But nobody is doing about the tens of millions of dollars disappearing into the shady black holes of IT contracts. Or what about the failed $2 billion Unified Call Taker-911 dispatch and emergency call system ? Who is the only person in New York City government, who can stand up to Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo ? If you are counting on Speaker Quinn, better go looking for another champion, because she doesn't do anything to stand up for essential city service cuts. Just look at how Speaker Quinn has done nothing to even save St. Vincent's Hospital from turning into luxury condominiums.