Ron Kuby Pepper Spray Case Legal Letter

2012 03 26 Ron Kuby Bologna Cardona

Bill Rudin Bird Dogged Viral YouTube

St. Vincent's Hospital activist bird-dogs billionaire Bill Rudin over controversial luxury condo conversion plan.

Artist and political commentator Suzannah B. Troy confronts Bill Rudin on West 12th Street. Community anger towards Mr. Rudin has inspired many protests, including a sustained protest and vigil outside the sales office of the new luxury condos. Mr. Rudin has ruthlessly ignored the community’s need for a full-service hospital. Mr. Rudin paid pennies on the dollar to buy St. Vincent’s real estate, and Mr. Rudin now stands to sell luxury condos and townhouses that, once constructed, are expected to have a combined fair-market value of over $1 billion.

Quinn's Vito Campaign Strategy

In 2006, when she was elected to become Speaker of the New York City Council, Christine Quinn turned to help from Vito Lopez in Brooklyn, for the votes of Brooklyn councilmembers, in an effort to thwart Bill De Blasio, who (no surprise) failed in his campaign to become Speaker. Like then, Speaker Quinn is now turning to extending favours to Mr. Lopez. Only now, what is at stake is not the speakership, but the mayoralty.

Speaker Quinn needs to pump the political machine in Brooklyn for votes, because she has angered so many voters in her own City Council District over community-crushing development that is allowing New York University to overwhelm the special social fabric of Greenwich Village, that closed St. Vincent's Hospital, and that is going to destroy the character of Chelsea Market.

And, in exchange, Speaker Quinn is being suspected of delivering to Mr. Lopez a redistricted seat in Brooklyn, to give him a soft landing, once he gets kicked out of the New York State Assembly.

Quinn Would Accept Another Cathleen Black

Christine Quinn keeps door open to appoint the second-coming of Cathleen Black.

Christine Quinn said she would not rule anybody out for chancellor job, unlike rivals who said they wanted an educator.

— Michael Howard Saul (@MichaelHwrdSaul) November 19, 2012

Paid Sick Leave Reminder

Read more : Christine Quinn Betrays Her Own Kind by Jordan Gwendolyn Davis.

Quinn ABNY Climate Change Hypocrisy

On the same day that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gave an empty and meaningless climate change speech at Bill Rudin's astroturf group, Speaker Quinn approved a zone-busting real estate development deal at Chelsea Marekt, which is very close to the Zone A flood zone.

NYC Hospital Evacuations #EPICFAIL

Why is it acceptable for us to allow hospitals go through such desperate attempts to equally and adequately fund the healthcare needs of patients ? Look at the consequences of the blackouts of New York City hospitals in Lower Manhattan.

The issue before us is whether the rebuilding of our hospitals will continue to favour wealthy institutions, which primarily serve the well-insured, or will we use this opportunity to examine and fix the unequal distribution of healthcare in New York created by the Berger Commission ?

As it is, we are on a path that will continue to force us to accept less and less. Look at how nursing homes were instructed by health officials not to evacuate, and then they are criticised by the Department of Health for unacceptable conditions compounded precisely because they were instructed not to evacuate. Is this acceptable ?

If we believe in the dignity and equality of all people, then our healthcare system must be reformed to provide patient care-centered healthcare, to equally meet the needs of all patients. Please support a truly universal, single-payer healthcare system.

Christine Quinn, Domenic Recchia Exploit Hurricane Sandy Response

Under the city budget approved last summer by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council Member Domenic Recchia was allocated in excess of $1.5 million in so-called member items for more than 150 community organizations of his choosing. Mr. Recchia received so much money, because Mr. Recchia helps Speaker Quinn score political points with his community. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Recchia is escorting Speaker Quinn through his city council district to help fluff up her visibility among Coney Island voters, even though Speaker Quinn is not held accountable for the lack of adequate emergency healthcare management planning. Since the time that she has become speaker of City Council, nine hospitals have closed in New York City, including Peninsula Hospital Center in Far Rockaway, Queens. No word yet on when Coney Island Hospital will re-open.

Another Death In Greenwich Village

Elliott Carter, a famous American composer, died on Monday in his Greenwich Village apartment. He was 103 and had continued to compose into his 11th decade, completing his last piece in August, The New York Times reported.

Ever since New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn approved the Rudin family's luxury condo conversion plan for St. Vincent's Hospital, there is no full-service hospital in the entire Lower West Side of Manhattan.

It's difficult to know how many people are dying because St. Vincent's Hospital closed. Richard J. Sheirer, the former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management during the September 11th attacks, fell ill a few blocks away from where St. Vincent's used to be, and he died because he did not receive timely life-saving medical treatment.

Board of Elections Scandal (Continuing)

Journalist and political blogger Gary Tilzer has been blogging for days now that the New York City Board of Election would fail at delivering fair elections after Hurricane Sandy. Serious concerns exist that voters will be able to cast their ballots.

From True News for Change NYC :

For the last few days there has been talk of creating a Queens "super poll" at the Aqueduct Racino where all the the voters flooded out could go to vote on elections. True News has learned why that plan has not gone forward. The political leaders who control the board have been fighting each other for control. Board watchers cannot believe that the people's constitutional right to vote is being delayed for so long on such an important vote. There is a power struggle going on within the board between the Crowley forces and the senate majority leader Skelos GOP board loyalists on where to locate the Super Poll. The GOP does not want it at the Racino because they say the place is controlled by Crowley and the Democrats. According to BOE insiders, that fight has delayed a voting plan for 3 or 4 days. According to today's NY Post, the BOE has decided on a comprise plan of 3 Super Polling sites in Queens. But that delay means fewer voters will know where to vote and there is less time for the incompetent BOE to set up emergency tent polls.

What does New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn plan to do about reforming the Board of Election ?

Chelsea Market ULURP Lip Service - We've Heard This Before

Whatever ULURP Wants, ULURP Gets

Lesley Doyel, a co-president of the community group Save Chelsea, published an editorial in the local newspaper of Chelsea, Jamestown Now :

Ms. Doyel was critical of the Uniform Land [Use] Review Process (ULURP), which is rigged in favour of zone-busting real estate developers. Here is an excerpt of her editorial about how Jamestown Properties used its ULURP application to upzone Chelsea Market :

... The ULURP process begins once City Planning certifies a proposal. ... As we now so clearly see, certification should happen at the end, rather than at the beginning of ULURP, so that the community can play a true and important role in the review process. As it now stands, the public voice is little more than lip service.

Yet, throughout ULURP, the public came out in good faith over and over again, to jump through the endless hoops required by the process, putting forth well-researched, reasoned arguments against Jamestown’s proposal. Hundreds of letters and postcards, thousands of petitions (not to mention the sheer number of people represented by all of the many groups that had joined in opposition) could not, as in the cases of both St. Vincent’s and NYU, prevail against the pre-determined approval that waited in the wings.

In the end, the steamroller that is ULURP buried the community’s very real concerns and protests under the gooey asphalt of compromise — expecting us to believe that this was all done in the public interest, and for the public good.

We know it was not. And, if nothing else, the City Council, and our own Council Representative, need to know and understand this. ...

Chelsea Market Should Not Have Been Upzoned

Separately, Andrew Berman wrote a separate editorial, which was also published in Jamestown Now :

... The Council voted to approve this deal with only one member, Zoning Subcommittee Chair David Weprin, staying for and listening to all the public testimony against the project. On the whole, the deal to upzone Chelsea Market will add to traffic and congestion, increase overdevelopment, diminish a beloved local landmark, and reinforce the view of a public review and approval system as one which denies the public a real voice.

Rudin Family, Marathon Organisers Hoarding 41 Generators Whilst NYC Still In Dark

Mayor Concedes To Critics : Cancels Marathon : What Took So Long ?

Race organisers, including the Rudin Family, the New York Road Runners Club, and ING, used Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be the fall guy for criticism about the city using valuable resources to hold the New York City Marathon. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg was forced to cancel the marathon after The New York Post reported that at least 41 generators were being hoarded by race officials. Meanwhile, large numbers of New York City residents were rendered homeless with little to no resources for food, shelter, heat, health, or safety in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Many storm victims were outraged at all the resources, not just power generators, that were being hoarded by marathon organisers for the sole benefit of runners.

"Runners were set to dine on a lavish Saturday-evening pre-race meal that included lemon-thyme chicken with shallot jus, and autumn vegetable bow-tie pasta primavera with extra virgin oil and fresh herbs — which most storm victims would have killed for," reported The New York Post.

"More than 2,000 cops are typically assigned to work the marathon. About five years ago, the city started privatizing medical coverage at the event, although scores of city paramedics and EMTs are still assigned to the race," reported The New York Daily News.

Rudin Family Marathon Hurricane Sandy Controversy

The Rudin family, who is converting St. Vincent's Hospital into luxury condos, is one of the main sponsors of the New York City Marathon, and after mounting criticism, the Marathon was cancelled. The Marathon would have three giant electricity generators, which would be used for the media tent ; meanwhile, NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals had to be evacuated due to backup generator failures. The Rudin family was about to be become open to major criticism for using generators that could otherwise be used for hospitals, or for others, in similar need.

Politicians were finally shamed by news reports about the misuse of city resources whilst entire hospitals had to be evacuated, because their huge generators failed. Not only that, but, for days now, residents rendered homeless in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Lower Manhattan finally reached a peak to actually be heard. This whole experience shows that politicians were tone deaf to the misuse of city resources, until the organisers and sponsors of the Marathon, such as the Rudin family and ING, were at risk of generating ill will with the public.

Bill Rudin Hospital Evacuations and NYC Marathon Reality Check

More World News from ABC

Even before Hurricane Sandy made landfall, weather experts were predicting massive flooding, which would have caused damage to the city's infrastructure. Two of the most critical infrastructure facilities that took a hit as a result of Hurricane Sandy were the subway system and the city's hospitals.

Bill Rudin said that it would be safe to close St. Vincent's Hospital, which was the only Level I Trauma Center and full-service hospital in all of Lower Manhattan. He and his billion-dollar real estate development company got easy building permits, zone-busting waivers, and approvals from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. At the time, Mr. Rudin and Speaker Quinn said that if people in Lower Manhattan became sick, or if there was a mass civilian trauma event, patients could be transported to Bellevue Hospital, which was the next closest Level I Trauma Center.

But the aftermath of hospital evacuations at NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals following destruction by caused by Hurricane Sandy expose the risks of the Rudin Condo Conversion Plan approved for St. Vincent's Hospital.

Note that the NYC Marathon would have three giant electricity generators, which would be used for the media tent, meanwhile, NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals had to be evacuated due to backup generator failures.

Watch this NBC News report about the hurricane destruction. Note that Mr. Rudin is a sponsor of the NYC Marathon, and he wants the Marathon to still take place this week-end, even though first responders haven't yet finished recovering all the dead bodies on Staten Island, or, for that matter, ensuring public safety or providing emergency care to the people rendered homeless by the tsunami of the storm surge and flooding.

NYU Langone Is Evacuated As St. Vincent's Hospital Becomes Luxury Condos

From The New York Times :

To the Editor :

Looking at the images of ambulances in front of NYU Langone Medical Center evacuating the hospital, one remembers the cry for the preservation of St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan made by the community and its doctors.

Let us join together to come up with a solution so that the people of New York will have access to the critical emergency care they need.

ROBERT B. GOLDBERG
New York, Oct. 31, 2012

The writer, dean and professor at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, is a former attending physician at St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan.