AOL VIDEO : Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg Exposed on St. Vincent's Hospital Closing

AOL VIDEO has produced a report about the slapping incident that occurred at a press event in front of the former site of St. Vincent's Hospital. St. Vincent's closed in 2010 after Rudin Management Company foreclosed on mortgage notes it held. The hospital was rezoned for a billion dollar luxury condominium and townhouse complex after Rudin Management Company executives and owners were exposed to have contributed $30,000 in campaign donations to what eventually became Christine Quinn's 2013 mayoral campaign account

Maureen Dowd and Christine Quinn talk about teal toenail polish

Dowd and Quinn stop short of talking about the Summer Clearance Sale (Save Up To 80%) happening now at Lord & Taylor.

At approximately 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, 4 August 2013, only hours after the latest column by Maureen Dowd was published on The New York Times Web site, the comments widget attached to that column was closed.

After reader criticisms, @nytimes closes comments early on Maureen Down's @ChrisCQuinn Teal Toenail polish column http://t.co/0yOUEpFwQE

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 4, 2013

Only 184 comments were allowed to be published, which is a small number for The New York Times, which can generate nearly 1,000 on some of its most controversial articles or editorial columns.

Today's column created waves on social media, because it appeared that Ms. Dowd was letting New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn off the hook from some of her more scandalous incidents of political corruption.

Instead, by the time Ms. Down reached the conclusion her column, Who’s That Candidate in the Teal Toenail Polish ?, she admits that she fell in love with Speaker Quinn's toenail polish ! “It matches my campaign literature, that’s the point of it!” Quinn said excitedly, pulling two bottles out of her bag. “It’s the color of the blue on my posters so I’m trying to wear it all summer long.” Let's hope The New York Times gets more serious about the issues impacting New Yorkers, from hospital closings, to the record of racial discrimination and brutality at the NYPD, to the runaway give-aways to the real estate industry, the privatization of public education, the growing disparities of income inequality, Quinn's role in the slush fund scandal, Quinn's role in overturning term limits, the overall culture of corruption during the Bloomberg-Quinn administration, and the erosion of civil liberties and civil rights. It's difficult to see how the color of toenail polish rates against any of these issues.

Christine Quinn is the "Jack Kevorkian" of NYC Hospital Closings

Is Christine Quinn the "Doctor Death" of New York City hospital closings ?

Will Long Island College Hospital and Interfaith Medical Center be added to this list of hospitals that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has allowed Real Estate Developers to close ?

Christine Quinn had 10 chances to save 10 NYC hospitals from closing or downsizing.

She saved none.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, ten hospitals have been closed or down-sized :

• Westchester Square Medical Center in the Bronx became bankrupt and was sold in 2013 ; it is expected to be down-sized into an urgent care center
• Peninsula Hospital Center in Far Rockaway, Queens, filed for bankruptcy and was closed in 2012
• North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010
• St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village was shut down in 2010, so that the Rudin family could build luxury condos
• St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009
• Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica went bankrupt in 2009
• Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills closed in 2008
• Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008
• Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed in 2008
• St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan closed in 2007

If your life depends on comprehensive emergency care, how safe will you be with Christine Quinn as mayor ?

@stopchrisquinn

Activists and Bill de Blasio Were Arrested in an Act of Civil Disobedience to Save LICH

DeBlasio also marched out in cuffs with a bunch of media following. #savelich pic.twitter.com/aLWH8rB3Z9

— Sarah Jaffe (@sarahljaffe) July 10, 2013

New York City public advocate Bill de Blasio was lead away in handcuffs after reports that a peaceful demonstration to save Long Island College Hospital from closing turned into an act of civil disobedience.

.@BilldeBlasio being placed under arrest. Put in the back of police van. pic.twitter.com/PbleLR3hbJ

— Erin Durkin (@erinmdurkin) July 10, 2013

A demonstration had been scheduled Wednesday morning to apply political pressure on SUNY management officials. SUNY will decide whether LICH remains open or is closed as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's radical healthcare cuts to window dress the New York State budget in advance of his expected bid for the 2016 presidential race.

Healthcare activists, hospital employees, and healthcare union officials have been trying for months to appeal for help from politicians from Albany to City Hall for help, but the legislative session ended last month with no rescue package, and locally Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn closed next years budget negotiations without making any provision to save LICH from closure.

In the last few weeks, activists had been holding many demonstrations, rallies, and other acts of protest to draw attention to the plight of Brooklyn hospitals. Since 2006, ten New York City hospitals have either closed or downsized, and the remaining hospitals are over-burnded. Wait times at emergency rooms are escalating, and patients in life-or-death situations are having to take longer and longer ambulance rides to get to the next nearest emergency room.

On Feb. 8, 2011, four community activists were arrested in an act of civil disobedience to save St. Vincent's Hospital, but the community received no support from Speaker Quinn.

Speaker Quinn accepted $30,000 in campaign donations from Rudin Management Company before she approved the billion-dollar Rudin condo conversion plan for St. Vincent's Hospital.

If Christine Quinn Wants To Save Her Mayoral Campaign, She Will Use Slush Funds To Save LICH

Supreme Court of the State of New York Hearing Transcript June 19 2013 Re: Long Island College Hospital by SaveLICH

Suzannah B. Troy 911 ECTP Testimony at City Council

The blogger and political activist Suzannah B. Troy produced a YouTube video today, introducing the audio recording of her City Council testimony today about the 911 ECTP emergency call system failures.

Alongside Mark Carson Vigil, Activists Highlight Lack Of Emergency Trauma Level Healthcare

Photo Credit : Melissa Kleckner.

Could St. Vincent's Hospital have saved Mark Carson's life ? This peaceful demonstration took place alongside a vigil and march to honor Mark Carson. Mr. Carson was murdered in a vicious hate crime, and among the issues that the community of Greenwich Village confront are bias crimes, gun violence, and the lack of a full service, Level I Trauma Center hospital to replace St. Vincent's. This vigil took place on May 20, 2013.

Mark Carson Anti-Gay Bias Killing : No St. Vincent's Hospital For Victim

Marc Carson, 32, shot dead in anti-gay attack in Greenwich Village.on.dnainfo.com/13Dd94b twitter.com/DNAinfo/status…

— DNAinfo.com New York (@DNAinfo) May 18, 2013

Focus On Health : Anti-Gay Bias Killing : No St. Vincent's Hospital For Victim

The bias murder of Mark Carson is tragic and must rightly be condemned. But residents in all areas in New York City, including the Lower West Side of Manhattan, which were once served by the ten hospitals that have closed since 2006 -- when Christine Quinn became Speaker of the City Council -- deserve answers, too.

Could Mr. Carson's life had been saved, if, two blocks away from the scene of his violent attack, St. Vincent's Hospital was still open ?

How many lives have been lost, because of the collapse of so many full-service hospitals in New York City ?

How much worse has the Average Ambulance ER Turnaround Time become as a result of the closing of ten full-service hospitals in New York City ?

Why don't more politicians support a single-payer healthcare system, so that all hospitals could be funded to fully meet the healthcare needs of their patients ?

St. Vincent's Hospital Closing Becomes Mayoral Campaign Issue, Featured In New Campaign Ad

The latest ad by New York City is Not for Sale 2013 blames Christine Quinn for her role in St. Vincent’s Hospital closure.

A group of citizen activists has previewed an advance look at a new TV advertisement that blames New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

The TV ad, released by the group known as NYC Is Not For Sale 2013, exposes how there has been an appearance of a quid-pro-quo between Speaker Quinn and Rudin Management Company, the real estate developer, which foreclosed on St. Vincent's Hospital. Members of the Rudin family, who own the billion-dollar Rudin Management Company enterprise, donated $30,000 to Speaker Quinn, who conveniently later supported a zoning change that paved the way for the Greenwich Village hospital to close.

Read more : SEE IT: New ad blasts Christine Quinn for role in closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital

In exchange for $30,000 in campaign donations, did New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sell out her community ?

Do the political campaign donations by Beth R. DeWoody, Madeleine R. Johnson, Eric C. Rudin, Jack Rudin, Katherine Rudin, and William C. Rudin, who each donated $4,950 to Christine Quinn's presumed 2013 mayoral campaign, amount to influence peddling ? After all, since even before St. Vincent's Hospital closed, Speaker Quinn has been toeing the Rudin family line : close down St. Vincent's and replace it with an inferior urgent care center.

Not only did Speaker Quinn say that we only needed an urgent care center to replace St. Vincent's, but she approved the Rudin family's plan, allowing St. Vincent's Hospital to be rezoned into luxury condos. Since 2010, the Rudin family has been trying to get approval for a billion-dollar real estate development plan for the buildings that belong to the bankruptcy estate of St. Vincent's Hospital. Since the Rudin family wants to build luxury high-rise condos on the site of St. Vincent's, and since they needed City Council approval from Speaker Quinn, do these large campaign donations explain why Speaker Quinn did nothing to restore a Level I trauma center and full-service hospital to the former St. Vincent's site ? Does Speaker Quinn's official acts come as a result of sizable campaign donations from the likes of the Rudin family ?

To Preet Bharara : Do @chriscquinn's official acts come as a result of campaign donations ? christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2011/02/rudin-… #StVincentsHospital

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 4, 2013

Rudin Real Estate-Quinn Related Campaign Donations

In exchange for $30,000 in campaign donations, did New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sell out her community ?

Do the political campaign donations by Beth R. DeWoody, Madeleine R. Johnson, Eric C. Rudin, Jack Rudin, Katherine Rudin, and William C. Rudin, who each donated $4,950 to Christine Quinn's presumed 2013 mayoral campaign, amount to influence peddling ? After all, since even before St. Vincent's Hospital closed, Speaker Quinn has been toeing the Rudin family line : close down St. Vincent's and replace it with an inferior urgent care center.

Not only did Speaker Quinn say that we only needed an urgent care center to replace St. Vincent's, but she approved the Rudin family's plan, allowing St. Vincent's Hospital to be rezoned into luxury condos. Since 2010, the Rudin family has been trying to get approval for a billion-dollar real estate development plan for the buildings that belong to the bankruptcy estate of St. Vincent's Hospital. Since the Rudin family wants to build luxury high-rise condos on the site of St. Vincent's, and since they needed City Council approval from Speaker Quinn, do these large campaign donations explain why Speaker Quinn did nothing to restore a Level I trauma center and full-service hospital to the former St. Vincent's site ? Does Speaker Quinn's official acts come as a result of sizable campaign donations from the likes of the Rudin family ?

To Preet Bharara : Do @chriscquinn's official acts come as a result of campaign donations ? christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2011/02/rudin-… #StVincentsHospital

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 4, 2013

2007-XX-XX Rudin Management Company Polication Donations to Christine Quinn - Advanced Search - New York Ci...

Asbestos Problem at Rudin Luxury Condo Conversion of St. Vincent's

The construction workers at the site of the former St. Vincent's Hospital are using a regular street-side dumpster to collect Asbestos and Asbestos-contaminated construction materials in the luxury condo conversion to benefit Rudin Management Company.

Photo credit : Anonymous (via Suzannah B. Troy)

For weeks, there have been concerns expressed amongst the residents of the West Village, around the former site of St. Vincent's Hospital, about the integrity of the asbestos abatement procedure being conducted by Rudin Management Company construction workers.

There have been other disturbing photographs being shared amongst community activists, showing construction workers wearing scary-looking Haz-Mat suits at the construction site.

Some activists have been trying to collecting official reports about the safety of the seemingly casual treatment of asbestos at the construction site, but, thus far, no official reports have been released.

Almost a year ago, the blogger Suzannah B. Troy noticed Asbestos records that were exposed to the elements.

The below report only contains one reference to Asbestos, namely, that there was a presence of the carcinogen on the construction site, and nothing else.

2011 05 23 Saint Vincent Eas City Planning Asbestos

More information is available about the out-of-control Asbestos problem at the Rudin condo conversion.

Protest at St. John's Queens Hospital M24 - Affinity action with Strike Debt

Affinity action with #strikedebt. Join us next Sunday, March 24, at 1 p.m. Protest the debts that drive hospitals to closure. It's a matter of life or debt. RSVP : https://www.facebook.com/events/223995181075326/

St. John's Queens Hospital - Protest Against Healthcare and Medical Debt

Join us for a protest to stop hospital closings : 1 p.m., Sunday, March 24, 2013, at the former site of St. John's Queens Hospital : 90-02 Queens Blvd.

RSVP on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/events/223995181075326/

Subway Directions : Take the R train to Woodhaven Blvd.

This is a demonstration in affinity with #strikedebt. Fore more information about Strike Debt, please visit : http://strikedebt.org/lifeordebt/

St. John's Queens Hospital has been closed for about 4 years now ; it is an example of how our debt-ridden healthcare system drives hospitals to closure. At the time of its closing, St. John's and its sister hospital had debts and losses in excess of $110 million. The healthcare infrastructure at the former St. John's Queens Hospital was lost, and it was not replaced. Meanwhile, the Emergency Room of nearby Elmhurst Hospital is overwhelmed.

Our debt-ridden healthcare system drives hospitals into closure.

Join us on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m., to demand that healthcare, hospital, and medical debt be absolved, so that medical emergencies stop driving hospitals -- and people -- into bankruptcy.

Please support a single-payer healthcare system, which would be a stable way to fund hospitals and healthcare.

Follow these hashtags on Twitter : #lifeordebt #strikedebt

Follow us on Twitter : @StopNYMRT

Melanie Meyers and Samantha Rudin diminish Sarge Shriver's legacy

Like our new Facebook page : Is Fried Frank betraying the legacy of Sarge Shriver ?

From the Demand A Hospital e-mail listserv :

Dear All : 

We were a small group today, but we did well to keep showing up to say that our fight goes on :  we still need a full-service hospital to replace St. Vincent's. 

At today's real estate forum, it shocked our conscious to learn that Julie Menin, candidate for Manhattan Borough President, was a participant -- even through the highlight of the forum was Melanie Meyer's and Samantha Rudin's distorted presentation about St. Vincent's Hospital.  We will contact Ms. Menin, to ask her to explain why she took part in the real estate forum, if it was glorifying the Rudin takeover of St. Vincent's.... 

We were not allowed inside the forum, and one of our friends reported to us that the conference was deliberately not being recorded or live streamed, because the forum's participants did not want their conversations recorded for public examination.  While Melanie Meyers and Samantha Rudin talked about the profits that they are making, they don't want us to know the exact amount of their riches... 

Here is our video of our protest, pointing out how Melanie Meyers and the Rudin family are corrupting Sarge Shriver's legacy at the law firm of Fried Frank :  http://youtu.be/O-lN9sw2UsA 

Thank you for all that you do.

Andrew Cuomo and the Neoliberalism Spree of Hospital Closings

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is closing hospitals, cutting healthcare, and attacking the social safety net in a spree of neoliberalism to "window dress" the New York State budget. His plan will make him look good, but it comes at the risk to public health. What are you going to do about it ?

Eleven hospital closings in New York City alone, since 2006 :

- Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn voted to be closed down under pressure from the Department of Health in 2013 ;

- Peninsula Hospital Center closed by the Department of Health in 2012 after it filed for bankruptcy ;

- North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010 ;

- St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village was shut down in 2010 to become luxury condos built by the greedy Rudin family ;

- St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009 ;

- Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, Queens, went bankrupt in 2009 ;

- Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills, Queens, closed in 2008 ;

- Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008 ;

- Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, closed in 2008 ; and

- St. Vincent's Midtown (f.k.a. St. Clare's Hospital) closed in 2007.

We are at the point right now where there are not enough hospitals left in New York City to deal with a mass civilian trauma event, natural disaster, or epidemic.

This year's flu season was aggravated by the temporary closing of these hospitals, which sustained major damage from Hurricane Sandy :

- Bellevue Hospital ;

- NYU Langone Hospital ;

- New York Downtown Hospital ;

- Coler-Goldwater Hospital ; and

- Coney Island Hospital.

And the only functioning hospital in all of Lower Manhattan was Beth Israel, but it was functioning for a time solely on back-up generators.

Is this the kind of healthcare system that we can rely up on save lives in times of a medical emergency ?

Rally to Save Interfaith and LICH outside Cuomo's Office

Call Gov. Andrew Cuomo : (212) 681-4580. Tell him : Save our hospitals !

Rally on 31 Jan 2013 to save Interfaith Hospital and Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Brooklyn.

Gov. Cuomo and his political aide, the investment banker monster Stephen Berger, are obsessed with closing hospitals. And now, they are setting up "for profit" hospitals in Brooklyn. This is dangerous !!

Gov. Cuomo, in a supreme act of failed neoliberalism policies, has proposed to make Brooklyn one of two counties in the state as a pilot project, in which current state regulations would be to waived to allow for-profit health care investments. (Read more : Judy Wessler).

Bill Thompson Political Advisor Attacks Quinn's Critics

Hank Sheinkopf, an advisor to Bill Thompson, predicts that the growing grassroots movement against Christine Quinn, and her political doctrine of corruption and neoliberalism, will fail. What do you think ?

Democratic Party political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said that he thinks most of the protesters’ arguments against Christine Quinn are bogus.

Among the lone few truly real Progressive voices in New York City, one person spoke up to question the outrageous statements by Mr. Sheinkopf. Gerson Borrero took to Twitter to express his dissent to Mr. Sheinkopf's lack of any political ethics.

WHO IS HANK SHEINKOPF WORKING FOR? Anybody But Quinn | City & State: cityandstateny.com/anybody-but-qu…

— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 30, 2013

From City & State :

Despite the ongoing protests, political insiders say the [growing grassroots] movement [against Christine Quinn] probably won’t gain enough traction to affect the November mayoral primary.

“There’s always unusual things that occur in every mayoral election, and this is the first unusual thing that’s occurring here,” said Democratic Party political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who added that he thinks most of the protesters’ arguments are bogus.

“The speaker makes deals,” he said. “That’s the nature of legislative government. Her job is to make deals.”

Sheinkopf, who is serving as an advisor to mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, also downplayed Quinn’s status as the Democratic front-runner. A recent poll has her far ahead of the pack, with 35 percent of likely voters pulling the lever for her as compared with 11 percent for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and 10 percent for Thompson.

Have we reached a low point in New York City politics, where campaign consultants cannot attach the most corrupt mayoral candidate for fear of exposing the shared, underlying political corruption that exists amongst all of the mayoral candidates ?

Hank Sheinkopf defends @chriscquinn against protests. Really? @ows_getmoneyout @occuvote cityandstateny.com/anybody-but-qu… @gersonborrero @ny1thecall

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) January 31, 2013

Christine Quinn Iron Lady Trickle Down Flyer

Here is the full-page 8.5x11 .pdf flyer :

Christine Quinn and Mike Bloomberg are like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan : Trickle Down Flyer by

And here is a photograph :

Protest Andrew Cuomo : Bring A Report Card To Show He Is Failing Expectations

From the Demand A Hospital listserv of St. Vincent's Hospital activists :

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

All :

Action Alert

Governor Andrew Cuomo will be celebrating his birthday with a fundraiser at one of New York City's finest hotels. Join us outside the event.

Bring a cardboard or poster board sign and write across it : "To : Gov. Cuomo -- For Protecting Our Healthcare" and then give him a giant letter grade : F-

Date : Monday, January 7, 2012

Time : 6:00 pm

Place : Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, Manhattan

Keep In Mind That Full-Service Hospitals Are Not Yet Fully Functioning.

The VA Hospital is not yet open, and other hospitals are only partially open. During this healthcare crisis comes the State Department of Health, trying to close down Westchester Square Medical Center in the Bronx. Westchester Square is scheduled to close on March 10. Its assets will be up for auction, but it is expected that Montefiore Medical Center will purchase the hospital. If Westchester Square is absorbed by a larger hospital group, the take over may leave many community members and hospital employees rightly worried about local healthcare and jobs. Read more : http://bronx.ny1.com/content/top_stories/174922/bronx-nurses--locals-dread-closing-of-westchester-square-medical-center

Remember how many hospitals in Queens were closed within a short time of having been merged into other hospital groups. The Department of Health uses mergers as a way to shuffle hospital debts between medical centers, which lead to financial losses and eventually to hospital closings.

All of the hospitals, which were damaged by Hurricane Sandy, are not yet fully functional. Emergency rooms have been experiencing record levels of overcrowding, especially at Beth Israel, and some full-service hospitals are now reduced to offering only "urgent care," like at Coney Island Hospital.

How can Gov. Cuomo, in his right mind, think that now is the right time to keep closing hospitals ?

Hurricane Sandy is still causing a healthcare crisis all these many months later, and Gov. Cuomo is not taking this healthcare crisis seriously. Not only are our hospitals not yet restored to being fully functional, but long term illnesses are beginning to emerge. Mold is an urgent healthcare concern for Hurricane Sandy survivors. "Homes are uninhabitable with black mold taking hold, heat and sanitation are still absent in many places. Yet the government response has been glaringly absent," was how the Occupy Sandy volunteer group described the situation last month.

Compounding this healthcare crisis is that the government is using the "healthcare crisis" as an excuse to burn hurricane debris, aggravating the lungs of hurricane survivors, who must also deal with mold. Read more : http://nyc.sierraclub.org/2012/11/dont-burn-sandy-debris/

In the face of all this, there's only one grade a person can reasonably give Gov. Cuomo : F-

Join us at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Monday night.

Date : Monday, January 7, 2012

Time : 6:00 pm

Place : Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, Manhattan

We hope to see you at this demonstration. Read more : https://www.nycga.net/events/governor-cuomos-birthday-give-him-a-birthday-report-card/

Update : Letter To The Editor

Another person has published a letter in The New York Daily News about St. Vincent's Hospital :

Manhattan : To Voicer Joseph Human, who thinks New Yorkers can’t afford to let Mayor Bloomberg go: The mayor, who self-promoted himself on his fiscal and management skills, is leaving New York with an outstanding debt of more than $100 billion. Our surplus taxpayer dollars were used to award high-end commercial and real estate developers with grants and subsidies while St. Vincent’s Hospital and firehouses closed, massive cuts were made to essential services and our streets were intentionally jammed for bicycles and pedestrian plazas. Nikki Love

Read more : http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/jan-3-congress-betrayal-new-york-quality-members-congress-article-1.1231737?pgno=1

See you Monday night. Thank you for all that you keep doing.

Has Christine Quinn Lost Touch With Reality ?

House to NY: "DROP DEAD" #sandysurvivors smack down!

— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 2, 2013

''Let Them Eat Cake''

Last night, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) pulled the plug on a vote on the $60 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill after partisan bickering over the fiscal cliff, and Gerson Borrero complained that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has lost touch with reality.

House of Representatives delayed a vote on desperately needed Hurricane Sandy disaster aid (The New York Daily News) * ''They told us to basically drop dead !'' Angry New York residents and pols fuming over latest Sandy snub. * Hurricane Sandy Relief Center in NYC Looted on Christmas (NBC)

Some New York Democrats were ''outraged'' by the insensitivity and lack of dignity by Congress towards hurricane survivors. “I have been a member of this body for 24 years and I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx, Westchester) told The New York Daily News. NY1 News editorial contributor Gerson Borrero was shocked to see that Speaker Quinn seemed to be oblivious about the lack of action on a comprehensive federal hurricane relief package.

Hello, NY just got screwed and you tweet this: “@chriscquinn: Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2013 is everything you hope for.”

— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 2, 2013