NEW: There are 1,000+ people on waiting lists for community-based programs catering to people with serious mental illness, per data I obtained.
@NYCMayor
, who issued a major mental health plan yesterday, told us he was unaware of the waitlists.
BREAKING NEWS: Over 7,000 nurses across the Bronx and Manhattan will go on strike today after failing to reach agreements during overnight bargaining with Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center.
@nynurses
posted this on Instagram.
#NYCNurseStrike
Career news! 📢 I'm thrilled to be joining
@politico
@politicony
to cover health care in New York.
Today is my first day, so please help me celebrate by sending a story tip, leaking some documents or just saying hello: mkaufman(@)politico(.)com
#MedTwitter
#NurseTwitter
EXCLUSIVE: Videos obtained by Patch show the moment two
@NYCDHS
police officers handcuffed, detained and searched a Queens man after he photographed them without masks, in what their own agency has called an "absolutely unacceptable abuse of authority."
A professional news update:
After two years reporting on the wonderful borough of Queens, tomorrow is my last day at Patch.
I’m joining
@CrainsNewYork
to cover health care in New York City, starting later this month.
In 2020, the city gave thousands of elderly NYCHA residents a free A/C.
Last month NYCHA demanded they agree to start paying utilities or give back the A/Cs — otherwise, they could be evicted.
Once
@politicony
started asking questions, NYCHA backtracked.
SCOOP: An arbitrator has hit Mount Sinai with a $127,000 penalty for understaffing its neonatal ICU, which handles extremely sick babies.
It’s a historic ruling in NYC, where
@nynurses
won strict staff ratios and enforcement measures after a 3-day strike.
When
@CDCDirector
was in Harlem last week, I asked if she plans to take action regarding ventilation as a
#COVID19
protection now that cases are again rising, noting that she focuses on individual measures like masking and testing.
Here's a transcript from our interview:
I spent 6 months investigating systemic failures to help unhoused New Yorkers with serious mental illness—a small but disproportionately visible share of the homeless population.
These are some of the Qs I have about
@NYCMayor
’s directive today re: involuntary hospitalization.
Issuing a directive to transport more seriously mentally ill people to hospitals for evaluations,
@NYCMayor
said hospitals should stabilize patients then help them transition to community-based programs.
But the data I obtained shows there is already way more demand than supply.
Yikes! New York City is seeing an uptick in cases of a disease largely associated with exposure to rat urine, per this
@nycHealthy
advisory that went out today.
ICYMI: When
@NYCMayor
rolled out a directive to involuntarily hospitalize people unable to meet basic needs due to mental illness, he touted a hotline NYPD officers could call for real-time guidance from mental health professionals.
It’s gotten 0 calls.
[THREAD] For this story I spoke to more than 50 providers, advocates, academic experts, current and former officials, and New Yorkers who are currently or were recently homeless and have a serious mental illness. I also shadowed providers in the field.
Here's what I found...
NEW: Two men, two decades apart. Two fatal shoves onto the subway tracks. Both were homeless, living with serious mental illness. Both had countless people try to help them.
My investigation into New York's continuing failures to help its most vulnerable.
You'd think something as basic as NYPD clearance rates—how often the cops actually make an arrest for a reported crime— would be easy to come by, especially since it's legally required to post quarterly reports. And yet...
(Thx
@JoyBergmann
for the tip.)
Outside Mount Sinai Hospital, New York Attorney General
@TishJames
calls for
@HealthNYGov
to enforce the 2021 state law on hospital staffing. (Hospitals submitted staffing plans last year under this law.)
Some career news: Wednesday is my last day at
@CrainsNewYork
. 💥🚨
I can't yet share where I'm headed, but I'll be taking on a new journalism job in the New Year after some much-needed time off ... so keep in touch!
SCOOP: When Mayor Eric Adams announced a directive to involuntarily hospitalize people unable to meet basic needs due to mental illness, he touted a 24/7 city-run hotline NYPD officers could call for guidance. It launched in January.
But no one's used it.
Last year
@NYCMayor
said police would get "in-depth" training on his controversial directive to involuntarily commit people unable to meet their basic needs due to mental illness.
Here's what the training actually is: A 15-min Powerpoint and 9-min video.
@NYPDChiefPatrol
DCPI has 86 staffers, NYPD officials at this hearing testify.
Six of those individuals are assigned to handle the department's social media accounts, they say.
NEW: I investigated 25 years of hospital closures in NYC w/
@_gski
.
What we found: Closures disproportionately impacted areas that tend to bear the highest burdens of disease: poorer neighborhoods where the majority of residents are people of color.
NEW: Two men, two decades apart. Two fatal shoves onto the subway tracks. Both were homeless, living with serious mental illness. Both had countless people try to help them.
My investigation into New York's continuing failures to help its most vulnerable.
ICYMI: The New York City Housing Authority threatened to evict tenants who received a free air conditioner under a 2020 city program unless they asked to have it removed or agreed to start paying monthly utility costs.
Let's turn away from the
#QueensDA
race for a second.
Preliminary results for Queens civil court judge show
@MaldonadoCruz19
has 62% of the vote against Wyatt Gibbons, the Queens Democratic Party's pick, in Queens' first contested civil judge election in *decades*
STRIKE UPDATE: Mount Sinai Hospital management agreed to come back to the bargaining table with
@nynurses
this afternoon after two days without negotiation sessions.
NYSNA is also still negotiating with Montefiore and Mount Sinai Morningside and West.
Montefiore is reassigning
@1199SEIU
nurses from other locations to fill in for
@nynurses
who are on strike.
A lawyer representing 1199 said that violates the union’s collective bargaining agreement with Montefiore.
#NYCNurseStrike
A driver ran a stop sign and crashed into a cyclist riding along Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills this week, then got off scot-free, the cyclist says. And the whole thing was caught on video.
#VisionZero
This is really important to note. The NYC Department of Health declined my requests to interview
@NYCHealthCommr
or an official from its TB control bureau for this story.
In fact, the director of TB control emailed staff telling them *not* to respond to POLITICO's inquiries.
NYC health dept employees "who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly."
TB outbreak is worrying but so is the fact that our health officials are muzzled about it.
Meanwhile, tuberculosis cases in New York City are up 20% from the same time last year — putting 2023 on pace to be the city's worst year in a decade.
As one expert told me, infectious disease spikes in NYC tend to be a bellwether for the rest of the U.S.
A vaccine against tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest infectious disease, has never been closer to reality, and could save millions. But its development slowed after its corporate owner focused on more profitable vaccines
SCOOP: Elmhurst Hospital is already struggling to keep up with the COVID-19 pandemic, even though officials say the peak of the crisis has yet to arrive.
Running at over 125% capacity, it's become the municipal hospital system's top priority.
NEW: Hundreds of students and alums from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens are coming forward with stories of racist rhetoric by teachers & students that has been continually swept under the rug.
For this story, I spoke to more than 20 of them.
“At a minimum, Adams should order a review of all the city agencies that interacted with Neely over the years… And then all of these officials should make the city’s $107 billion budget conform to the level of need.”
@errollouis
NEW: Rego Park residents are being terrorized by aggressive squirrels.
At least 5 have been attacked. One woman went to the hospital after a squirrel attack so violent it left her arms and hands covered with bites and her snowy front yard soaked in blood.
Here’s
@dannyoconnor1
speaking on voter turnout. He’s going to have to keep campaigning for November’s midterms regardless of the results today - he called it like March Madness.
@DispatchAlerts
#OH12
SCOOP: Sen.
@jessicaramos
is spearheading an initiative with the MTA to get street vendors into empty storefronts in subway stations. A pilot will likely start with Corona vendors.
More details to come.
NEWS: A patient of Montefiore's Family Health Center was found dead in the building's stairwell Monday.
She'd been there for days.
Current and former employees blamed a recent clinic consolidation, which they said has strained the center's capacity.
News🚨via today's afternoon Playbook:
New York hospitals will be required to waive charges for patients who earn 200% or less of the federal poverty level, thanks to a new policy in the state budget being finalized now.
NEWS: Widespread vacancies and years of budget cuts have strained the capacity of NYC's tuberculosis control bureau.
Meanwhile, cases are up 20% from the same time last year, per internal data. That rate would make 2023 the city's worst year in a decade.
SCOOP:
@MontefioreNYC
involuntarily reassigned
@1199SEIU
nurses from other locations to fill in for NYSNA nurses that are on strike, per letter I obtained.
1199SEIU's general counsel has sent Montefiore a cease-and-desist letter.
NEW: The Citi Field coronavirus vaccination site, whose opening was postponed due to supply shortage, will open Wednesday.
-Half of doses will be reserved for eligible Queens residents
-Half will be reserved for food delivery workers, TLC-licensed drivers
Breaking: New York state officials will allow masking requirements in health care facilities to lapse on Feb. 12, signaling an end to one of New York’s last remaining Covid-era requirements.
@politicony
SCOOP:
@nyphospital
has suddenly hiked health insurance premiums to $1,500+ per month for retired
@nynurses
who are too young for Medicare.
NYSNA claims the hospital is violating the union's new contract, which nurses ratified just this month.
A new documentary by
@soledadobrien
follows CUNY college students as they "navigate financial hardship, housing insecurity and hunger in pursuit of their degrees."
@MichaelElsenRoo
A burst appendix. Gangrene. A gastrointestinal bleed.
Mount Sinai Beth Israel keeps transferring out seriously ill patients with potentially life-threatening conditions who need procedures it no longer provides, frontline workers told me.
Updates:
-
@NYCHealthSystem
requiring masks
-
@nyulangone
won't require masks (exceptions: EDs, infusion areas, rooms marked as having immunocompromised patients), but staff who are unvaccinated or test (+) for Covid will have to mask
-
@MountSinaiNYC
requiring visitors to mask
Breaking: New York state officials will allow masking requirements in health care facilities to lapse on Feb. 12, signaling an end to one of New York’s last remaining Covid-era requirements.
@politicony
Today is my first day covering health care at
@CrainsNewYork
!
Please send story ideas, pitches and reading recommendations to maya.kaufman
@crainsnewyork
.com
A professional news update:
After two years reporting on the wonderful borough of Queens, tomorrow is my last day at Patch.
I’m joining
@CrainsNewYork
to cover health care in New York City, starting later this month.
This is New York City's health care system... I reached out to my PCP to schedule my annual. No appointments available until December.
Should I find a new practice? Or is this common (and why)? What's been your experience with wait times for primary care?
#medtwitter
Today is my 1 year work anniversary
@CrainsNewYork
🥳
I hope you’ll help me celebrate by:
A) Sending me a story tip
B) Sharing a reading recommendation (fiction or nonfiction)
C) Both!
Over a month ago, I wrote about maskless parties flocking to Astoria. I asked
@NYCSHERIFF
@NYCMayorsOffice
what they were doing to ensure businesses were following reopening rules. They never replied.
Now, Astoria & Steinway Street are trending.
The NYPD’s small, elite Collision Investigation Squad is supposed to investigate the city’s most serious crashes. What happens when it doesn’t?
My story for
@nytimes
:
Details about these suspicious campaign donations to Brian Benjamin were public knowledge — thanks to
@Cliff_Michel
@THECITYNY
reporting — months before
@GovKathyHochul
chose him as lieutenant governor. Including the donation in the name of a 2-year-old boy.
Last year,
@Cliff_Michel
broke this story for
@THECITYNY
on several dubious campaign donations to Brian Benjamin’s state senate campaign. Still, Hochul elevated him to Lt. Governor. Now he’s been arrested:
NEW: In an oft-overlooked and little-known industry, blood centers have become major businesses that depend on a steady stream of product—one they collect from altruistic donors.
My deep dive into the blood 🩸 industry, on the cover of
@CrainsNewYork
:
A surprise visit by
@NYCMayor
today to drink the water from the tenant association office, not any of the apartments.
Sheletha Hill, who was treated for symptoms of arsenic poisoning in March, told me she was disappointed Adams didn’t come to her apartment and try her water.
.
@NYCMayor
decided to stop by
@NYCHA
’s Jacob Riis Houses this afternoon and drink the water to show there are no issues.
@NYCWater
has some of the tastiest and safest water in the country.
FYI,
@GovKathyHochul
office is distributing N95-style masks at:
-Grand Central Terminal
-Penn Station
-Fulton Center
-Jamaica Station
-Main Concourse of Port Authority Bus Terminal, South Wing
-Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park, Harlem
-Roberto Clemente State Park, Bronx
UPDATE: Conditions will continue to worsen this evening and we expect more of the same tomorrow. Here's what New Yorkers need to know. See real-time air quality in NYC:
Exclusive 🚨 900+ people have applied to serve on a Queens community board — up 56% compared to last year.
@QnsBPRichards
attributes it to the new online-only application. Before, applications had to be notarized + dropped off in-person.
Former President Barack Obama
@BarackObama
is in Miami today to rally for
@AndrewGillum
@SenBillNelson
. The crowd sporadically breaks out into cries of “bring it home!”
Attendees have traveled from all parts of Florida. I met one woman who told me she’s been in line since 7 a.m.
NEW from me +
@ShuanSim
: New York has eliminated the option for religious exemptions to its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers.
Religious exemptions that had been granted will be revoked.
The Queens DA's office has just released its database of NYPD officers with questionable credibility, the day before Thanksgiving. 🧐
This disclosure comes thanks to the efforts of
@gideonoliver
@georgejoseph94
.
NEW: Elmhurst Hospital has 63 ventilators. Of those, 54 were in use as of 9 a.m., per source briefed on inventory who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly.
Officials are moving ventilators there from other hospitals and think it'll be enough for the next 10 days.
Elmhurst Hospital has added 50 workers since Tuesday to deal with a deluge of critically ill coronavirus patients,
@FranciscoMoyaNY
tells me.
These patients' conditions are deteriorating within hours of them being admitted. They are mostly Latino & local.
THREAD: After
@politico
released the Dobbs draft decision, NY lawmakers immediately introduced a bill (w/
@TishJames
support) to create a fund for abortion providers & groups that help patients afford it.
Then Hochul launched her own — only for providers.
The Anime NYC convention only required at least one vaccine dose and allowed attendees to come immediately after their first dose.
These are the city's "Key to NYC" requirements for indoor events. Why not require full vaccination?
@NYCMayor
@NYCHealthCommr
BREAKING: A Minnesota man tested positive for the Covid-19
#omicron
variant several days after returning home from New York City, where he attended the Anime NYC convention at the Javits Center.
BREAKING: NYSNA
@nynurses
reaches a tentative contract agreement with Flushing Hospital Medical Center
@FHMC_NYC
in Queens.
Meanwhile, Maimonides nurses have voted to approve the tentative agreement they reached earlier this week.
Major newspapers like WSJ have the resources to double down on metro NY coverage in a way that local papers increasingly do not. It’s a shame to see WSJ go in the opposite direction. If WSJ can’t make it work, who can?
In an email this morning, WSJ EIC Matt Murray announced the paper is shutting down its "Greater New York" section on July 9, asking staff to apply for other jobs in the newsroom.
Scoop 🚨
@MFP_NY
, one of the grassroots groups that helped propel
@AOC
to victory last year, has endorsed another insurgent Congressional candidate:
@DarrigoMelanie
.
UPDATE: An NYPD spokesperson just sent me the following statement. "Upon review of the video, the Commanding Officer of the
@NYPD112Pct
directed his officers to prepare a summons for failure to yield."
New York has spent decades shifting patients with serious mental illness from hospitals to community-based programs that offer multiple visits per week. As a result, demand *FAR* outpaces supply.
There are 900+ people with serious mental illness in NYC waiting for a slot.
BREAKING: All
@NorthwellHealth
employees will be required to be vaccinated by Aug. 16 or be tested for Covid-19 weekly.
"Those who fail to get tested in a timely manner will face adverse action that could progress up to and include termination."
Please spread the word: 📢 This story is part of a larger effort
@politicony
to investigate the impact of budget cuts and staffing shortages on health care and public health in New York City.
Send tips to mkaufman[@]politico[.]com or DM me here for my number on Signal.
NEWS: Widespread vacancies and years of budget cuts have strained the capacity of NYC's tuberculosis control bureau.
Meanwhile, cases are up 20% from the same time last year, per internal data. That rate would make 2023 the city's worst year in a decade.
Honored to be recognized as a Livingston Awards finalist for excellence in local reporting by
@UMWallaceHouse
for my work
@CrainsNewYork
probing New York's handling of mental health care for people experiencing homelessness and serious mental illness.
THREAD: Hospital workers across NYC are struggling to find beds for patients, with some now waiting more than 2 days for a spot.
So, why are hospitals publicly reporting thousands of open beds?
NEWS:
@CorrectionNYC
is nixing a $17M program offering people on Rikers group sessions on everything from emotional regulation to financial literacy, part of
@NYCMayor
mandated budget cuts.
Nonprofits that run the groups were “blindsided,”
@thefortunesoc
VP of programs told me.
"That rally wasn't for us."
Residents of Queensbridge Houses, the nation's largest public housing complex, say they didn't know about the
@BernieSanders
rally this weekend in Queensbridge Park.