Sunday, July 4, 2010

Commissioner Daines Sees Hope for St. Vincent's Hospital

On April 30, St. Vincent's Hospital closed. 15 days before, New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said St. Vincent's would not close.

Since the Berger Commission believed that St. Vincent's should remain open, New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines should replace St. Vincent's with a full-service hospital.

Prohibit workplace retaliation

In an act that The New York Post is calling, ''spiteful,'' City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has reetaliated against a fellow Democrat Councilmember.

Suzannah B. Troy has already blogged about how City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has abused her power to dole out slush funds to punish Liz Crowley, but here is the entire New York Post story, quoted in its entirety :

Spiteful Quinn $laps mouthy Qns. Dem
By SALLY GOLDENBERG and GINGER ADAMS OTIS
Last Updated: 10:56 AM, July 4, 2010
Posted: 3:00 AM, July 4, 2010

"Freshman City Councilwoman Liz Crowley played with fire and got burned.

The Queens Democrat learned a hard lesson during recent negotiations for the 2011 city budget: Don't anger Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Crowley got the least amount of member-item money in the 2011 budget -- approximately $358,000 -- as punishment for prematurely sending out a press release two weeks ago announcing 20 firehouses had been saved, and hogging all the credit, sources told the Post.

"It showed that [Crowley] doesn't understand the deference she needs to pay to the speaker of the council. She knows it now. Lesson learned," said a City Council source.

Tempers flared between Quinn and Crowley when Crowley's staff sent out a press release in the middle of a tense session of budget negotiations. It touted the Queens lawmaker as the central figure in helping "save" the firehouses.

It was a costly error for the rookie legislator, who has since gotten the "absurdly low" amount of pork-barrel spending, said a City Hall insider."