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Call to Reject $1.5 Billion in Cuts to Local Hospitals
Sen. Adriano Espaillat along with eight other state senators called on the congressional delegation to reject $1.5 billion in funding cuts to New York City hospitals in a letter on Wednesday. The cuts would affect New York Presbyterian Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, and Mount Sinai Medical Center, three of the nation’s top teaching hospitals, due to federal budget cuts to Medicare as part of ongoing debt limit negotiations. “Major funding cuts would disproportionately affect poor, urban areas that rely on these institutions for medical care. The cuts would also devastate local economies in places like Northern Manhattan and the Bronx, where these hospitals serve as major employers,” stated a letter signed by the senators. According to the letter, funding cuts to teaching hospitals affect “the most important pipeline for medical care” in the nation, given that New York teaching hospitals produce some 16,000 new doctors annually.
Votes for Cash
Four state senators: Stephen Saland, Mark Grisanti, James Alesi and Roy McDonald, each received a check for $10,300 from Mayor Michael Bloomberg for casting votes to pass the same-sex marriage bill, according to a press release by Sen. Ruben Diaz. Grisanti disclosed the July 8 donation from Bloomberg in his Board of Elections financial disclosure report. The checks were written for the maximum amount allowed by law, following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act on June 24. Bloomberg promised to finance every senator that voted for the bill. “So I wonder if these rumors and accusations are reason enough for the attorney general to start an investigation and for the editorial boards to have the integrity to declare that the Senate in Albany is still corrupt,” said Diaz in a press release.
City Receives “Our Town” Grant
The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs received a $200,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on Wednesday. The grant supports the Space for Art program, which provides stipends and studio space in senior centers to professional artists in exchange for creating arts programming for the seniors. The program ran a successful pilot as part of the Age-friendly NYC initiative. “We developed Space for Art to engage senior center residents with high quality artistic programming, and to help artists in need of affordable workspace. After a successful pilot program, we are thrilled that the National Endowment for the Arts, Our Town grant will support the next phase of this important program, activating cultural spaces in senior centers and enabling more artists to produce and exhibit their work for audiences of all ages and backgrounds,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin in a press release.
