Archive for May, 2008

St. Vincent’s/Rudin Family Unveil Revised Plans to Build State-of-the-Art Greenwich Village Hospital

New proposal would preserve four buildings within historic district; significantly reduces height and bulk

Revised plan incorporates significant modifications proposed by Greenwich Village community, elected officials and Landmarks Preservation Commission

(NEW YORK) – Moving forward with plans to offer New Yorkers a 21st Century, state-of-the-art healthcare facility, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and the Rudin Family today filed a revised plan with the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) that makes significant modifications based on feedback from LPC, elected officials and the Greenwich Village community.

“In our many months of discussions with the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Greenwich Village community, we received a number of helpful comments pointing to the great desire for a state-of-the-art hospital, but concern about the configuration of our original project – we feel this new proposal fully meets those desires and addresses those concerns,” said Henry Amoroso, President and CEO of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers. “We now look forward to resubmitting our application with LPC and moving forward with our plans to build a 21st Century, green hospital that will provide top-of-the-line healthcare to those who live, work and visit the West Side of Manhattan.”

Changes from the original proposal include:

• The historic preservation, renovation and adaptive reuse of four buildings East of Seventh Avenue and within the existing St. Vincent’s campus (Nurses, Raskob, Smith, Spellman);

• On the East Side of Seventh Avenue, a reduction of 30 feet in height and 60 feet in width–reducing the width of the building by nearly a third–of the main residential building proposed by the Rudins on 7th Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets;

• A reduction of 9 percent on the height of the proposed hospital bringing the total height below 300 feet including mechanicals, as well as reducing the width of the tower by 53 feet.

• In addition to these changes to its existing applications, the St. Vincent’s/Rudin revised submission to LPC will include a new application seeking demolition of the O’Toole Building on the grounds of hardship rather than on grounds of insufficient architectural merit, as requested by some preservation groups.

“From the beginning of this process, the Rudin Family has been firmly committed to helping St. Vincent’s realize its vitally important mission of building a new hospital for the City of New York,” said William C. Rudin, President of Rudin Management Company. “We are proud to have reconfigured our plans in a way that both pushes this critical project forward and addresses the concerns raised by LPC, elected officials and the community.”

The new hospital—the first to be built in New York City in 20 years—will feature many of the latest technological advances to improve healthcare efficiency.

It will make use of the latest in medical information technology to maintain patient records, diagnostic test results and radiological images electronically — patient information will be securely available to physicians not only within the confines of the hospital, but also at their offices and other remote sites. The new hospital also will include state-of-the-art operating suites designed specifically to incorporate and take advantage of sophisticated image-guided and laparoscopic surgery.

News of the revised projects comes just more a week after the Department of Education announced that the Rudin Family—in direct response to community input—facilitated an agreement between the School Construction Authority and the Foundling Hospital to provide more than 560 new classroom seats for elementary school students from Greenwich Village and surrounding areas.

PEF plan reveals recurring and realistic savings for state taxpayers

Albany May 8, 2008 – Leaders of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) released ground-breaking research during a press conference in Albany today that includes a plan to save the state more than three-quarters of a billion dollars over the next three years.

“Everyone is quick to throw out the popular and overused phrase ‘hiring freeze’ to solve the state’s budget gap,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. “Our report, based on research from the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) proves the real savings is in a consultant freeze.”

Governor Paterson Proposes Legislation to Reduce Improper Influence in Drug Prescription

Bans Gifts from Drug Companies to Physicians

Bill would Protect Consumers by Limiting the Influence of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he has proposed legislation to limit the influence of pharmaceutical manufacturers over prescription decisions. The Governor’s bill would ban gifts and payments from drug companies to physicians and other prescribers in excess of $50 per year. The bill would also require practitioners who make presentations at Continuing Medical Education (CME) events to disclose any financial relationship they have with drug companies. In addition, the bill would increase transparency and promote competition among pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) by requiring them to disclose information to health plans, doctors and patients.

Unions Make a Big Difference for Low-Wage Workers

Unionization lifts the lowest-wage workers above the poverty line

News from the Fiscal Policy Institute

Full Study (PDF file): Study

After decades of disappointing wage growth for most workers, a new report shows that unionization significantly boosts the wages of low-wage workers. The report was co-released today by the Fiscal Policy Institute in New York and the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.

Sensing the Moment Favors Them, Unions in Albany Push for Gains

By Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore

ALBANY — With the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and an approaching state election that has senators of both parties desperate for support, labor unions are flexing their muscles in the capital to a degree not seen in years.

The unions’ push has set up an early test for Gov. David A. Paterson, a longtime friend of labor who is trying to refashion himself as a cost cutter in the face of the state’s coming fiscal crisis.

The unions want their pensions sweetened and their health benefits set in stone. They want local school districts to continue to increase their budgets without interference from the state, and they want to force some nonprofit groups to pay higher wages.