Squadron Says It’s Absurd That SUNY Trustees Have Moved Vote On LICH’s Fate Upstate

By on March 17, 2013 4:25 pm in Government

Earlier this week a judge ruled that the SUNY board’s decision to close Long Island College Hosptial violated New York State’s open meeting law and vacated its ruling to close the facility. Now, NY1 reports, the board will be holding an open meeting about the hospital not in Brooklyn but at SUNY Purchase in Westchester.

BHB Flashback from 2008: Our TK Small and Claude Scales discuss the importance of LICH

This has our man in the NYS Senate (and as the report below claims future NYC Public Advocate candidate) Daniel Squadron a little peeved:

NY1: However, State Senator and expected Public Advocate candidate Daniel Squadron said the announcement was made too late for most people to sign up to testify.

“It’s absurd that SUNY is responding to its unlawful lack of transparency with a shocking lack of transparency,” Squadron wrote in a statement. “To hold a hearing nearly 40 miles away, without a reasonable opportunity for those most affected to testify, is simply a slap in the face to all those impacted.”

Here’s Squadron’s full statement as released to the press:

“It’s absurd that SUNY is responding to its unlawful lack of transparency with a shocking lack of transparency.

“To hold a hearing nearly 40 miles away, without a reasonable opportunity for those most affected to testify, is simply a slap in the face to all those impacted.

“It continues to be clear that closing LICH makes no sense. SUNY is only confirming that fact with its unwillingness to have an honest and open conversation.

“I call on the SUNY Board of Trustees to hold a meeting in New York City that complies with the Open Meetings Law and allows those impacted a chance to be heard.”

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  • Rick

    So let’s see… several days after a judge rules that SUNY’s behavior in implementing their initial vote “seems intentionally designed to shield the purpose of the meetings from
    the general public and obstruct the transparency required by the Open
    Meetings Law”, they purposely move the second vote to a venue so far away from the very community affected by their decision as to make it impossible for most of those people to attend.

    I’d love to hear what the judge would have to say about this new development.

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    Senator Squadron’s office is urging community members to join the LICH nurses, doctors, tech workers, etc. on buses that will depart on Tuesday (tomorrow) 8 AM from LICH to go to Purchase, NY to participate in the SUNY board hearing. To reserve a seat on the bus, either call Eliza C. at 347-213-0737 or email Michelle Green at Michelle.Green@n6ysna.org by 12:00 today (Monday). Also, let them know if you want to go back to Brooklyn on the early bus at about 1PM or will stay until about 5PM.

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    Please note — it’s Michelle.Green@nysna.org.

  • William Spier

    If they could have moved it to Syracuse, they would have. To all of them (Governor, cronies, puppets etc.) this is a done deal. When you get to this level of arrogant power hegemony, community reaction is just a nuisance–witness Carl McCall’s outright lying about no “real estate plan” was discussed at the closed door meeting. So now the meeting is open; the meeting tomorrow shall be nothing short of taking some flak, because they got their work done at the closed door meeting. The minutes from that meeting the public will never see.

  • sue

    What is Squadrons position on the libraries

  • maribel

    LICH IS OPEN FOR CARE… and we are dong everything to make sure our hospital remains open. LICH is a Brooklyn Institution, a full service hospital serving the borough of Brooklyn for over 150 years. Brooklyn continues to grow in leaps and bounds. We will continue to take our message to the community. Everyone has opened their doors and welcomed us. The doctors, nurses and staff will continue to reach out to the community. The SUNY Board of Trustees voted to close LICH yesterday in an executive meeting held in Purchase, NY over 40 miles away from the people most impacted by the possible closing of LICH. However, the SUNY Board must submit their plan to close to the NYS Dept of Health for approval. You can help: call the Commissioner of NYS Dept of Health 518-474-8390. Please call the Honorable Governor Cuomo at 518-474-2011. Together we will rebuild LICH. Our hospital, LICH is OPEN for Care!