Buffalo gets a big new stadium, Queens gets a little new ER

 

Queens Chronicle

Five hundred guests attended a groundbreaking ceremony Friday to celebrate the $150 million expansion of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center’s Emergency Department, which will double in size to accommodate more than 150,000 patients annually.

The funding is a grant from the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program.

Despite having to attend a funeral later that day of a former first responder who died because of a 9/11-related illness, Gov. Hochul made a keynote speech at the Level 1 trauma center in Richmond Hill because she wanted to emphasize that the time of disinvestment in Southeast Queens has ended.

“This is a day of a new beginning,” Hochul said at the June 16 event. “For so many years and decades ... people thought that the people of this community didn’t have political clout to make real transformative changes. That time is over, my friends. With this new beginning, we say that this community matters. This hospital matters.”

Hochul thanked the doctors, nurses, staff and other healthcare workers for their efforts in saving the lives of people who suffer from mental health issues, along with those who fall victim to fentanyl and opioids or contract Covid-19.

“We are going to enhance our psychiatric services, because my God, people are going through so much right now,” Hochul said. “All the work to save lives from overdoses ... we are doing that in real time. We have so much more to do.”

The governor said that the new facility was delayed a bit because of the pandemic, but the commitment of the hospital to get the expansion done while taking care of patients during the height of the spread of coronavirus further highlighted the need for safety-net hospitals.

“There were a lot of hopes and dreams and then in the middle of it all there was a pandemic,” she said. “This demonstrated the compassion and incredible resiliency of this organization and so many of your members, from nurses to doctors to the people who worked in the kitchens, the custodial staff, the doulas and everybody else [who] pulled together to save this community.”

Bruce Flanz, JHMC’s president and CEO, said the hospital was at the epicenter of the pandemic, but with the new funding it will be able to serve more people.

“When completed, the Emergency Department will double in size,” Flanz said.

The hospital will go from having one trauma bay to four major trauma bays, from one isolation room to 22, and the number of treatment areas will nearly triple, he said. There will also be two new intensive care units: a 12-bed neuro-ICU and a 10-bed ICU.

“When the project is complete we will have a total of 48 intensive care unit beds,” Flanz said. “The project will also add much needed space to our mental health program and to our CPAC,” or chest pain center.

Flanz said the improvements are not just necessary to the community, but to its uniformed officers, who say JHMC is their preferred choice for treatment.

Officer Brett Boller, who was shot earlier this year in Jamaica, shared the sentiment.

“I had multiple surgeons and multiple teams work on me,” Boller told the Queens Chronicle. “They communicated well to my family about what was going on and the recovery process. They made me and my family comfortable.”

Lindsey Boller, the officer’s sister, told the Chronicle she was grateful for the care her brother received.

“I’m studying to be a nurse one day and it was just really inspiring to see how great all the nurses and all the doctors were to him,” said the aspiring healthcare professional.

NYPD Chief Kevin Williams, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Queens South, shared their sentiments.

“I’m grateful for their care and the services for our members in the service,” Williams told the Chronicle. “When they come to get treated it’s first-class and we appreciate it.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks (D-Jamaica) said it was a 10-year journey to get here.

“I want to say thank you to all the providers,” Meeks said. “What do we have in life if we don’t have health?”

Meeks’ 700,000 constituents look to JHMC for treatment, said the congressman.

“If it wasn’t for the members of the state Legislature doing their part, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman (D-Springfield Gardens) told the Chronicle that Springfield Gardens doesn’t have a hospital so the constituents in her area look to JHMC for help.

“I don’t have any hospitals in my district,” Hyndman said. “While growing up, everyone knew if you had a car accident, if you were hurt on your bicycle, if there was a shooting, this is the place to come. The chances of you surviving was high because this is a Trauma 1 Center.”

Hyndman’s godson, who was wounded after falling through shower glass, was treated at JHMC.

Borough President Donovan Richards, who was born at the hospital in 1983, was also in attendance.

“We’ve been talking for many years now about the need to invest in healthcare especially coming out of this pandemic,” Richards said. “Today we are changing that. Like the congressman said, it’s about ensuring that no matter what your socioeconomic status is, no matter who you love, no matter what your immigration status is, at Jamaica Hospital, you are welcomed.”

 We could have built 4 more hospitals with the money that went to that Bills stadium.

Greg Meeks was an actual Putin puppet

NY Post 

Queens Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks’ recent trips to Ukraine are an about-face for the former Russia-loving pol who once referred to Vladimir Putin’s government as “an important allied relationship” and “strategic partner” for the US

Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, founded the House’s Russia Caucus, along with disgraced former Staten Island pol Michael Grimm, once lobbied hard to remove impediments to trade with the country.

And Meeks’ sister, Janella Meeks, works for Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, a company once tied to Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, a Putin confidant who used to own the New Jersey Nets. Janella Meeks is deputy director of government and public affairs for the company, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Unlike dozens of other Russian billionaires close to Putin, Prokhorov has not been sanctioned by the US or Europe. He sold the team and Barclay’s arena, pocketing more than a $2 billion in the deals, in 2019. The sale of the NBA franchise was allegedly at the behest of Putin, The Post recently revealed.

But Meeks has recently embraced Ukraine’s fight against Putin, accompanying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on an official Congressional delegation visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month.

“We assured him of the United States and Congress’ unwavering and bipartisan support for Ukraine’s defense,” said Meeks in a statement earlier this month.

It's a miracle, Far Rock hospital finally gets fed funding

 

 QNS

St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway announced Tuesday, March 15, that Congressman Gregory Meeks has secured $4 million in federal funding to support crucial services at the only hospital on the Rockaway peninsula.

Meeks advocated for the funds in the omnibus appropriations bill that was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate and is awaiting President Joe Biden to sign it into law.

“I am proud to have secured funding that will make our community healthier, safer, stronger and even more resilient,” Meeks said. “The $4 million in funds for St. John’s Episcopal Hospital that will be used toward the renovation of the behavioral health, women and maternity/NICU and labor and delivery units is extremely critical to support our only health center serving the Rockaways.”

Renee Hastick-Motes, the vice president of external affairs and president of the St. John’s ICARE Foundation, said she is extremely grateful for the funding that will support the behavioral health and women/newborn equity renovation projects.

“The renovations are essential to ensuring adequate care is provided to our patients in an esthetically conducive environment,” she said.

Now celebrating its 110th year of community care, the 257-bed medical facility provides comprehensive preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative services, regardless of the ability to pay.

 

Rep. Meeks gets appointed to lead foreign affairs committee

 

Queens County Politics

 Queens County Democratic Party Chairman U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica, Laurelton, Rosedale, Cambria Heights, Saint Albans, Springfield Gardens, The Rockaways, JFK Airport) took a historic step onto the world stage earlier this month when he was elected as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Meeks fulfilled a dream that he aspired to for years when he was elected as the first Black Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A product of the Civil Rights Movement and a congressman in Queens for more than 20 years, he said he hopes to bring a fresh point of view to the committee and to the country’s foreign policy priorities.  

“I’ve come from a different background, and different life experiences than many of the –– than all of the other chairs have had,” he said. 

 He plans on drawing on his nearly 30 years of experience working and legislating for Queens, first in the State Assembly then in Congress. In those three decades, he learned a lot about the world, and he’s ready to take those lessons to the international stage. Coming of political age in the crucible of Queens has exposed him to a variety of worldviews, he said. 

“The voice that I bring, I think is the voice of a person who represents Southeastern Queens and represents Queens, that is a mini U.N. in and of itself,” he said. “What I think makes the United States the greatest country in the world, we’re not monolithic –– a little bit of this a little bit of that.”

 Can't think of a more perfect pick than the most corrupt member of the House.

Better know Gregory Meeks challenger for the 5th District in Congress

Patch

 Democrats in southeastern Queens will get to cast a ballot this month in a collection of local, state and federal primary races — including the 5th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks will have to defend his seat against challenger Shaniyat Chowdhury.


The primary election, slated for June 23, is open to registered Democratic voters. All New York voters may request a mail-in ballot due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ballots must be postmarked by the date of the election for the vote to get counted.

 Why are you seeking elective office?

I want to continue serve my community as their representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is a tremendous honor, and a position I take extremely seriously. Over my tenure, my district has seen tremendous change, and working with my colleagues in government and leaders in the community, we have been able to work together to improve the quality of life for the residents and increase opportunities for their children. Our work is far from done. I want to continue to fight for what the 5th District needs. What have come so far, yet we have some ways to go.

South Ozone Park sewage claims clinic hearing tommorow

The Queens Machine is suffering from AOC derangement syndrome

NY Post

 If the Queens Democratic establishment was badly rattled by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory against incumbent and kingmaker Joe Crowley last year, then a largely ignored civil court race this summer shook the city’s most powerful political machine to its core.

During primary elections in June, a Hispanic woman from the Bronx routed the candidate hand-picked by the Queens County Democratic Party for a seat on the county’s Civil Court — a race that had not been contested in nearly four decades.

“It was an incredible moment, and it was as important as AOC’s victory,” said a political strategist active in Queens and the Bronx. “Suddenly, people smelled blood.”

Insurgent candidate and lawyer Lumarie Maldonado Cruz, 47, beat Wyatt Gibbons, 56, with nearly 62% of the vote compared to 38% for Gibbons, a Queens attorney.

“AOC’s victory reminded me of my obligations to stand up for what is right,” Maldonado Cruz said when she entered the race earlier this year.

Still reeling from the victory of Ocasio-Cortez over Crowley, a 10-term Congressman and longtime Queens party boss who was also chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the party was again caught “asleep at the wheel” with no discernible strategy during the June primaries, said the strategist. He, like many of the political consultants and elected officials interviewed by The Post, did not want to be identified for fear of antagonizing the Queens party or AOC.



In addition to the judicial race, the party nearly lost the election for Queens district attorney. Party-backed candidate Queens Borough President Melinda Katz should have trounced little-known, late-to-the-race progressive Tiffany Caban, but instead squeaked by, after a month-long series of recounts, by 60 votes.

“They hate AOC,” said Baruch College political scientist Doug Muzzio, referring to the leaders of the Queens County Democrats. “She killed their meal ticket.”

But as they battle for relevancy against a progressive wave, the moderate Democrats in the Queens party are still mired in the past, observers say.  The party is still controlled by Crowley’s old backers — “the three white men in the room” who have controlled Queens politics for more than three decades and reaped the benefits.

Michael Reich is the longtime executive director of the political party, and Frank Bolz is the law chairman. Gerard Sweeney has held his appointment as counsel to the Queens public administrator since 1992. In that capacity, he has raked in tens of millions of dollars for the law firm, administering estates of those who die without wills in Surrogate’s Court.

In March, party delegates elected a scandal-scarred lawmaker as the new kingmaker. But observers told The Post that Rep. Gregory Meeks, an 11-term Congressman from southeast Queens, is a lightweight.

“Meeks is essentially a backbencher in Congress, who lacks Crowley’s gravitas,” Muzzio told The Post. “He’s their puppet.”

The true political powerhouse in Queens is obvious.

AOC has national stature, demanding the attention of the House Speaker and the president. She has more than 5 million Twitter followers.

Rep. Gregory Meeks is a Queens queen maker

NY Post


Rep. Gregory Meeks slammed Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday for their endorsement of insurgent candidate Tiffany Cabán in the race for Queens district attorney.

“I don’t know who they spoke with, but clearly they did not speak with the elected officials of Queens County, or the people who elected them,” Meeks said in a statement. “African Americans have the largest stake in this DA race . . . Yet Warren and Sanders saw fit to endorse without even considering what African Americans thought.”

Meeks, chair of the Queens County Democratic Party, is supporting Melinda Katz in the race to replace the late Richard Brown.

Apparently the congressman doesn't think African-Americans live anywhere else in Queens County. And as for his claim that those presidential candidates don't know what African-Americans think, he must think he has "the Shining".

Congressman Gregory Meeks is the new chairman of the Queens Machine

 

Patch

 U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks was unanimously elected Monday as the new chairman of the Queens Democratic Party. Meeks succeeds former U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley, who stepped down in February.


Meeks was considered the most likely successor to Crowley, according to a City & State report that broke the news ahead of the Monday election. Crowley left the post after he joined one of the country's top lobbying firms. Meeks, a Crowley ally, is unlikely to spearhead radical changes within the party, City & State reported. He's a vocal opponent of a bill that would raise taxes on Wall Street traders and supported the Amazon HQ2 deal for Long Island City.

In 2013, Meeks was named one of the 13 most corrupt Congress members by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit that investigates the influence of money in politics. In 2006, Meeks paid a below-market sum for a St. Albans house built by one of his campaign contributors on land owned by another contributor, according to the CREW report. He has also failed to report loans on personal financial disclosure forms, CREW found.

Utterly disgraceful. And they talk about the President and his own sordid corruption and abuse of  power? This political neoliberal gangster has made a productive and lucrative career with his own dirty deeds and wheeling and dealing in his career as an elected official. And Jamaica is still blighted in the two decades since he's "represented" the district.



 

Meeks occupies mansion illegally

From the Daily News:

Rep. Gregory Meeks has been living in his 6,000-square-foot Queens mansion for nearly a decade — without city authorization.

He never got a required certificate of occupancy for the custom-built Hollis home, finished in late 2006.

A temporary certificate of occupancy, which he needed to get his mortgage, expired Jan. 4, 2007, and was never renewed, city records show.

The home has created controversy for Meeks.

He borrowed $624,000 to buy the $830,000 property and took out a $78,000 line of credit.

Then, in 2007, Meeks got a $40,000 “loan” from businessman Edul Ahmad that he said went to furnishing and other household needs. He made no payments on it and claimed to have lost the loan paperwork.

It was paid only in 2010 after the FBI began probing Ahmad, later indicted in a mortgage-fraud scheme.

The House Ethics Committee opened a probe after Meeks failed to report the loan. It dropped the matter after Ahmad refused to help.

To repay Ahmad, Meeks borrowed $60,000, taking out a mortgage with a company belonging to Democratic donor Dennis Mehiel.

Sanders to primary Meeks

From the Observer:

Queens State Senator James Sanders filed paperwork yesterday to take on Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks, the Observer has learned.

Federal Election Commission records show Mr. Sanders submitted paperwork to challenge Mr. Meeks, a fellow Democrat and 17-year incumbent. Both men represent large tracts of predominantly African-American southeastern Queens.

Mr. Sanders, a close ally of organized labor, has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Meeks’ support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a proposed free trade agreement backed by the Obama administration and congressional Republicans, but opposed by unions and most Democrats.

Meeks, Clarke are international tweeders

From the Washington Post:

The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference in Baku for 10 members of Congress and some of their spouses in 2013, according to a report by the Office of Congressional Ethics. Lawmakers received a number of gifts, but only one lawmaker reported them on his financial disclosure form. The lawmakers said they were unaware of the oil company's involvement and thought the gifts did not meet the reporting threshold.

One additional lawmaker attended while on a separate congressional delegation and did not have his expenses covered by the conference.

Will Meeks' decision kill jobs?

From the Politicker:

A group of state and city legislators from Queens today released a letter to Congressman Gregory Meeks urging him to flip his current stance and vote against the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a free trade agreement backed by the Obama administration but opposed by numerous labor and environmental groups.

State Senators Joseph Addabbo, Tony Avella , James Sanders and Leroy Comrie, along with Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and Councilmen Daneek Miller and Donovan Richards—all Democrats representing districts that overlap with Mr. Meeks’—co-signed the missive attacking the deal, which would ease trade barriers and a host of regulations between the United States, Australia and several Asian and Latin American nations. President Barack Obama and Democrats and Republicans supportive of the deal in Congress have pushed a bill that would grant “fast-track” authority to the administration.

Such power would permit the president to present the trade package to Congress as a purely yes-or-no vote, with little debate and no possibility of amending the arrangement.

“We are writing to urge you to oppose fast track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the letter reads, going on to criticize the closed-door dealings that have forged the TPP. “The agreement is being negotiated with a lack of transparency, but we know that the TPP will affect jobs, environmental protections, prescription drug prices, financial industry regulations, internet freedom, food safety and much more.”

Most Democrats oppose the deal, but Mr. Meeks is a co-founder of the bipartisan four-member “Friends of the TPP” caucus, and recently joined Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin on a trip to Singapore promoting the pact. However, the state and city politicians alleged that the partnership’s impact would mirror that of the North American Free Trade Agreement signed in the 1990s with Mexico and Canada, and lead to the outsourcing of as much as 20 percent of American jobs—many of them from Queens.

You are who your friends are

Let's recap who supports John Liu, and in turn supports everything dubious:

Reps. Joe Crowley, Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks

Former Congress Member Gary Ackerman

The NY Times, The Daily Kos & Queens Politics

New York Communities for Change, CWA Local 1180, UCFW Local 1500, the New York City Coalition of Operating Engineers, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, and the Working Families Party

The Queens Times, Queens Gazette and Queens Tribune

State Senator Liz Krueger and Manhattan BP Gale Brewer

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz; and practically every Democratic assemblymember and senator in Albany, and in the City Council in New York.

Civic leaders

Holy macaroni, there are a lot of dumb, brainwashed bunnies in politics! (And I didn't even include them all.) You'll also note the way he tries to make it seem like Cuomo endorsed him, when he didn't:

Summarizing southeastern Queens corruption

From NY1:

State Senator Malcolm Smith starts his Saturday praying.

"God, let him go back into his elected official office," a preacher says.

Whether that will happen after next week's Democratic primary is unclear.

Smith faces a new bribery trial in January. The first one this summer ended abruptly in a mistrial.

"It has a profound impact on you. There is no question about it," Smith said. "I have never been involved with the law in any regard."

He is also staring down his toughest re-election fight yet, against a former City Councilman, Leroy Comrie.

Smith's indictment rattled the city's political world, but he is hardly the first elected official in southeast Queens to be slapped with handcuffs.

Former state Senator Shirley Huntley had the experience in 2012. Earlier this year, it was City Councilman Ruben Wills.

"I know because of where I come from and the color I am, it doesn't usually work like that with you guys, but I am presumed innocent," Wills said in May.

It's a familiar line.

"I always continue to tell people of my innocence, and the more information that comes out, the more they realize," Smith said.

It's also a familiar subject: federal investigations into politicians' pockets.

"All of us, whoever we are, once you get elected, you're a target, and I think we realize that we are targets," said Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens.

It seems that focus is zeroed in on southeast Queens, with scandal after scandal slamming the same neighborhoods.

Meeks has Comrie's back

From the Queens Chronicle:

Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Nassau) is set to join the parade of local officials endorsing former Councilman Leroy Comrie in his bid to unseat state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis).

Meeks is expected to lead a contingent of up to a dozen elected office holders giving the challenger their backing Tuesday morning at Comrie’s campaign headquarters in St. Albans.

In a related matter, Democratic donors also appear to be flocking to Comrie.

In campaign finance reports filed last week, which are mandated by the state 32 days before the Sept. 9 primary, Comrie’s camp reported more than $81,000 still in the bank.

Shirley sprung from the joint and tweeders party

From the Times Ledger:

The Rev. Charles Norris Sr. and Clergy United for Community Empowerment welcomed former state Sen. Shirley Huntley back from prison with a party Tuesday.

Norris said close to 75 people gathered to greet Huntley, who represented Jamaica, Springfield Gardens and St. Albans in Albany, including representatives from U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks’ (D-Jamaica) office and state Assemblyman William Scarborough’s (D-St. Albans) office.

The homecoming bash was held at the Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center.

“It was very well-attended,” Norris said of the event organized by CUCE, a coalition dedicated to empowering African Americans, where the minister serves as executive secretary. “She’s home and that’s good.”

Norris said CUCE was very proud to organize the party and emphasized that Huntley had served her time.

“She doesn’t owe anybody anything,” he said.

Huntley was sentenced to 366 days in prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud in an effort to cover up a scheme she used to pocket more than $87,000 from taxpayers.

But the Federal Bureau of Prison website shows she was released after about 10 months.

Electeds want rail line restored

From DNA Info:

Two Queens congressmen said they are backing a plan to restore an abandoned Queens rail line, instead of turning the tracks into a High Line-style public park called the QueensWay — and want to to use Hurricane Sandy funds to make it happen.

The move by Reps. Gregory Meeks and Hakeem Jeffries, who represent Brooklyn as well as parts of Howard Beach and Ozone Park, could be a setback to the QueensWay project, which has been gaining supporters during the past several months and received a $467,000 grant for a feasibility study from the state last year.

The derelict Rockaway Beach Rail Line, which closed in 1962, used to connect Forest Hills, Rego Park, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park, but it has since become home to mostly trush and graffiti.

The elected officials argue that restoring the line would revitalize local economy and offer faster commute options to the area devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

“Restoring the rail line would speed up the pace of recovery for residents and local businesses and create hundreds of jobs while laying the foundation for a transportation network that accommodates our future growth,” said Meeks, who represents Far Rockaway and Jamaica, at a press conference held on Sunday in Ozone Park.

You are who your friends are

From the NY Post:

A number of Congressman Gregory Meeks’ friends are now in jail or under indictment, as prosecutors ramp up a federal probe into the New York Democrat.

One old pal, Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, is already in federal prison; another, Edul Ahmad, is facing sentencing in a $50 million mortgage scam; and Albert Baldeo was recently charged with campaign-finance fraud.

Baldeo, the latest of Meeks’ pals to be arrested, is a Queens immigration lawyer whom the congressman described as a “good friend.”

Baldeo was arrested by federal authorities in October, charged with using straw donors in his failed 2010 City Council bid. He was accused of giving friends and associates money to donate to his campaign in their own names in an attempt to boost contributions and gain city matching funds.

Meeks, 59, had a satellite district office in a building owned by Baldeo from 2002 to 2004.

Baldeo told The Post he gave Meeks a break on the rent because he wanted the congressman to have a presence in his Richmond Hill community. House rules prohibit representatives from receiving below-market rent.

Baldeo is negotiating a possible plea deal with the feds. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the four charges.

Come to Jamaica to leave it

From the NY Post:

The only tenant so far in a long-planned retail center that’s supposed to attract shoppers to downtown Jamaica will be a bus station that instead takes them away — to the Resorts World racino at Aqueduct Raceway.

A sign in one of the three storefronts, which have remained empty since they were finished last June, advertises: “Coming soon: Bus Depot Here!”

The Greater Jamaica Development Corp., the politically connected nonprofit that used $9.2 million in taxpayer money to clean up the area and develop the retail arcade, says it has signed a lease with Resorts World for the largest of the storefronts on Sutphin Boulevard.

It will basically be a waiting room for free shuttle buses that run to the racino every 20 minutes. The 2,300-square-foot space is now an empty shell.

The storefronts were the centerpiece of the revitalization of the Sutphin Boulevard underpass under the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road station. Rep. Gregory Meeks secured Federal Transit Administration funds for the site.

The money and other grants that the Queens Democrat sent to Greater Jamaica are under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office, which last year issued a subpoena to the nonprofit seeking information on the funds.