Council Introduces Localized Health Care Plan
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen) and Council Members Mark Levine (D-Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville), Ben Kallos (D-Yorkville, Lenox Hill) and Carlina Rivera (D-East Village, Gramercy Park) introduced a bill last week to offer localized healthcare services in each community district.
The bill would assign patients a navigator to facilitate easy access to preventative and diagnostic care. It also mandates that the program includes providers that can accommodate the particular needs of LGBTQ and undocumented New Yorkers.
“Healthcare is an existential issue for so many New Yorkers, and a deeply personal issue for me as an HIV-positive elected official,” Johnson said in a statement. “Healthcare is a life or death issue, a make or break financial issue, and a peace of mind issue, and as a city we could be doing a much better job of making sure all New Yorkers have access to personalized, coordinated, culturally competent healthcare.”
Rodriguez and Co. Call on City to Address Conditions at 71 Vermilyea Ave. After Fire
Last Friday, Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill) joined several other electeds to rally on behalf of the tenants of 71 Vermilyea Ave.
The day before, the tenants were the victims of a two-alarm fire, which caused major destruction in many of the units they occupy. Rodriguez said the fire was symptomatic of the property’s hazardous conditions, and wanted to ensure that all of the tenants would be safely relocated while their home underwent reconstruction.
“We have spoke to all city agencies regarding this matter,” Rodriguez said in a tweet. “Our tenants should not be living in these conditions. We need to provide support NOW!”
Gottfried Demands Cuomo to Release Title X Funding
Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (D-Chelsea, Midtown) released a statement yesterday calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) to release the funding allocated for family planning providers.
The statement was made as a reaction to the Trump Administration’s “gag rule” on Title X. The rule bars family planning providers from using federal funds to offer patients information about birth control or abortion.
“I and my colleagues worked with the Governor to authorize $16 million in the budget to protect family planning providers in the event this occurred,” said Gottfried. “Trump’s war on women is not new – we all saw this coming. But now, with press reports of providers facing layoffs, the money has still not gone out.”
