Call to #saveLICH show no sign of slowing down despite mounting obstacles
In response to the virtual closing of Long Island College Hospital’s (LICH) core departments and services, including the emergency room, cardiac care unit and overnight pediatric care department, by hospital-owner SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn families and LICH staff took to the streets both here and in Manhattan to protest what they say is the systematic “failing [of] our neighborhoods” by SUNY administrators and Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In one of the most dramatic protests, on Wednesday, July 10, hundreds gathered outside SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher’s office at West 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, armed with piles of signed petitions in support of LICH.
The NYPD was called and 15 people were arrested—including Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Councilmember Stephen Levin, and NYS Nurses Association President Elect Judy Gonzales and Executive Director Jill Furillo.