Suspect sought
for pushing
72-year-old man
to the ground in
Midtown subway
station: NYPD
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
The NYPD is looking for someone
who attacked a 72-year-old man in
a Midtown subway station for no
apparent reason.
According to police, at 9:35 a.m. on Feb.
11 the victim was standing on the 7 train
platform at the 42 St-Bryant Park Station.
As the subway doors opened, the victim
was approached by an unknown man who
pushed the victim behind.
The suspect fell to the ground on the
platform and the suspect fl ed the scene to
PHOTO COURTESY OF NYPD
parts unknown. The victim suffered bruising
and swelling to his face and body and
was taken to NYU Hospital by EMS.
The NYPD released photos of the suspect
taken from inside the train station.
Anyone with information in regard to
the identity of this individual is asked to
call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline
at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish,
1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public
can also submit their tips by logging onto
the Crime Stoppers website or on Twitter
@NYPDTips. All calls are strictly
confi dential.
Beds not body bags: Queens protest group
rallies in Manhattan to stop ‘medical tourism’
BY DEAN MOSES
Queens protest group
Rise and Resist traveled
to Manhattan
on Monday afternoon to rally
outside of Lenox Hill Hospital.
Chants of “Queens needs
hospital beds!” echoed around
the East 77th Street just outside
of Lenox Hill Hospital,
a Northwell Health affi liated
facility, after 1 pm on Feb. 15.
The group of about 20 individuals
is raising awareness
for what they call “medical
tourism,” a practice in which
the wealthy travel to receive the
best possible medical care. They
claim this custom helps fund
already well-fi nanced facilities
while leaving low-income
neighborhoods unsupported.
It is with this in mind they
are denouncing the creation
of a tower that will increase
capacity at Lenox Hill Hospital,
believing that these funds
should be used toward hospitals
in the outer boroughs, such
as Long Island Jewish Medical
Center on the Queens/Nassau
border, since “the World’s Borough”
has the lowest bed capacity
with the largest population.
Rise and Resist protested outside of Lenox Hill Hospital
Monday afternoon.
Standing beside a gigantic
banner reading, “Beds not
body bags,” Leon Kirschner, a
healthcare worker from Jackson
Heights and a member of Rise
and Resist told amNewYork
Metro that Manhattan has 1.6
million residents, and 21 hospitals
with 6.4 beds per thousand
people.
By contrast, Queens has
2.4 million residents, but only
8 hospitals and 1.5 beds per
thousand people.
Kirschner says that after
four protests in Queens, he is
taking the fi ght to Manhattan
after learning of the proposed
tower Lenox Hill Hospital will
be receiving while he states that
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
Queens residents die without
having access to a hospital bed.
Kirschner describes Lenox
Hill Hospital as a luxurious
location attracting “medical
tourism” due to their top quality
practitioners and innovative
medical work.
“So people who have wealth
in countries that might not have
a good medical system or may
not have the access will come
here from different places to
get that luxury care,” Kirschner
said.
Kirschner’s grievance with
this aspect is the claim that
while “medical tourism” brings
in private insurance and cash,
those in low-income areas and
outer boroughs such as Queens
sufferer since their Medicaid
reimbursement is less valued.
After reaching out to Lenox
Hill Hospital for comment,
the institution expressed their
disappointment in the protest
through a statement.
“It is unfortunate that this
protest purposely ignores the
great investments Northwell
Health has made in underserved
communities across the
city. In Queens alone, we have
four hospitals and dozens of
ambulatory sites that are treating
and caring for residents
from all neighborhoods around
the borough. We will always
continue to strengthen those
infrastructures and increase the
quality of care to those communities,”
the statement read.
Northwell Health also states
that they have been working
tirelessly to aid all individuals
in need, including communities
of color, which have been
disproportionately affected by
the ravages of the COVID-19
pandemic.
A heavy NYPD presence
observed the rally until the
group disbanded over an hour.
No arrests were made.
Massive tower coming to Midtown to replace
hotel at Grand Central Terminal by 2030
BY CARSEN HOLADAY
Architecture fi rm Skidmore Owings
and Merrill is partnering with
developers RXR Realty and TF
Cornerstone to build a 1,646-feet-tall skyscraper
in Midtown. The 83-story building,
called 175 Park Avenue, will replace the
old Grand Hyatt Hotel by Grand Central
Terminal.
The glass and steel mixed-use tower will
include offi ce and retail spaces along with
a 500-room hotel. The project will not only
include new public space, but it will also
add signifi cant infrastructure upgrades to
Grand Central Terminal and the Grand
Central-42nd Street subway station. The
ground level of the 2.2 million-square-foot
tower will hold a new public train hall. The
project’s team, in collaboration with the
MTA, will ease congestion of the busy area
by building new entrances and expanding
circulation.
“A challenge is defi nitely presented by the
buildings and by all of the transportation infrastructure,”
said RXR Realty Senior Vice
President Jeffrey Nelson. “It’s an exceptionally
complex undertaking, but one that is a
once in a lifetime opportunity: to fi x a lot
of the challenges with the subway and the
connections to Grand Central.”
The enormous structure will feature
a stone-clad core enclosed by highperformance
glass and a lattice of elegant,
structural columns. The building’s use of
stone and visual symmetry will pay homage
to the original style of Grand Central
Terminal. The structure of the building will
be pulled back from the edge of the train
hall, leaving room for the 24,000-squarefoot
public open space designed to wrap
around the building. The elevated outdoor
area is intended to strengthen the neighborhood’s
public realm as well as improve the
pedestrian experience by bringing light and
air to a congested part of the city.
175 Park Avenue will create nearly
10,000 direct permanent jobs as well as
over 18,000 construction jobs. The permanent
operation is estimated to generate an
annual output of $7.9 billion in New York
City’s economy.
The project is expected to enter public
review this spring, aiming to fi nish the
Uniform Land Use Review Process by the
end of the year. Demolition is set to begin in
2022. The tower is expected to open in 2030.
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4 February 18, 2021 Schneps Media