16 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 30, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Maloney kicks off 2020 campaign in Long Island City
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
Fourteen-term Congresswoman
New York Hotel Trades Council, Hotel Association
break ground on new Queens Health Center in LIC
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
Calling it a very good day, and
a very positive day, Mayor Bill de
Blasio came to Long Island City
Wednesday to help Th e New York
Hotel and Motel Trades Council
and the Hotel Association of
NYC break ground on a new $75
million state-of-the-art Queens
Health Center.
Th e new 90,000-square-foot,
single-payer health center will
provide no-cost care to more
than 90,000 union represented
hotel workers, retirees and their
families from across the city.
“All New Yorkers should be
able to access aff ordable, quality
health care,” de Blasio said.
“Providing quality healthcare
services for working people is
at the heart of my mission as
mayor of our city, and I commend
HTC and HANYC on
its continued commitment to
providing their employees and
their families with exceptional
care.”
Th e new facility — located at
43-06 38th St., just south of the
Sunnyside Yards — will house
a full range of medical and hospitalization
care in one location,
including health, dental, physical
rehab services, vaccine and
immunization rooms, a pharmacy
for prescription drug needs,
preventative care and wellness
programs, X-rays, mammograms,
lab reports, substance
abuse treatment, anesthesia and
surgical care.
“Th is is what a modern delivery
system should look like,”
New York Hotel & Motel Trades
Council President Peter Ward
said. “With all costs covered, all
services accessible under one
roof and a uniquely collaborative
partnership between labor and
management, this model could
revolutionize the way our nation
approaches healthcare.”
Th e facility is designed so that
regardless of their health needs,
patients can be conveniently
accommodated in one quick
visit and able to pick up their
prescriptions on-site at the end
of the appointment.
“Today’s groundbreaking
sends a loud and clear message:
everyone deserves access
to aff ordable, quality healthcare,”
Comptroller Scott Stringer said.
“A healthy workforce is a strong
workforce. New York City is a
union town and we will always
fi ght for the dignity, respect, and
well-being for our working families.”
All services will be free of
charge to union represented
workers, retirees and their families,
with almost all prescription
drugs covered under the
plan and only some brandname
drugs requiring a minimal
co-pay that will be waived
in cases of long-term treatment.
Th e facility will be located adjacent
to the current health center
to ensure there is no disruption
of services and is expected to be
completed by 2021.
“Th is building will be an asset
to our community,” Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer said. “We
have been happy with the current
health care center in Long
Island City that HTC owns and
operates today, and I look forward
to welcoming them to this
bigger and better home in my
district.”
Aside from technical advancement,
the health center at its core
Mayor de Blasio helps break ground on the new Queens Health Care Center in
Long Island City.
is patient focused with doctors,
nurses and dentists who speak
45 diff erent languages, removing
barriers to comprehensive
primary and preventative care.
Th e healthcare model sets the
national standard for others to
follow in seeking to deliver the
best quality care at the lowest
possible cost.
“Th is new Queens facility will
be conveniently located for our
borough’s residents, workers and
Courtesy of Mayor’s offi ce
their families, and will off er top
medical care to the members of
the Hotel Trades Council, the
driving force behind the success
of our city’s booming tourism
industry,” Acting Queens
Borough President Sharon Lee
said. “Th ese health facilities are
a prime example of how quality
and aff ordable health care can
and should be delivered, because
if it is good for families it’s good
for Queens.”
Carolyn Maloney
held her offi cial 2020 campaign
launch for New York’s
12th Congressional District on
Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Maloney touted her recent legislative
record and made the case
for her re-election based on her
appointment as the fi rst female
chair of the House Oversight
Committee.
Th e launch party featured an
endorsement from special guest
Congressman Eric Swallwell
(D-CA), whose outspoken
stance on ending gun violence
helped emphasize Maloney’s
record on gun control.
“I’ve got a record to run on,
passing a lot of bills but I’m running
for gun safety,” Maloney
said in her speech.
Over the summer, Maloney
introduced a trio of bills that
aim at promoting gun safety,
which are expected to encounter
roadblocks in the Republicancontrolled
Senate. On
Wednesday, she argued that her
new role as chair of the House
Oversight Committee would
represent a new approach to the
issue: an investigation into NRA.
“One way to win this election
is to crack down on their illegal
transfers of money,” said Maloney.
She went on to cite several
legislative accomplishments
over the past year including
the passage of the 9/11 Victim
Compensation Fund and the
re-authorization of the Debbie
Smith Act, a 2004 bill that provides
funding for local governments
to provide DNA analysis,
including rape kits.
She added that her platform in
2020 involves pushing for a Green
New Deal, Medicare for All and
infrastructure improvements in
her district, which stretches over
northern Brooklyn, Long Island
City, Astoria and a large chunk
of eastern Manhattan.
Maloney helped secure 85 percent
of the funds of the $873 million
new Kosciuszko Bridge connecting
Greenpoint, Brooklyn,
to Maspeth. Over the past year
she has also rallied to build a
new rail link that would provide
direct access for LIRR riders
from Sunnyside Yards to Grand
Central Terminal.
Th e congresswoman chose to
hold the launch party in a prototypical
Long Island City offi ce
building that had been converted
from an industrial manufacturing
building.
After winning a competitive
primary race against former
Obama staff er Suraj Patel in 2018,
Maloney’s opponents have multiplied
in 2020. Patel will challenger
her again, along with three other
progressive insurgents including
former J.P. Morgan employee
and comedian Lauren Ashcraft ,
tenant organizer Peter Harrison,
and activist Erica Vladimer.
The party also included
endorsement speeches by
Manhattan Borough President
Gale Brewer, Long Island Citybased
Bishop Mitchell Taylor,
and Manhattan Councilmen Ben
Kallos and Keith Powers.
Aft er thanking her supporters,
Maloney ended her speech idiosyncratically
by connecting the
amount of work to be done in
her district to the average lifespan
of a New Yorker.
“New Yorkers live longer than
anyone in the country,” Maloney
said. “I think we’re all just too
busy to die. We have too much to
accomplish to help people.”
Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
The campaign launch party of Rep. Carolyn Maloney (r.) featured an endorsement from California Rep. Eric Swalwell.
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