FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 21, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Crowley leaves Queens
Dems for lobbyist post
Former Congressman Joe Crowley is trading
in his party boss title in order to start his new
career as a K Street lobbyist in Washington,
D.C.
To take the job, Crowley resigned his position
as Queens County Democratic Party chair
Tuesday. Crowley had held that position since
2006 and was re-elected in September. June
Bunch, a Democratic district leader, is serving
as interim chair, Crowley said, until Queens
Democrats elect a new leader at a later date.
“I just felt it was the right time, a good time
to move on personally and professionally,”
Crowley said. “It’s the right choice at this point
in my life.”
Th e 56-year-old Woodside native, who
represented western Queens for 10 terms in
the House of Representatives before he was
upset by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez in the Democratic primary last June,
took a position at Squire Patton Boggs, the
Washington-based global law and lobbying
fi rm.
“Serving in Congress was an honor of a lifetime
and I look forward to working on many of
the same issues in this new role,” Crowley said.
“It’s exciting to be joining a fi rm with such a
storied history.”
Squire Patton Boggs, one of the largest lobbying
fi rms in D.C, called Crowley a “blockbuster
addition” to the fi rm. Crowley will have
to wait for 10 months to become a lobbyist due
to the one year cooling off period required of
former legislators.
“You can’t lobby for a year aft er leaving offi ce
so I’ll be a consultant to the fi rm in the meantime,”
Crowley said.
Bill Parry
Addabbo: Expand
sports betting to
close budget gap
Although the U.S. Supreme Court overturned
a nationwide ban on sports betting in
May 2018, New York state has yet to pass its
own legislation regulating this activity.
One Queens elected offi cial says could not
only drain the coff ers of organized crime operations
but could close a $2.3 billion gap in the
budget.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo was optimistic
about the potential of the state gaining in
tax revenue to fund education, but now he sees
the uses of those funds going toward the shortfall
in the 2020 executive budget, in addition
to the $3 billion defi cit expected by Governor
Andrew Cuomo starting next year.
“Now more than ever it makes sense to legalize
sports betting to help fund essential programs
by bringing in additional revenue. It
off ers great potential for increasing revenue
without placing the burden on taxpayers, it
creates new jobs, and adds crucial funding support
for education in New York. We should
act now to create new wagering opportunities,
including mobile and online betting, to help
close the gap,” Addabbo said.
Addabbo cited New Jersey’s 8.5 percent tax
on sports betting which saw a yield of $2.45
million in November alone.
Th e deadline for the legislature to vote on the
2020 budget is April 1.
Mark Hallum
Photo courtesy of Northwell Health
Michael Dowling with the Northwell Health Labs team at the opening of a $47.7 million shared, centralized laboratory in Little Neck, Queens
Big plans in place for new Little Neck lab
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Northwell Health and NYC Health +
Hospitals celebrated the grand opening
of a $47.7 million shared laboratory in
Little Neck last week.
Th e new Clinical Laboratory of New
York, located at 59-25 Little Neck
Pkwy., is currently the largest nonprofit,
hospital-operated lab in the nation
and will allow the healthcare systems
to provide enhanced patient services
while reducing their costs.
Northwell Health Labs administers
the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Silvercertifi
ed central lab which will primarily
perform microbiology tests including
molecular diagnostics, from local
hospitals, clinics and physician offi ces.
Testing at the lab will incorporate the
latest technology and advanced robotic
testing systems.
Additionally, the new lab and the
Core Lab in Lake Success will process
about six million non-urgent tests
from NYC Health + Hospitals, allowing
public hospital labs to focus on
urgent testing.
Each year, Northwell Health Labs
performs more than 30 million tests in
their Core Lab, hospitals, physicians’
offi ces, nursing homes and clinical trials
and also handles more than 200,000
surgical pathology specimens annually.
“Th is state-of-the-art facility shows
what’s possible when two mission
driven organizations collaborate,”
said Michael J. Dowling, president
and CEO at Northwell Health.
“Northwell Health’s laboratory expertise,
along with exciting new technology
deployed here, will help turn
tests around faster and more effi ciently.
Th at’s good for all of the communities
served by Northwell and NYC
Health + Hospitals.”
Th e 36,000-square-foot, two-story
lab was born out of the Clinical
Laboratory of New York (CLNY)
Alliance formed by Northwell Health
and NYC Health + Hospitals in 2014.
Th e CLNY Alliance had a goal to integrate
services through a shared reference
lab.
“Th e partnership between NYC
Health + Hospitals and Northwell
Health will improve the effi cacy and
delivery of treatment for patients in
Queens and beyond,” said Councilman
Barry S. Grodenchik. “In addition to
the sharing of resources and standardized
levels of service, the $47 million
project represents a signifi cant investment
in our community, and I am
pleased that the lab has opened here in
Little Neck, Queens.”
A total of 176 employees began operations
at the lab earlier this month, but
the number of employees is expected
to increase to 210. According to
Northwell Health, the joint project
is expected to save NYC Health +
Hospitals more than $20 million a
year.
In addition to the Little Neck lab,
Northwell Labs will move its Core Lab
operations to a new building in Lake
Success. Th e $59.6 million 101,000
square-foot facility includes 84,000 in
clinical space and the largest chemistry
and hematology automated line of its
kind in the continent.
To accommodate its increased operations
over the past year, Northwell
has hired about 90 new employees who
will join their 1300-person team.
“Th is is an exciting time as Northwell
Health Laboratories takes a step forward
with new equipment and facilities
to match our already excellent
staff ,” said Dwayne Breining, MD,
executive director of Northwell Labs.
“Our partnership with NYC Health
+ Hospitals, along with the Core Lab
expansion, is an investment in the
health of all New Yorkers.”
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