NYC Health & Hospitals/Queens pays tribute
to former Borough President Claire Shulman
BY BILL PARRY
Former Queens Borough
President Claire Shulman was
remembered as a trailblazing
advocate for the borough and a
champion of affordable, highquality
healthcare for its residents
during a tribute to her legacy
by NYC Health + Hospitals/
Queens. Shulman, 94, died last
month after battling lung cancer
and pancreatic cancer.
“Claire was the epitome of
a community activist in the
purest sense of the word, building
her entire career around
contributing to the betterment
of her community, and specifically
to the borough of Queens
for the past half-century,” NYC
Health + Hospitals/Queens
CEO Israel Rocha said. “She
began her career as a nurse
right here in what was formerly
known as Queens General Hospital,
entered politics as chair
of the local community board,
worked her way to becoming
deputy borough president and
eventually landed the job of first
female Queens borough president
by default. Yet she was so
good at her job she essentially
redefined it, remaining in the
position for the next 16 years,
BY JOE PANTORNO
and paving the way for the two
dynamic borough presidents,
Helen Marshall and Melinda
Katz, who succeeded her.”
Shulman guided the borough
through turbulent times
and fought to save public hospitals
in Queens.
“Claire’s dedication to
quality healthcare and love of
nursing led her to fight to preserve
our public hospitals from
the threat of privatization in
the mid-nineties,” said NYC
Steve Cohen and the Wilpon family
are in agreement to transfer majority
ownership of the New York Mets to
the hedge-fund billionaire Monday.
“I am excited to have reached an
agreement with the Wilpon and Katz
families to purchase the New York
Mets,” Cohen said in a statement.
A source originally told amNewYork
Metro that the agreement would
be signed on Sunday night — nearly
24 hours before follow-up reports and
the team’s announcement.
It’s a major hurdle cleared in the
64-year-old’s pursuit of 80% of the
MLB club, just seven months after
his original bid for the team fell
through.
That means if 23 of 29 MLB team
owners approve Cohen’s takeover
during their scheduled meeting in
November, he will assume control of
the club immediately then.
A source originally informed am-
NewYork Metro last week that negotiations
between Cohen — valued
at $14.6 billion — and the Mets were
trending in the right direction.
Meanwhile, the group led by Alex
Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez were
recently reported to have been trying
to improve their “last-ditch” offer to
buy the Mets, according to the New
York Post.
Obviously, such a potential development
now means that Rodriguez
and Lopez’s chase for the Mets would
officially be considered dead.
Cohen’s offer has been reported to
be at $2.4 billion for the Mets.
The Wilpon family has been the
majority owner of the franchise since
2002, but they are expected to retain
a 5% share of the team.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.22 COM | SEPT. 18-SEPT. 25, 2020
Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
and Queens Dean/Medical Director
Jasmin Moshipur, MD.
“Her rugged determination and
staunch perseverance resulted
in securing more than $150 million
in capital funding for a major
modernization project and
upgrading of both Queens and
Elmhurst Hospitals. A personal
friend and colleague, a longtime
ally and ceaseless champion of
our borough’s public hospitals,
she enabled the fulfillment of a
dream: two newly modernized
public facilities fully equipped
to meet the increasing demands
of the 21st century.”
In 1997, Shulman fought off
the city’s plan to sell off Queens
Hospital in Hillcrest, the same
place where she started her
nursing career.
“Queens Hospital had a special
place in Claire Shulman’s
heart. One could feel the genuine
affection she had for Queens
Hospital when she spoke of her
days as a student at the Queens
Hospital School of Nursing, her
first professional job in Queens,
where she met her husband, Dr.
Melvin Shulman,” said NYC
Health + Hospitals Queens Deputy
Medical Officer Jean-Bernard
Poulard, MD. “She was grateful
for the role Queens Hospital
played in her life, but she gave
back to the people of Queens
much more than she received.
She was larger than life: a hero,
a fighter for so many underdogs,
and always for the just cause. I
will be forever proud and appreciative
to have known her and to
have witnessed her in action. She
made it possible for us to pursue
our mission-driven approach to
healthcare with dignity and respect
for all those we serve.”
Throughout her half-century
of public service, Shulman
remained dedicated to her mission
to provide Queens residents
with excellent healthcare so
they would not have to take the
tunnel or bridges into Manhattan
for proper medical care.
“Claire was instrumental in
the establishment of the Queens
Cancer Center in 2001, the year
the newly modernized facility
was introduced to the public,”
said Queens Cancer Center of
Queens Hospital Director Margaret
Kemeny, MD. “She personally
recruited me to lead this
state-of-the-art center of excellence,
so crucial to meeting the
needs of the southeast Queens
community. I am forever thankful
that she enabled me to lend
my skills to a community of
need. Her role in introducing
the Queens Cancer Center
helped transform Queens Hospital
into a thriving mecca for
so many e immigrant families
seeking quality, comprehensive
healthcare right in their neighborhood.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
Former Borough President Claire Shulman. File photo
Mets minority owner Steve Cohen. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
Steve Cohen, Wilpons sign
agreement for transfer of
Mets majority ownership
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