De Blasio files motion in bankruptcy court in support of Interfaith

August 20, 2013 By Charisma L. Miller, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Public Advocate Bill de Blasio filed a motion on Tuesday in the Eastern District Bankruptcy Court, located in Downtown Brooklyn, to halt the closure of Interfaith Medical Center.

The motion asserts that the New York State Department of Health rushed in its approval of Interfaith’s closure plan and failed to provide proper oversight by disregarding the 90-day review period as required under law. Interfaith is currently in bankruptcy proceedings and is slated to begin shutting down operations on Aug. 26.

In July, the Department of Health rejected a restructuring plan to save Interfaith. Interfaith, located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, subsequently asked a bankruptcy court to approve closure after the Department of Health rejected a restructuring plan and denied the hospital any financial assistance.

De Blasio’s motion, if granted by the bankruptcy court, would lay the groundwork for a formal Article 78 lawsuit in State Supreme Court. An Article 78 proceeding allows a court to review the actions of an administrative agency, public body or officer to determine whether its decision was supported by substantial evidence, and whether the agency or public body failed to perform its duty or erred in the application of law or procedure.

As de Blasio prepares for a fight to save Interfaith, he appeared in Manhattan’s Midtown Community Court on a disorderly conduct charge. De Blasio, along with Councilman Stephen Levin and a number of others, was arrested on July 10 during a protest at the midtown Manhattan office of the State University of New York in a protest to keep Long Island College Hospital, located in Cobble Hill, open.