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Brooklyn BP Adams to broadcast LICH Q & A on Wednesday

Deadline to send in questions: Wednesday ‘mid-afternoon’

February 5, 2014 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said that developers bidding on Long Island College Hospital (LICH), in a redo of SUNY’s controversial RFP (Request for Proposals) process, would be answering questions during a Wednesday broadcast.

Taping of the presentations, with answers to pre-submitted questions, will take place on Wednesday afternoon at Borough Hall, but the show will be broadcast later on Wednesday evening. (See below for channels.)

Those who wish to submit questions related to the proposals should email them by “mid-afternoon” Wednesday to [email protected] or tweet to @BPEricAdams, with the hashtag #LICHQandA.

Questions, comments or concerns that are not addressed during the program will be posted on the Borough President’s website, with the bidders encouraged to provide responses to all inquiries, BP Adams said in a statement.

Adams said the Q & A was “an effort to promote transparency and community engagement in the process determining the hospital’s future.”

Community groups and officials representing LICH’s northwestern Brooklyn service area, however, have called SUNY’s bidding process illegal and “rigged” to favor developers over hospital operators. Advocates are calling for a “fair and open process” that would reflect the health needs of the community.

Adams said that he would be making a recommendation to SUNY regarding which proposal “will best meet the healthcare needs of our community.”

Many local officials, along with New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, said over the weekend that they refused to have anything to do with the bidding do-over. In a letter to SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Councilmembers Brad Lander, Steve Levin, and Carlos Menchaca said, “SUNY’s current path is not legal and will not lead to the best possible conclusion to address the community’s needs. As such, we will not participate in this process.”

State Senator Velmanette Montgomery signed a similar letter last Wednesday, but on Friday decided to back a plan proposed by mega-developer Related Cos., partnering with The Brooklyn Hospital Center, located in her district.

The program, a collaboration with BRIC/Brooklyn Independent Media (BIM), will first air on that network tomorrow evening at 9:30 p.m. on the Brooklyn Public Network, which can be found on Cablevision (Channel 69), Time Warner Cable (Channel 56), RCN (Channel 84), Verizon FIOS (Channel 44) or on their website’s Channel 3 at http://bricartsmedia.org/community-media/watch-brooklyn-public-network; the show will be re-aired several times on Thursday, February 6th, times to be determined.

The five developers include Fortis Property Group, Brisa Builders Corporation, Related Cos., John Catsimatidis/ Rudy Washington, and The Peebles Corporation.

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