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Announcer: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, February 25th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: Former New York City Congress member Anthony Weiner is running for City Council and his bid is getting a boost from a longtime Democratic power player who is now on the board of elections. WNYC's Brigid Bergin has the story.

Brigid Bergin: One time Brooklyn Democratic boss Frank Seddio emailed an invitation for a Wiener campaign fundraiser that has government watchdogs raising the alarm because Seddio is now a commissioner on the Board of Elections. He says he's done nothing that violates the rules, but he's trying to ensure there's no appearance of a conflict.

Frank Seddio: I will recuse myself on anything that goes on in that district's election in any way, shape, or form that would involve the Board of Elections.

Brigid Bergin: The Board of Elections decides if candidates qualify for the ballot after they collect petitions. Weiner resigned from Congress and sank his 2013 mayoral campaign after a series of sexting scandals. He later pleaded guilty to sending obscene material to a minor.

Michael Hill: The MTA plans to add new trains that will provide New Haven Line service to Penn Station and four other stations in the Bronx. Electricity will power the new trains, mostly through overhead wires and sometimes through a battery, which would produce zero emissions. If the MTA board approves the plan, the agency will buy 13 new battery and electric power trains for 20 to 23 million dollars. Governor Kathy Hochul says the state's transportation system is setting the standard for clean and reliable transit in the USA.

54 with sunshine now, a slim chance of some mid-afternoon showers. We'll see more clouds high in the mid-50s, so very spring-like. Tomorrow's sunny and low 50s. Thursday showers likely and mid-50s again.

Announcer: Stay close. There's more after the break.

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Announcer: NYC.

Michael Hill: A century-old hospital in Manhattan is one step closer to shutting down after a judge's ruling. WNYC's health reporter Caroline Lewis joins us now to discuss what's going on at Beth Israel Hospital. Caroline, Mount Sinai, which runs Beth Israel Hospital, has been trying to shut this place down for some time now, isn't that right? You've been reporting on it.

Caroline Lewis: Yes, that's right. Mount Sinai took over Beth Israel in 2013 and three years later announced it would drastically downsize the hospital. At the time, the plan was to keep the emergency department and expand outpatient care, but lose most of the beds. Right, this has been going on for about a decade. That plan ultimately got scrapped, but then in late 2023, Mount Sinai said a Beth Israel closure was imminent because the hospital was simply losing too much money and putting the broader health system at risk. Hospital leaders said they would have to start shutting down services right away, with the final closure date set for July.

I think what really set off alarm bells at the time was that Beth Israel didn't wait for the state to approve that plan to start closing beds and cutting services. The hospital quickly faced legal action that barred them from continuing to close services and got a cease and desist from the state. They did eventually back away from that, but they maintained that the hospital is no longer needed in the area and isn't financially sustainable.

Michael Hill: Caroline, there was a coalition of opponents. What was their argument?

Caroline Lewis: Many local officials immediately pushed back on the plan, and a community coalition formed that was successful at blocking the closure in courts for many months. They said Beth Israel was still needed to serve a large swath of downtown Manhattan. They said elderly and disabled patients shouldn't have to travel for care. They argued that the patient population of the hospital wasn't as decimated as Mount Sinai was suggesting.

They also raised concerns that closing the hospital would overwhelm emergency rooms at other Manhattan facilities like Bellevue, 10 blocks north. City and state data does show that emergency room volume has been up. The coalition has also accused Mount Sinai of trying to close Beth Israel as a real estate play, given the value of properties in the area.

Michael Hill: Caroline, given what you've laid out here, why did the judge rule that the hospital could close?

Caroline Lewis: By the time this latest lawsuit was filed over the summer, the state health department had actually given Beth Israel approval to close. The community coalition argued in court that the decision was arbitrary and capricious and that the state didn't adequately assess the potential harms of the closure, but the judge ultimately ruled that the health department did its due diligence and basically said he wasn't able to overrule their decision. Mount Sinai has now said they will begin the process of shutting down Beth Israel immediately, with the goal of closing by the end of March. The lawyer for the coalition has vowed to appeal the decision. This saga might not be over yet.

Michael Hill: This is part of a broader trend of hospitals closing in this area. Why do hospitals say this is happening?

Caroline Lewis: Over the last 25 years, more than 40 hospitals have closed statewide, many of which were in New York City. A lot of beds have been lost, and this is largely by design. A state task force in the early 2000, known as the Berger Commission, said we didn't need so many hospital beds as the health care system moved away from long inpatient stays and suggested that larger hospital systems should absorb smaller ones that were struggling financially. This trend has continued and has really consolidated New York's health care industry.

I think the COVID pandemic forced health care officials to face questions about how many beds we can reasonably cut, but Mount Sinai has is still making the modernization case. They're saying many of Beth Israel's emergency room visits could just be handled by an urgent care, and they've committed to opening one two blocks south of where Beth Israel is located.

Michael Hill: WNYC's health care reporter Caroline Lewis on Beth Israel Hospital shutting down there. Caroline, thank you.

Caroline Lewis: Thanks, Michael.

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