March 7, 2024 – Union efforts opposing the State’s potential closure of SUNY Downstate hospital are making the rounds in the media, with President Wayne Spence quoted in several. Here is a list of recent coverage about Downstate:
- WBLS-FM 107.5: President Spence was the guest for a full hour on the Open Line community affairs talk show about the future of SUNY Downstate and why it’s so critical that it remain open and funded to serve as a vital healthcare hub in Central Brooklyn.
- New York Magazine: Stopping This Hospital Closure Is a Key Test of Black Political Power in New York
- WPIX-TV: Brooklyn residents protest plans to close SUNY Downstate Hospital
- WABC-TV: Rally against plans to close SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn
- The Gothamist/WNYC radio: SUNY Downstate may close Brooklyn hospital. No one knows where its 150 daily patients will go.
- The Amsterdam News: SUNY Downstate Hospital’s Uncertain Future
- New York Daily News: Al Sharpton, Zellnor Myrie rally to save Brooklyn hospital: ‘We choose to fight’
- Politico NY: Rallying for SUNY Downstate
Continued advocacy for Tier 6 reform
City & State magazine quoted President Spence’s legislative hearing testimony on improving Tier 6 as crucial to attracting and retaining skilled public-sector workers. Read about it here.
Speaking out against proposed prison closures
President Spence was a guest on Spectrum TV’s Capital Tonight on March 6, 2024, talking about PEF’s opposition to the governor’s proposal to close up to five prisons in the coming year with just 90 days’ notice instead of the current legally required one-year notice. Watch the interview, here.