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NOVEMBER 12 - 18, 2020
VOl. 31 NO. 46
MSSN pavilion breaks ground Long Beach center to be staffed by specialists in ambulatory care By JaMES BERNStEiN jbernstein@liherald.com
Christina Daly/Herald
Saluting our vets John Zimmerman, past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, recited the POW-MIA prayer during a Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, and then Bob Costigan played taps to conclude the ceremony, held outside the VFW hall in Long Beach.
Since Hurricane Sandy practically swallowed the Long Beach Medical Center in October 2012, filling it with 10 feet of water, residents have pushed for the facility to be reopened or for the damaged buildings to be demolished. But the state Health Department nixed the reopening idea, citing numerous safety problems. The hospital fell into bankruptcy, and its remaining structures have been a sore subject among residents, who complain about wastewater rushing in from Reynolds Channel, and
about the unsightly buildings. On Tuesday, under sunny skies, the picture was entirely different from those gray postHalloween days eight years ago. Mount Sinai South Nassau, in Oceanside, which purchased the bankrupt Long Beach facility in 2014, for $12 million — after being the only medical center to bid on the closed hospital — broke ground on a new facility that Mount Sinai said would figure prominently in the future of medical treatment in the U.S. Construction has already be gun on the $35 million, 15,400-square-foot, single-story Long Beach Medical Arts PavilContinued on page 3
L.B. voters express support for Biden and hopes for unity By JaMES BERNStEiN jbernstein@liherald.com
Hardball political talk doesn’t seem as a good a fit with a Sunday morning as, say, a bagel and coffee. But in Long Beach last Sunday, the talk was all about the elections, what President-elect Joseph Biden will do for the country, and whether his victory was “stolen,” as some falsely suggested. At the Starbucks across the street from City Hall, and at a Biden celebration rally late in the day, just about everybody had an opinion. It was hardly surprising that in heavily Demo-
cratic Long Beach, the sentiments favored the presidentelect. “I feel relieved that Biden will take center stage on a daily basis,” said Joe Wolpit, who supplies schools with educational materials, as he left Starbucks. “I have friends all over the world — Australia, New Zealand — and they all said the same thing. Trump was stripping the U.S. of its integrity.” Harry McNeill, a retiree who used to work in the shipping industry, was glum, however. “I voted for Trump,” he said. “But neither one of them is really any good.” Some were unwilling, even
though the election was over, to publicly state their preference. “I think I’m more liberal than most people in this town,” said a man who identified himself only as Tommy. “I think you know who I voted for.” The line for fresh morning coffee was long at Starbucks, and the dog trainers were back at their posts at Kennedy Plaza in front of City Hall. The bars and restaurants in the city would be full, or least at 50 percent capacity, in keeping with coronavirus rules, as a warm fall day crested into late afternoon. The boardwalk was packed with strollers. But talk of politics could be overheard in all the city’s hot
spots on Park Avenue. J.C. Zitman, a photography major at Pratt Institute in Manhattan, waited patiently on line at Starbucks. The final vote tallies in the presidential contest stunned her, she said. “I’m surprised so many people voted, and voted for Trump,” Zitman said, adding happily, “I just think Biden will do better.”
“It was all set up to be fixed,” a man behind her called out. There was no evidence of such a fix, despite the tweets from President Trump and the comments from his supporters. The man declined to give his name. Cynthia St. Louis, a social worker, said she was overjoyed. “I’m very happy with the Continued on page 3