FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: HARCKHAM GIVES AWARDS TO ‘PUTNAM FOR PALESTINE” LEADERS.
Controversial Anti-Israel Activists Infamous in Harckham District.
Hudson Valley-July 31…Progressive State Senator Pete Harckham gave an award last month to controversial leaders of an anti-Israel group called Putnam for Palestine despite extraordinary blowback against the pair within the Putnam community.
Jim Wise and Abby Lyons are infamous in Putnam for their radical views, which some have called anti-Semitic. Mr. Wise, a local school board member, was censored this month for his extreme statements against Israel, and nearly 3,000 local residents have signed a petition calling for Mr. Wise’s ouster.
“Jewish voters in the 40th Senate District are outraged that Senator Harckham would even be standing with these anti-Israel radicals, much less giving them awards,” said Westchester County resident Stacy Halper. “Israel is under existential threat, and our own state senator is promoting individuals who want the State of Israel extinguished. It’s a real wakeup call for us.”
“It is absolutely shocking that Mr. Harkham would publicly recognize two individuals who spend their days churning out anti-Israel propaganda inside the 40th State Senate District,” Ms. Arena, a long-time children’s advocate and mother of eight said. “Mr. Harkham clearly knows about the controversy surrounding these two individuals, yet he issued them an official government award at a recent unrelated rally. There is no place in the Hudson Valley for the kind of anti-Israel vitriol that Putnam for Palestine is spreading, and Mr. Harckham owes the public an explanation for why he’s elevating its leaders with awards.”
Congressman Jamal Bowman was soundly defeated in a Democratic primary in parts of Westchester recently after making repeated anti-Israel remarks.
“Israel was brutally attacked last October, and it has every right to defend itself against Hamas terrorism,” Ms. Arena continued. “What on earth is Mr. Harckham thinking?”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2024.
Statement on Drag Queen ‘Last Supper’ Desecration at Olympics by
New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar.
“The Last Supper is sacred to 2.4 billion Christians around the world. It is the basis of most Christian masses, yet progressives running the Paris Olympics somehow thought it would be funny to lampoon the sacred imagery with drag queens at the opening of the Paris Olympics. To call the decision outrageous would be an understatement.
“Everyday people are sick and tired of the progressive left attacking the beliefs, traditions, and customs billions hold dear. There is a meanness to these people, a cruelty, that belies every argument they make about equality.
“Here in the U.S. we see the left’s vitriol against Christians and Jews alike, and the New York State Conservative Party will not stand for it.
“I’ll be rooting for the U.S. Olympic Team with all my heart, but with the television off. Blatant sacrilege doesn’t deserve an audience.”
Statement by Lower Manhattan Elected Officials on State Health Department’s Conditional Approval of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Closure.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, Rep. Dan Goldman, Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Senator Brian Kavanagh, Senator Liz Krueger, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, Assemblymember Grace Lee, Assemblymember Tony Simone, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Council Member Erik Bottcher, Council Member Keith Powers, Council Member Carlina Rivera, and Council Member Chris Marte, all of whom represent parts of Lower Manhattan served by Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, issued the following joint statement:
“As elected officials representing Lower Manhattan, we have fought to ensure that our communities continue to have full access to high-quality health care in response to Mount Sinai Health System’s application to close Beth Israel Hospital. Today, the State Department of Health (DOH) has issued a conditional approval of the closure, with several critical contingencies that Mount Sinai would have to meet before closing Beth Israel. While the conditions reflect efforts by DOH and Mount Sinai to respond to serious concerns we have raised on behalf of our constituents, the announcement today falls well short of providing the assurances our communities need and deserve that the closure will not impede access to essential healthcare. The lack of a clear timeframe for any closure also will continue to sow uncertainty in our communities.
“With regard to emergency care, it is helpful that any closure would be premised on other hospitals having the capacity to receive the full volume of ambulances and other emergency visits, and in particular that Mount Sinai would not be permitted to close Beth Israel until they reach a binding agreement with New York City Health and Hospitals (H+H) to provide adequate funding and other resources to enable Bellevue Hospital to expand its emergency department—to ensure high-quality treatment for the thousands of additional patients who would visit Bellevue each year. We will continue to advocate for patients at Bellevue and we urge H+H not to approve any agreement unless its terms ensure that all necessary resources are guaranteed by Mount Sinai and DOH. We also urge DOH to closely monitor treatment of stroke and cardiac patients following the closure of Beth Israel Hospital.
“We also believe that the new urgent care facility Mount Sinai would be required to establish permanently on the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary campus, open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, accepting Medicaid, Medicare, and uninsured patients, and providing enhanced services beyond those typically available in an urgent care facility could mitigate some of the lost capacity of Beth Israel. We acknowledge and appreciate that DOH and Mount Sinai have added this requirement and expanded its scope in response to our advocacy, but we are very concerned that the range of services at this facility are largely unspecified in the conditional approval of the closure and that 24/7 operations would only be guaranteed until a 3-month reassessment. We urge DOH to require that the new urgent care facility must offer a robust range of services, with sufficient staffing, specifically detailed in any final closure plan.
“Finally, it is critical that DOH and Mount Sinai follow through on the conditions of closure that require strong transfer agreements between Mount Sinai and nearby hospitals, including those that will ensure that patients with behavioral health needs can easily move from Bellevue and other hospitals to the Mount Sinai Behavioral Health Center on Rivington Street, a process which will be critical to keeping beds available as these hospitals see an increase in patients as a result of the closure.
“There is no substitute for the full-service general hospital that the community would lose with the closure of Beth Israel. We are very disappointed in today’s announcement, and remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure that the communities we represent have full access to high-quality health care. We urge Mount Sinai and DOH to proceed with utmost transparency and effective community engagement as this process continues.”
Statement on Washington Flag Burnings by Left-Wing Radicals from
New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar.
“There’s a reason millions of Americans cheer when President Donald Trump says ‘fight, fight, fight!’ Patriotic Americans, like Rep. Brandon Williams who replaced three American flags Wednesday that had been burned by radical leftists in our nation’s capital, have had it with the despicable anti-American political violence coming from the Left.
We’ve been here before: 1960s and 1970s radicals held the nation hostage with political violence a generation ago. Those acts of violence included hundreds of bombings, bank robberies, and the assassination of police officers who symbolize public safety in America. These radicals are not people who believe in Democracy. They are hardened and often professional Socialists who will do anything in their arsenal to fundamentally change the nation in their image.
“Is it any wonder that 1970’s anti-American radicalism led to the unabashed patriotism of the Reagan Era?
“History is now repeating itself. Millions upon millions of Americans, including countless traditional Democrats, are rallying around President Trump’s call for a renewed American spirit. Make no mistake about it: we’re taking this country back. The anti-Americanism of today’s left-wing has struck a powerful nerve. The country is ready to move forward again.
Since taking office in the State Senate, I have worked hard to deliver $7.9 million in state grant funding to our first responders.
This means getting much-needed financial support to police and fire departments, EMS, ambulance corps and public safety professionals.
That’s $7.9 million for new police cars and command vehicles…new ambulances with mechanical stretchers…SCBA air compressors and oxygen masks…fire safety improvements in public buildings…
License plate readers…slow down signs…patrol boats…mobile two-way radios and transceivers…security systems…ATVs and UTVs…training center renovations…
All acquired or installed or accomplished through funding I secured with State and Municipal (SAM) Facilities grants and the Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability and Technology (CREST) program.
I am focused and actively working on securing funds for SD40 because supporting our first responders improves public safety.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
New York State Senator 40th District Democrat - Pete Harckham.
STATEMENT ON SHOOTING AT 345 PARK AVENUE: NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN GERARD KASSAR. “The New York State Conservative P...
