In neighborhoods across our city, New Yorkers are watching something that should scare all of us: hospitals that our communities depend on are shutting down or cutting back services. Working-class New Yorkers are getting hit the hardest, and families are being left with fewer options when they need medical care the most.
That’s why health care infrastructure projects like the proposed revitalization of Lenox Hill Hospital represent more than just construction — they’re investments in the kind of health care system that New York families like mine actually deserve. And they’re opportunities to create good-paying union jobs that keep working families afloat.
Today, a City Council subcommittee will be considering a land use proposal for Lenox Hill. They should say yes.
Nine years ago, I was wrapping up a job at a construction site in Midtown when I got the call every expectant father dreads. Lenox Hill Hospital was on the line — my son was breech, and they had to induce my girlfriend’s labor immediately. We were scared, but the staff talked us through everything and kept us calm. Thanks to their incredible medical team, we were soon holding our beautiful baby boy. Today, I’m the proud father of a 9-year-old who’s been on the honor roll every year since kindergarten.
While we lived in Harlem, we trusted Lenox Hill for my son’s delivery and pediatric care. I’ve talked to coworkers who’ve brought their kids there for everything from broken bones to asthma attacks. For more than 160 years, Lenox Hill has been a lifeline for New Yorkers from every corner of this city.
But here’s the thing: hospitals like Lenox Hill are at a crossroads. After decades of use, older facilities with cramped spaces desperately need major overhauls.
The next generation of New Yorkers shouldn’t have to settle for outdated systems and spaces that can’t keep up with the times. If we keep putting off the big infrastructure investments our health care system needs, we’re basically telling the next generation they don’t deserve the same quality care that tens of thousands of New Yorkers count on every year.
Another thing to consider: more than half of patients at hospitals like Lenox Hill rely on programs like Medicaid or Medicare. These health care infrastructure projects aren’t about fancy renovations — they’re about protecting health care access for people who need it most. They’re about making sure working-class New Yorkers don’t get abandoned again.
As a union laborer with Local 79, I know firsthand that these health care construction projects are the economic engines that create hundreds of good-paying union jobs with real benefits. Projects like the renewal of Lenox Hill will generate family-sustaining careers. We’re talking about hundreds of families getting more secure, workers keeping health insurance, and people putting food on the table.
The health benefits we fight for in our union contracts let thousands of Local 79 members get care at places like Lenox Hill. It’s a cycle that works: good construction jobs with benefits create workers who can afford health care, and health care construction projects create more good jobs.
Health care infrastructure projects like Lenox Hill Hospital represent a vision for a healthier, more equitable New York, one where hospitals are strengthened through smart construction investments, where we support union jobs that pay the bills, and where every resident has access to quality, modern care facilities.
We can’t keep treating good health care like a luxury that only the wealthy deserve, which is exactly what happens when hospitals cut services or close. We’ve watched this happen in other neighborhoods, and families end up traveling farther for care, waiting longer in emergency rooms or going without treatment. We can’t let people afraid of change or growth block the bold investment our city needs.
The choice couldn’t be clearer. Health care construction projects give us a chance to save hospitals that have served our communities for generations, expand access to care, create hundreds of good union jobs, and show we’re serious about supporting people who keep this city running.
Let’s move forward with smart health care infrastructure investments like the Lenox Hill redevelopment and build the future New Yorkers deserve — a future where every child, like my son, is born into a city that puts their health first and where working families have access to both quality health care and quality jobs.
Watt is a member of Construction and General Building Laborers Local 79.