Yesterday, St. Vincent's Hospital announced, "We have issued termination (WARN) notices to all employees of St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan today as required by state and federal law. The action came after the Board of Saint Vincent’s voted to close the hospital’s inpatient services and to seek a transfer of some or all of the outpatient services, after an effort to save the financially troubled 160-year old institution. Employees jobs will end based upon the needs of the hospital as it moves forward with an orderly and safe wind down of operations. The Board and management are extremely grateful for the dedication and professionalism of all St. Vincent employees, some of whom have been with us for decades, during this very difficult process." more ›

With the city's announcement yesterday that two more people died from swine flu, New Yorkers are still, naturally, worried about the swine flu. The NY Times visited Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where "The hospital created a flu clinic in an area that usually accommodates patients who have been admitted and are waiting for a bed. It was filled on Tuesday with people in masks being evaluated for flu." An average May 2008 day in the Maimonides ER would have about 263 patients—on Monday, there was 480. The hospital's ER chairman said, "The consensus among these physicians is that the influenza is mild but the patients are unusually scared." more ›

In today's Times there's a bracing look at a day in the life of Dr. William Goldberg, the man calling the shots at the Bellevue Hospital E.R. on Mondays. "The E.R. is a window on society," said Dr. Goldberg. "Whatever troubles the city has, the underlying problems, we always see them here." By that measure, New York has some issues: "[His team] had a fairly average caseload for a Monday: a rectal bleed, a vaginal bleed, chest pains with anxiety and a forehead laceration...The chest pains case would refuse his medication. The rectal bleed would angrily demand that he be discharged...Three more stretchers would appear outside the door. Then the phone would ring: A head case was arriving. Seven minutes out. Dr. Goldberg would, at this point, permit himself a grin. 'O.K.,' he said — and the irony was deserved — 'at least it’s picking up.'" more ›

A 38-year-old construction worker from Brooklyn is suing New York Presbyterian Hospital for giving him more medical attention than he cared for, and then having him arrested. Brian Persaud went to the ER at NY Presbyterian after a plank hit him on the head at a work site, causing a head laceration that required eight stitches. Although Persaud walked into the ER and was fully mobile, doctors told him that he should get an anal exam to check for a spinal injury (apparently this is not unheard of). more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a severed limb on 55th St. in Brooklyn, a person fatally struck by a train near the East Tremont Station on the 2 line in the Bronx, and an armed robbery on Bradhurst and 147th St. in Manhattan.
• A mother brought her 15-year-old son to the hospital when she discovered him assembling what appeared to be a bomb in their home. The ER at Hoboken University Medical Center was evacuated when it was discovered she'd brought the device with her as well.
• One of Mayor Bloomberg's cars was stolen for the second time in 14 months. The 2001 Lexus, which is used by his ex-wife, was stolen out of a parking garage on East 58th and found in Inwood with a pair of parking tickets and without several bags of presents.
• The man who turned Zabar's into a food retailing phenomena, Murray Klein, died yesterday at the age of 84.
• An interesting preservationist drove his clunker BMW around Brooklyn and into Manhattan this week to publicize a meeting that concerns the possible destruction of Admiral's Row--a series of 150-year-old decrepit homes at the Navy Yard. The giant sign atop his beater Beamer reads "Mayor Moo Moo, you maroon!"
• A construction worker in the Bronx was killed today when a backhoe knocked him into a hole 10 feet deep.
• Racked estimates there were approximately 1,500 people waiting on line in the snow to get into the new Meatpacking Apple store. If you don't like lines, check out our post from yesterday that features many pictures.
• Today is the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Last week, the I.S. 211 in Canarsie told parents that 7th grader Omar Rivera had died from the antibiotic-resistant staph infection MRSA. Now his mother is suing the city and Kings County Hospital for $25 million over the mistreatment of the 12-year-old. more ›

There's a group of guys, younger than Tony Hawk but older than your average skater punk, who refuse to give up their skateboards -- though admittedly they say they have nothing to rebel against anymore. Skateboarding doesn't have to be about rebelling though, sometimes it can just be about...commuting? more ›

Recently Williamsburg doc Jay Parkinson unleashed his revolutionary idea onto Brooklyn -- a doctor for the uninsured, medical advice through emails, and the return of the housecall. The word spread fast and now much of the world is looking his way to see if he can change the way healthcare is provided. more ›

Part of a larger block party on Eldridge Street tomorrow is the annual Egg Rolls and Egg Creams Festival. For just $2, (a dollar increase from last year), you get a kosher egg roll and a classic egg cream, mixed on site by a professional and made with Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup, the best choice for an authentic experience. The fried kosher egg roll will be missing the standard tiny bits of red pork, of course, but you’ll still be able to enjoy all the duck sauce you can squeeze out of the little plastic packet. Last year’s attendees were taken aback somewhat by lackluster egg rolls and literally tepid egg creams (see comments here); presumably some of the kinks have been worked out for tomorrow, and it’s such a great idea- two classic foods hailing from two different cultures packaged as a combo plate. At the low price, it’s street food fusion. Other festivities on Eldridge Street tomorrow include live klezmer musicians, storytellers, stunt dancers, and face painting. more ›

: An Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, A Novel by Dave Eggers? more ›

In a little more than two weeks, the ING NYC Marathon will take place. It's a little too late to sign up to run (unless you run for a charity - more here), but there are ways to get involved. One is to volunteer at the start of the race. Since the race starts early, volunteers are needed to help out at the start of the race in Staten Island - they will "help set up the refreshment areas and help corral the runners to the staring blocks." While it's an early, early start (4AM-ish), the volunteers will get bused back to Manhattan and get passes to watch the race at the finish line. For more information on volunteering, check here. more ›

Matthew Long, the man who was seriously injured during last December's transit strike (a private bus hit him as he biked to the stationhouse), has finally been released from the hospital. He's had 15 operations in the past five months and was only given a 1% chance of surviving: A doctor said, "He should be dead. Even the nurses in the ER thought what we were doing was an act in futility.". Long now spends most of his time using a wheelchair, though he's been walking with crutches; Long used to compete in triathlons. Long is suing the Transport Workers Union as well as Bear Stearns (which chartered the private bus) and the private bus company. more ›

At a performance at Stomp last night, a live, in-theater commercial was performed. The world's "first theatrical advertisement" is a promotion from Visit London, where different actors perform for three minutes to, as the website says, draw "on the specific cultural similarities between the visited city and London and will star a known local personality in a cameo role." You know, like Fifth Avenue and Oxford Street, the Guggenheim and Tate Modern - but who knew that Paraminder Nagra, of ER and Bend it Like Beckham and who was last night's cameo, was a NYC local? Visit London's Ken Kelling told ABC 7, "It's about general messages, about connections between cities and visiting them, if it were a soft drinks or a wash powder than it probably won't work in the same way." Hmm, but from reports, it doesn't seem like people paid the ad much attention - probaby because they'd only pay attention to some clanging on garbage cans. Stomp, whose creators are from London, didn't ask for money for the ad (they told the Times it was a PSA), and it seems like it was a pretty pricey proposition, given the cast of actors and traveling to a couple U.S. cities to try out (though the publicity is priceless). more ›

Gothamist cannot shy away from admitting we're fans of General Hospital. We just can't. It's a great, rerun-free, low-rent amalgam of ER, the Sopranos and Desperate Housewives (though much older than any of those shows). However, it seems we're sitting down an hour too late. Anyone who's anyone is getting on board with ABC's earlier soap, One Life to Live. A daytime staple since 1968, OLTL is filmed right here in NYC and has launched the careers of many actors, including the questionably talented Yasmin Bleeth and the actually talented Ryan Phillippe. more ›

JC: ALL RIGHT! I just took extra Vitamin C - I'm waiting for some food delivery. more ›

We were just watching an episode of the office we TiVo'd on Thursday when we noticed this ad for Warming-KY jelly come on. Now, we're as open-minded as the next NYC-based website, but does anyone else think that this is sort of gross? Can't we just keep the lubricant ads on after midnight, where they belong? What's next? Buttplug ads during ER? And more importantly, has anyone tried rubbing some of this on their private parts? We're curious what that might feel like-- experiments with Tiger Balm in college ended very badly for us. more ›

Well, the Post has ruined butter knives for us. There is a story about a career criminal hiding a knife in his buttocks. Or at least that's what the authorities think. George Konstantides apparently pulled out a knife to threaten correction officers (with the typical "If you come near me, I'll cut you" spoken threat), but then hid it in his buttocks. The Post says officers used the "BOSS" Body Orifice Scanning System that can "detect metal secreted in a suspect's rectum" but there was "no sign of the weapon." Ew ew ew. And worse (or brilliant), the Post headline: " COPS MAKE BUTT-ER KNIFE CON SPREAD 'EM." But the Homer Simpson in us does sort of crave some warm French bread and Vermont butter. more ›

On Sundays, Gothamist runs opinion pieces, mostly to amuse ourselves. Don't blame us for anything written below. more ›

The prediction is for snow to start tonight, with 5-7 inches to falling before it begins to turn to rain Presidents Day. So while things will clear up by the time we all head back to work, the remnants will surely be messy. (chuckle). more ›

Like many freelancers, I am without health insurance. The last time I had to see a doctor I ended up in the emergency room for something that I could have seen a regular doctor for but I didn't know where to go and it was a Saturday. Anyhow, for the last few days, I've been having pretty bad pains on my lower left abdomen but not bad enough to warrant a trip to the ER. While I'm not looking for medical advice (although if you could provide some, that would be great too) I am curious if there are any health clinics in Brooklyn or Manhattan that are sliding scale and have decent doctors and perhaps even one where I could make an appointment instead of waiting for hours to see somebody. Or is there a phone number I could call for free medical advice? Where do uninsured freelancers go? more ›

What would Lynne Truss say? more ›

From Chick Lit to Chick Movie
Gothamist and its readers try to cast The Parker Grey Show.
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Newsday has been running its own version of March Madness: pitting various TV shows against each other. The brackets are by decade (90s, 80s, 70s, 50-60s) and with the second round complete, we're down to the Sweet Sixteen. Of course Gothamist thinks it's total bullshit since Law & Order didn't even advance from the first round (and it was only ranked 14) - third seed ER beat it 50.4% to 49.6%, but it's funny and ridiculous, too. more ›

but has been used in a few movies, including Meet Joe Black and Finding Forrester. Television Without Pity tells me that it was also used in an eToys commercial, reminding me that I am a sap. more ›