As some of you may have noted, I tend, every chance I have, to champion the work of Chris Hedges in these pages. Mr. Hedges is a brilliant and prolific writer, fearless reporter and activist who believes that true democratic change is brought about from outside the system and invariably requires struggle. Suffragettes, the unionist movement, the civil rights campaign are just a few examples. Even so, Mr. Hedges might not recommend slapping a public official, chiefly because, I’m guessing, he would deem it an ineffectual approach. While in most cases this may be true, our esteemed publisher George Capsis’ action at a political rally in front of the now-defunct St. Vincent’s Hospital on Monday afternoon, August 19, proved the exception.
Perhaps it was a slow news day, or maybe covering local politics is so canned and full of clichéd sound bites that reporters long for any disruption from business as usual; whatever the reason, all the media seized on the footage of Mr. Capsis “slapping” (actually more like a cluck under the chin) our eerily composed state senator, Brad Hoylman. Mr. Hoylman barely reacted; he is either enormously self-possessed, or maybe someone forgot to wind him up, but it was uncanny how calm Mr. Hoylman remained in the face of our publisher’s obvious passion.
The story might have ended there, but ABC news decided to turn it into a feature and interviewed George Capsis in his backyard. Here’s where it becomes really interesting: George gave the most moving interview about what the absence of a local hospital means to him personally. His cherished wifeof more than 50 years, Maggie, passed away very recently—in ahospital in the Bronx. George told the reporter simply, eloquently and with great dignity that if St. Vincent’s Hospital were still here, he could have walked over to it and consequently spent many more hours with his ailing wife.
It is the slap heard round the town, because that ABC interview suddenly brought to life the issue that has been plaguing us. Yes, when a neighborhood (or several neighborhoods) loses its only hospital, we are all put at risk. Lives will be lost as a result. But what I had not considered until I saw my publisher interviewed on TV is all the times I was able to tend to friends who were in St. Vincent’s recovering or sometimes dying. In several cases, these were good friends who, like myself, depend on friends for lack of family. Visits from friends are more than just heartwarming—very often our friends are our advocates. Of course I will travel uptown to see someone in the hospital and have done so many times over the years, but,frankly, those extended and daily visits are much more likely to happen if I can walk there. Illness and death are a part of life, andtherefore by excising our neighborhood hospital, we have become something less than a neighborhood—more like a destination for the young and healthy—a transient stop along the way for the mobile rich.
Bravo George Capsis for shining a light on all we have lost.
