Money can’t, or shouldn’t, be the only consideration when it comes to health care. In fact, we should not be placing a monetary value on human lives. Human decency requires that we put lives ahead of profit. The loss of St. Vincent’s Hospital, and the future downsizing of Beth Israel, exposes the population of the Lower West Side to the possibility of not reaching a full-service hospital in critical time. Our emergency health care should not depend on cross-town traffic. Photo by Zella Jones.
—Erik Coler (pictured above), newly elected head of the Village Independent Democrats
