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Mayor Adams said Saturday he plans to lobby the Biden administration hard to drop its plan to close two Veterans Administration hospitals in New York City.
“They need to be open, and I’m joining my federal and state lawmakers because they gotta be open,” said Adams following an unrelated event in Lower Manhattan.
“There is no reason that we are closing those hospitals. We fought before, and I’m going to Washington DC, and we are going to fight again. We need those hospitals open,” added Adams, a supporter of the president who sometimes refers to himself as the “Biden of Brooklyn.”
Three weeks ago, The Post exclusively reported that the VA was planning to close hospitals in Brooklyn and Manhattan and contract with private medical providers as part of a “strategic collaboration” to treat vets.
The Brooklyn VA hospital is in Bay Ridge, and the Manhattan facility is at 423 E. 23rd St.
A third VA medical center is located in The Bronx; it is not affected by the proposed overhaul.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island), whose district includes Bay Ridge, previously told The Post she and veterans she represents “are mad as hell, and we will not allow the Biden administration to close these facilities”
The VA proposal says it would be “discontinuing” services at the “Brooklyn campus” and instead establish a strategic collaboration with another provider to deliver inpatient medical and surgical and emergency department services. The plan would also close the Manhattan VA hospital and develop a new “urgent care center” with another provider.
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