NYC Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers (right) led the trauma center rally outside City Hall last week. Photo by John Schilling
About a week after gathering together for a rally at 19-17 Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway, NYC Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers and the Far Rockaway Trauma Healthcare Access Task Force took the fight for a trauma center on the peninsula to Lower Manhattan on Thursday, June 20, with a second rally at the intersection of Broadway and Park Place, right outside of City Hall Park.
Joined by additional elected officials, Rockaway residents, and other stakeholders, Brooks-Powers called the rally “a bold testament” to the community’s “united and unrelenting” demand for a trauma center in Far Rockaway.
“More than 120,000 people live on the 11-mile stretch that creates our beautiful peninsula, and that number continues to grow, but despite our growing populations and unprecedented investment throughout the area, with new housing, hotels, businesses, and restaurants, there is still a gaping hole in our community’s public health network that puts countless lives at risk daily,” Brooks-Powers said in opening remarks. “The lack of a Level 1 or a Level 2 trauma center in the Rockaways is a public health crisis,” she added. “We can no longer ignore it.”
The recent push for Mayor Eric Adams to fund a Level 1 or Level 2 trauma center in his upcoming budget began in April 2024, when the City Council released its response to the $109 billion preliminary budget for the 2025 fiscal year with calls for the administration to allocate the extra funds for a trauma center in Far Rockaway. This surge of advocacy came just weeks after March 25, when Det. Jonathan Diller was shot by a career criminal in Far Rockaway and had to be taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, the nearest trauma hospital, before ultimately succumbing to his injuries.
NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams speaks during the rally. Photo by John Schilling
Brooks-Powers’ push for a trauma center, however, dates back to as early as October 2022, when she established the Far Rockaway Trauma Healthcare Access Task Force in hopes of enhancing the peninsula’s overall trauma healthcare.
During the rally in Far Rockaway on June 11, Brooks-Powers announced the release of the task force’s long-awaited report, detailing their meetings, community surveys, and recommendations. According to the report, there were over 15,000 EMS calls and 14,000 hospital transports originating in Rockaway Data between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022, and about 700 of these calls were identified as “trauma-related.”
Acknowledging Det. Diller’s death and other tragedies on the peninsula, NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams echoed her colleague’s calls for a trauma center, praising the task force’s work and the Rockaway residents present for the rally.
“For the past few years, the council has called on the administration to commit capital resources and partnership with the state to build a level one or two trauma center, and we are not backing down from this request,” Adams said. “It is not a luxury; it is a necessity for the residents of the Rockaways,” she added. “Your presence and voices here today are so critical for this fight for resources. As we enter the final stretch of budget negotiations, the council will carry your voices with us to underscore the importance of trauma care.”
NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz addresses the crowd. Photo by John Schilling
Following Adams, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz, who co-chairs the task force with Brooks-Powers, reiterated the need for a trauma center in Far Rockaway, focusing once again on the time it currently takes for a trauma patient to be transported off of the peninsula for care.
“When somebody is bleeding, you have to stop the bleeding,” Katz said. “You cannot do that efficiently by putting them in the back of an ambulance and traveling for 45 minutes. You are risking that person’s life,” he explained. “What this trauma center is going to enable us to do is…bring the people immediately to a center where we’re going to be able to stop the bleeding, and in that way we’re going to save lives.”
On behalf of NYC Councilwoman Joann Ariola, NYC Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli also spoke at the rally, expressing his colleague’s support for a trauma center.
“The Rockaway Peninsula deserves better,” Borelli said. “It deserves the security and peace of mind that comes with knowing critical medical care is within immediate reach. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue; it’s a Rockaway issue.”
Supporters hold up signs during the rally. Photo by John Schilling
The rally also included remarks from NYS Senator James Sanders Jr. and NYS Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson. Both men voiced their support for a trauma center, calling on both the mayor and governor with reminders that “healthcare is a human right.”
“The constitution starts with the understanding that we live for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Sanders said. “Notice, it starts with life,” he continued. “If you are not alive, then all of those other rights are irrelevant…We want a trauma center so that we know that we can be safe.”
“It is a no-brainer to ensure that we keep New York’s beaches safe, that we keep New York’s residents safe, that we keep our families and residents safe by having the extra layer of protection and security in a trauma center [on] the Rockaway peninsula,” Anderson added. “Let’s make sure that we continue this fight.”
The rally brought out constituents and supporters of all ages. Photo by John Schilling
Other speakers at the rally included NYC Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, Community Board 14 District Manager Felicia Johnson, NAACP Far Rockaway Branch Second Vice President Pat Bradley, and Episcopal Health Services CEO Dr. Donald T. Morrish, who all expressed support for a trauma center in Far Rockaway.
Already, the task force has reviewed at least three potential sites for a trauma center, including an empty lot behind the NYC Human Resources Administration Rockaway Center at 219 Beach 59th Street in Arverne; open space near the boardwalk at Beach 35th Street in Edgemere; and open space near the closed La Quinta hotel at 4317 Rockaway Beach Blvd. in Edgemere.
Before the rally ended, Brooks-Powers called on everyone in attendance to sign an online petition in support of establishing a trauma center in Far Rockaway and called on the mayor once more.
While the mayor previously expressed interest in the Far Rockaway trauma center, it remains unclear if it will come to fruition.
“Do not forget us in Fiscal [Year] ‘25 because not one more life can we risk,” Brooks-Powers said in closing remarks. “Remember us, Mayor Adams; remember us, Governor Hochul, because Rockaway is a part of New York City,” she added. “Do not leave out Rockaway! Do not leave us out!”
