Keeping tabs on government spending
Plus, my secret (or not so secret) YouTube obsession revealed , and a tuna melt. #33
This week I, alongside my colleague Gabriel Poblete and with lots of help from editor Alyssa Katz, dug into the deal to operate the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, or HERRCs, which the city has opened to address the stream of migrants.
Thanks to Alyssa’s pushing, we got the memorandum of understanding between New York City and its public hospitals system, who have been tasked to operate these facilities. This skirts the usual contract oversight of the city’s comptroller, because NYC Health + Hospitals has its own.
It’s a classic story on government accountability on an issue that’s been in the news for months.
From the story:
Health + Hospitals board meeting materials show that H+H President and CEO Mitchell Katz last fall authorized more than $92 million in spending on Manhattan hotels through spring 2023: $40 million for ROW nyc, $20 million for the Watson, $28 million for the Stewart and $5.8 million for the Wolcott.
H+H is also paying to use a Holiday Inn in Lower Manhattan, as revealed in the ongoing bankruptcy case of the hotel’s operator. That HERRC opened earlier this month.
And on the topic of government accountability, my colleague Greg Smith wrote a few stories about the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and its auctioning off the items purchased in the worst days of COVID.
From Greg:
An investigation by THE CITY has determined that since last summer, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) has systematically tried to auction off millions of dollars worth of COVID-related personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies — gowns, face shields, hand sanitizer, KN95 masks, N95 masks — that the department decided are no longer needed. Many of these supplies remain in their original packaging and are brand-new.
All of these stories really bothered City Hall and others, so please read them!
WATCH
Has your week felt as long as mine has? Although I like to impress my readers with my tastes in fine films, my true self is probably best reflected in my YouTube history. It’s wild to me that people will upload entire YEARS of “All My Children” episodes, right from their VHS copies – but I’ve long made peace with the fact that it’s me watching all those “All My Children” episodes. So this week I’ll just recommend the videos I keep going back to when I need a laugh: all of the Primetime Glick compilations uploaded to the site.
Like this one. And this one. And this one. And this one.
Here’s one you can watch right in this newsletter.
And here’s a link to all of the full episodes.
(But please, do NOT watch the Primetime Glick movie, it’s horrible!!!)
Last weekend I met up with my friend Maggie for a workout class at an unnamed very popular indoor cycling gym. After experiencing all that darkness and EDM and positive vibes I felt we owed ourselves a proper lunch — and I was glad when Maggie suggested the frequently-reviewed S&P Lunch nearby. I’d never been to the old Eisenberg’s so didn’t have any nostalgia or attachment to it. I went into it with an open mind. We were seated within a few minutes at the counter, right in front of the giant tub of pickles, which I took as a good sign.
In short, the whole place is great, right down to the old signed cast photo of The Nanny. We split a tuna melt, got latkes, I got extra pickles, and I also ordered so many beverages the server joked it was our beverage station. To top it off, the pickles are made in Maspeth.
Maggie and I talked and ate and had such an excellent time that I forgot to take a photo of the sandwich, so I poorly drew it later that night for the purposes of this newsletter. Please believe me when I tell you it tastes much better than this looks.
You can get this tuna melt, and much more, at S&P Lunch, 174 5th Ave.
Thanks for reading!