Lack of Services are a Concern for Mount Vernon

Our hearts are broken with the tragic May 8 traffic-pedestrian accident involving one of our elementary school children who just wanted to travel and play

Drew Faustin was on the verge of "double digits" with his birthday this week and he was looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day with his mom. Although these precious moments never came to pass, we must lean into the Lord and pray for the Faustin Family, his Graham School classmates, the Congregational Heights Church and good Mount Vernon families.

I praise and thank the Mount Vernon Police, Fire, Empress Ambulance and Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital doctors who fought valiantly to stabilize Drew enough to transport him to Jacobi Medical Center, where he later moved on.

Drew's tragedy has prompted painful questions that revives a past dispute. This fight over Mount Vernon is not with each other, but with those powers and principalities that decided about us, without us. I'm referring to those responsible for moving health services and safety systems out of our city.

This tragedy must be marked not by Drew's loss, but Mount Vernon's gain of a real hospital that has respect for the people. That means confronting two uncomfortable health care realities: the lack of commitment to the people of Mount Vernon and the lack of leadership of executives at the Montefiore Health System.

Medical officials' decisions to not have full trauma services, cutting-edge equipment or even a birthing clinic at Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital suggests that they simply do not care about the emergency needs of common folk in our beloved community.

Hospital executives and their regulators owe it to the people of my beloved city to answer why we are treated like this. The love of money should not outweigh love of life. I would like to believe that there is no price on life; however, the price tag smacks you in the face when you walk into the hospital and do not see respectable chairs, hand sanitizer stations, adequate parking or basic supplies available. These cheap things can be corrected and must be addressed.

Montefiore - it's past time to invest in Mount Vernon.

Governor Andrew Cuomo - please help make them make it happen for Mount Vernon.
Life is a gift and it's not promised to any of us. This is why I waste no time in fighting hard for Mount Vernon all the time. For the past few years, political animus has prevented basic services from getting better, and history shows that the appeasement has never worked on political bullies locally or globally.

As we embrace the hurt and pain of Drew's passing, my hope is that Mount Vernon residents continue to demand action and resist the enemy of political dysfunction. Political paralysis makes us weaker. It positions us to lose. It makes us miss opportunities. And the sad truth is there is such a thing as being too late.

For the sake of our children, the City Council, Comptroller and all public officials must work with me to change Mount Vernon for good.

We are stronger together and must unite to defeat the disinvestment in our city's health and safety systems by the well-established old-guard. The future belongs to ordinary people and I vow to win the fight for the people. Join us and let's use our collective energy to move Mount Vernon forward.

Here is what we can do together:

End "political animus" and policy delays. Enhance pedestrian safety and strengthen quality of life.

Let's implement the #DriveSafeMV Campaign which targeted approximately $700,000 toward enhancing traffic safety in the city. This included Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility at key intersections, new digital traffic lights, litter cameras, speed bumps and other pedestrian improvements.

I propose we also install speed tables around all schools with digital speed traps, upgrade all traffic signs with flashing lights, and put pedestrian reflectors in the street to strengthen safety. This is the same proposal from 2016 and the cost to accomplish such has gone down.

We can do this, and we can do it now! Let's go!