| Date | January 11, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Relevant Logs | None |
NEW YORK, Staten Island — Months after re-claiming Miller Airfield for the eventual push of re-establishing law and order in the "forgotten borough" of Staten Island, the National Guard and Army Corps of Engineers have begun repair efforts of the nearby Staten Island University Hospital, which has laid in abandonment since the evacuation of Staten Island after the explosion of 2006.
Representatives from the Staten Island Reclamation Committee have cited that getting a hospital up and running on Staten Island is paramount for the government's plans for the now very isolated island. Since 2006, the hospital had served as a home for drug-running criminals, and an operation by the NYPD and ATF led a raid on the active methamphetamine lab being operated out of the hospital's basement.
While the long road to recovery for the hospital will take considerable time, this is just one step forward for the complete revitalization of Staten Island. Chairman of the Staten Island Reclamation Committee, Byron Hartfield, stated "The intention of getting the Staten Island University Hospital functional again — even in part — is going to be necessary to offer shelter and medical aid to the thousands of destitute and homeless living in squalor on the island. The hospital will also serve the National Guard and police forces as they take reinstate law and order on the island from the violent gangs and criminal organizations running rampant here."
The Staten Island University Hospital is expected to be fully operational by the fall of 2010.