Senators Schumer and Clinton Announce Final Senate Passage of Funding for New York City

Funds Included as Part of the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill; Funding Included For Second Avenue Subway and North General Hospital

December 19, 2007 -- Washington, DC— Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced Senate approval of the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which includes funding for projects in New York City, including the Second Avenue Subway and funding for renovations of North General Hospital’s emergency department. The omnibus bill, which includes 11 appropriations bills, will go before the House for final passage before being sent to the President for signature.

"I'm pleased that the Senate has approved this vital funding for New York's infrastructure, community outreach programs, hospitals, educational programs and environment," Schumer said. "Because of this investment, New Yorkers can look forward to improved transportation services, better health care, increased job training and cleaner natural environments that will not only strengthen the local economy, but ensure that all New Yorkers enjoy an improved quality of life."

“I am proud that these funds will help support critical investments in New York City, from vital military construction to community programs for our children, to cleaning up our waterways and improving our transportation,” said Senator Clinton. “I am especially pleased that funding for the Second Avenue Subway has been included. This kind of federal investment is critical to helping keep the project on track, and it is a priority for a city that is in desperate need of another subway line on the East Side. The funding that was approved for North General Hospital will allow this vital medical center to continue to meet the growing demand for their services.”

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has concluded that the Lexington Avenue (4/5/6) subway line is at capacity and that no additional trains can run on that line. With only one subway line serving the East Side, the Lexington Avenue line is the most overcrowded subway in the country, carrying 600,000 people each day. The federal funding for the Second Avenue Subway will go toward the new line which will significantly ease congestion on the Lexington Avenue line and provide approximately 400,000 rides per day.

$670,085 in funds will be used to expand and renovate the North General Hospital’s Emergency Department to improve staff function, patient observation and security, as well as enhance the physical environment while minimizing service disruption. The plan calls for four additional treatment rooms, four additional asthma stations, one additional isolation room, pediatric emergency department treatment and waiting areas, the relocation of the psychiatry holding/treatment area and the associated renovation of the Ambulatory Care medical, surgical and pediatric subspecialty areas.

The Omnibus Appropriations bill includes funding for the following projects for New York City:

* Fort Hamilton – Armed Forces Reserve Center - $64 million
* John Jay College Criminal Justice Center, New York, NY - $305,500
* John Jay College, New York, NY, for the Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies - $178,600
* Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center, New York, NY, for an anti-meth program for substance abuse reduction and counseling - $303,150
* Abyssinian Development Corporation programs for at-risk youth, New York, NY - $893,000
* Abyssinian Development Corporation, New York, NY, to support and expand youth and youth adult after-school and summer programs - $446,500
* Alianza Dominicana Inc. programs for at-risk youth, New York, NY - $188,000
* BAM Youth and Community Initiatives, Brooklyn, NY - $282,000
* Coalition for the Homeless At-Risk Youth Services Program, New York, NY - $446,500
* Covenant House Regional Training Center Program, Brooklyn, NY - $47,000
* Harlem RBI, Inc. Delinquency Prevention, New York, NY - $141,000
* Mother Cabrini High School POWER Program, New York, NY - $47,000
* Mother Cabrini High School, New York, NY, for an after school program for at-risk youth - $178,600
* Parent Corps, New York University Child Study Center, New York, NY - $47,000
* Polytechnic University, NY Large Scale Network Forensics - $376,000
* The Doe Fund, Inc., Ready, Willing, and Able, NY - $564,000
* American Ballet Theater, NY, to provide disadvantaged and at-risk youth a hands on opportunity to create, produce, and execute all aspects of an original performance. Formal evolutions of these programs have demonstrated reduced truancy and delinquency - $178,600
* Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy at York College - $188,000
* North General Hospital, Emergency Department Renovation and Expansion Project in Upper Manhattan - $670,085
* Abyssinian Development Corporation – Family Displacement Prevention Program - $143,449
* Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library Learning Centers - $478,492
* Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Hall National Music Education Program - $383,187
* Hospital for Special Surgery, Clinical Facilities Expansion and Modernization Project - $478,492
* Second Avenue Subway, Phase I, New York, NY - $167,810,300
* Staten Island West Shore Light Rail Phase II Study - $220,500
* Where to Turn, Hearts and Hands, Staten Island, NY - for the construction of a 9/11 living memorial - $458,640
* Northern Manhattan Coalition for Economic Development for business outreach center, New York, NY - $275,000
* Brooklyn College Entrepreneurial Center - $282,000
* LaGuardia Community College, Emerging Designers Unit - $282,000
* Dredging of New York and New Jersey Harbor - $85,192,000
* Orchard Beach protection - $2,107,000
* NYC Watershed protection - $468,400
* Asian Longhorned Beetle – Infestation Eradication, New York and New Jersey - $19,516,422