Fred Mogul

New York, NY —

Last year’s "Summer Streets" program will expand this year, creating temporary pedestrian parks on streets throughout the five boroughs. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says it will be called "Weekend Walks" and will offer many different activities.

SADIK-KHAN: Whether you want to learn how to ride a ...

New York, NY —

Two more people have died -- bringing the total to seven -- and more than 300 have been hospitalized from H1N1, or swine flu. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

The city's Health Department says one of the seven deaths remains under investigation, but the other six ...

New York, NY —

With many emergency rooms filled with people concerned about swine flu, City Comptroller Bill Thompson is calling for greater coordination between hospitals and neighborhood health clinics.

THOMPSON: Let's notify patients about some of the ambulatory care facilities that surround these hospitals. Then Let's make sure there ...

New York, NY —

City Council Members are vowing to reverse proposed budget cuts that would close or privatize dozens of school-based dental clinics in poor communities.

SEARS: As much as you may think that it’s the wise thing to do, it’s penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Queens Councilwoman Helen Sears says school ...

New York, NY —

Gay advocacy groups are debating proposed legislation in Albany -- not about same-sex marriage, but about how to get the most people tested for HIV. WNYC's Fred Mogul reports.

Many who test positive for HIV also have full-blown AIDS, meaning they’ve been carrying the virus for ...

New York, NY —

Two more New Yorkers have died, possibly of complications from swine flu. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

REPORTER: A 41-year-old Queens woman and a 34-year-old Brooklyn man died on Friday, but test results only came in this week (confirming that they had H1N1 flu). Health Commissioner ...

New York, NY —

Nursing shortages persist across New York, but the state as a whole is a little better than the national average. Cindy Levernois helped write a new report for the Healthcare Association of New York State and found that vacant positions declined slightly over the last ...

Designer Vera Wang and others join Mayor Bloomberg to announce a special stay-open-late night ...

“People should not panic," the heartbroken father said. “It’s not what people think.”
So reports the Daily News, quoting Zeferino Zamora, father of a 16-month-old toddler, who died Monday night.

Jonathan Zamora Castillo, by all indications, did not die of swine flu. It took the city almost 24 hours ...

We’re well into the second week of the second wave of swine flu and some parents, politicians and union leaders are complaining that the city isn’t saying enough about the situations in schools. They want to know what goes into closing a school – and they’re either not hearing, or not satisfied, by the answer of Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials. The answers so far have been:

a) There’s no set formula, number, percentage, tipping point or protocol.

b) We (the city) don’t just go on absenteeism, but look at several factors, including the number of confirmed fevers and the rate at which things appear to have gotten worse.

c) Therefore, we’re making school-closing decisions on a case-by-case basis.

d) We’re updating you as quickly as we can.

Bloomberg yesterday used the “S word:” he said these are subjective decisions. You gather data, and then you make an informed judgment about whether the public would be better served by keeping a school open or closing it. Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden (still in place for a couple weeks until taking over the CDC) is a bit more disciplined and has not called the decision making “subjective” though he’s of course more or less said the same thing, both to the public and, presumably, to Bloomberg.

New York, NY —

Another group of schools has been temporarily closed as the swine flu virus continues to spread, bringing the total to 26 -- 19 public schools and seven private ones. Almost all the cases remain mild, though the virus has killed one man, a Queens school ...

New York, NY —

When H1N1 flu first struck New York City last month, health officials were quick to discourage the public from flocking to hospitals. Now, after a week of the virus rapidly spreading through schools -- and at least one confirmed death -- the message is changing. ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg has announced the successor to Health Commissioner Doctor Thomas Frieden, who leaves New York next month to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

REPORTER: Incoming health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley is a pediatrician, epidemiologist and infectious ...

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg with Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the New York City health commissioner, during a press conference about swine flu on May 15, 2009 in Queens.

In his time here, the high-profile health commissioner sought to expand his agency's mandate beyond its traditional role of combatting communicable diseases to fighting more chronic health problems. Conservatives, libertarians and some business people have objected to what they consider his activist adventures: banning smoking in bars and restaurants, exiling transfats from food-service fryers and baked goods, posting calories in chain fast-food joints.

(Frieden is equally unpopular on the far left for his willingness to close health clinics and his efforts to make it easier for doctors to test patients for HIV.)

Frieden's detractors are cheering his departure but they might want to hold off popping the champagne. Frieden has been who he is, because Mayor Bloomberg is who he is: the namesake of the Johns Hopkins Michael Blomberg School of Public Health. He believes Frieden's prescriptions are crucial to improving health and are just what government should be doing. And Bloomberg probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

New York, NY —

In the midst of the swine flu outbreak, City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden is leaving. President Obama today announced Frieden will take the helm of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 48-year-old Frieden has worked at the CDC before, in the 1990s, ...

New York, NY —

City health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden will become one of country’s top health officials. Later today, President Obama will announce his appointment to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

REPORTER: Dr. Frieden will take over an agency of 7,800 ...

New York, NY —

Thirty-five of the city’s largest public and private hospitals are joining Mayor Bloomberg’s effort to reduce carbon emissions. Rohit Aggarwala is spear-heading the initiative, which has already launched programs for Broadway theaters and university campuses. He says the hospitals account for about two percent of ...

New York, NY —

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wants the federal Environmental Protection Agency to study how trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs in drinking water affect human health. Regulators and drug-makers say the amounts are too small to have an impact. But Gillibrand and some scientists say the long-term effects ...

New York, NY —

Hospitals, cultural organizations, and other charities are complaining about the part of the MTA bailout that includes a payroll tax. Many say they’re teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and the new fee won't help. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

REPORTER: With endowments and contributions down ...

New York, NY —

It's Cinco de Mayo -- a celebration of Mexican independence and culture and a day to introduce what its creators claim is the world's first kosher Tequila. Star Industries President Marty Silver says the new product isn't just for Cinco de Mayo in Boro Park:

SILVER: ...