Battle over NUMC: Blakeman fires a volley

Daily Point

Blakeman blazes away

In the battle for control of the Nassau University Medical Center board, County Executive Bruce Blakeman is pulling out a high-caliber weapon that is only rarely used.

Thursday morning, NUMC board member Edward Farbenblum, who until recently served as chairman, was served by Nassau County sheriff’s deputies at his home with a notice of charges “brought for removal pursuant to Public Authorities Law.”

The surprising catch to that move: Farbenblum was appointed to his seat by the county executive, which in his case was Laura Curran. That means the current county executive acts as the sole judge to determine whether Farbenblum should be removed.

And Blakeman and Farbenblum have been at odds since Blakeman took office.

The notice lists four charges. Farbenblum said three of them — that he maneuvered to hire a former employee of his nursing-home company, failed to file a 2022 budget for the hospital or hire a chief financial officer, and failed to maintain the confidentiality of attorney-client relations — are “absolute nonsense.”

The fourth accusation, that Farbenblum failed to file his required financial disclosures upon joining the board, he says is true, but now thinks arose from foul play.

Farbenblum says hospital general counsel Meg Ryan did his onboarding, and told him he did not have to worry about filling out the disclosure at that time, that it would be handled at a later date. Ryan declined to comment.

Ryan and Farbenblum have been at the center of the battle for control of the troubled, financially hemorrhaging hospital, a battle that began when Blakeman was elected in November. Matthew Bruderman, Blakeman’s new board chairman, has been appointed to the board and the chair twice, after the first attempts were disallowed because the seat was allegedly not yet empty. That’s still in court.

And Bruderman threatened to “mow down” Farbenblum and anyone else who stood in his way during the first meeting he chaired, on March 20.

Possible penalties for Farbenblum include removal from the board, which the papers suggest Blakeman will seek. Farbenblum has 10 days to respond, and the right to a hearing, and counsel.

The stakes are high. If Curran’s last pick for the board, Ann Kayman, wins her court bid to stop the removal Bruderman and Blakeman are seeking, and Farbenblum stays on, the Democrats have an 8-6 majority.

Control of the hospital, with its lucrative contracts and numerous well-paying jobs, is a prime political plum of controlling the county.

Municipal law expert Paul Sabatino told The Point that Blakeman’s reading of the rules is correct, that the appointing officer or body has the right of removal, for “inefficiency, breach of fiduciary duty, neglect of duty, or misconduct.” Sabatino said the legal precedent for appeals, set in 1970 when Richard Zeidler was removed as chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority, is that such a removal cannot be overturned as long as the evidence is substantiated.

Asked to comment, Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle said: “The administration will not comment until all administrative proceedings have concluded.”

— Lane Filler @lanefiller

Talking Point

Corbett's campaign

The media advisory came out Wednesday evening. Topped with “Incorporated Village of Malverne” letterhead, it looked like it was advertising official village business.

But the message seemed odd for a Long Island village.

“Malverne Mayor Keith Corbett will call upon the federal government to stop funding to the state of New York until the bail reform laws are changed,” the advisory said of a planned news conference called for Thursday morning. “Mayor Corbett will stand right across the border from Queens to demand action before New York City’s out of control violence and carnage spreads further.”

Corbett, of course, is running for Congress. And the advisory certainly sounded like part of a campaign platform.

Then came the contact information. Listed as the contact was Whitney Ralston, who identifies herself as a general consultant to Corbett’s congressional campaign. Ralston doesn’t work for the village. Ralston’s phone number, her personal Gmail address, and an official campaign email address all were included in the advisory, which was sent via Ralston’s personal email address.

So was this a village event, a campaign event, or both?

As it turns out, it wasn’t an event at all. By Thursday morning, the news conference was canceled.

Corbett told The Point that the New York Court of Appeals’ redistricting ruling complicated the plans.

“I got jammed up because I’m an election attorney and the lines are being redrawn,” Corbett told The Point. “And then, I had people reach out who said there’s more to the issue and I’m willing to be educated.”

The email advertising the event, however, was sent hours after the court decision was released.

Corbett told The Point the event was being held in his capacity as mayor and that it was unrelated to the campaign.

“I was putting something on in the mayoral capacity to discuss what was going on in the city that could roll into Nassau County,” Corbett said.

Corbett said he asked Ralston to act as the contact and to send out the missive because the village doesn’t have its own public relations operation.

“There never should have been a campaign account at the bottom,” Corbett said. “That was a mistake that we didn’t catch.”

For her part, Ralston told The Point she “volunteered” to send the advisory out because “the village doesn’t have press capacity.”

That leaves The Point to wonder: How did the village ever send out a media advisory before its mayor was running for Congress?

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Eyes wide open

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Puzzle Point

In the news

Welcome to this week’s news quiz, based on recent events. As usual, provide the answer for each clue, one letter per blank. The first letter of each answer, taken in order, spells the name of the world leader who while visiting Kyiv and several outlying towns devastated by the war in Ukraine, said, “When I see those destroyed buildings, I must say what I feel. I imagined my family in one of those houses that is now destroyed and black. I see my granddaughters running away in panic, part of the family eventually killed. The war is an absurdity in the 21st century. The war is evil.”

A link to the answers appears below.

_ _ _ _ _ _ The Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the Biden administration’s attempt to end a controversial immigration program for people seeking this.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Number of Long Island high schools among the top 1,000 schools in the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking.

_ _ _ Number in thousands of dollars former President Donald Trump was fined per day for defying a subpoena from New York’s attorney general.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ President Biden proposed to liquidate assets seized from this group of Russians and donate them to Ukraine to assist in the war.

_ _ _     _ _ _ _ _ _ State facing a recall of more than 120,000 pounds of ground beef over concerns they contain E. coli.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The Biden administration is finalizing rules that will outlaw these kinds of light bulbs.

_ _ _ _ _ _     _ _ _ Long Island town that commenced legal action to seize by eminent domain a privately owned parking lot at a major LIRR station.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A state legislative proposal would give California residents a $200 cash rebate to compensate them for high prices of this.

_ _ _ _ _ _ Airline that announced plans to offer more flights this summer across the Atlantic Ocean than in 2019, betting that international travel will bounce back strongly.

_ _ _ Number of power plants in Nassau for which the county reached a settlement on property taxes paid by LIPA.

_ _ _ _     _ _ _ _ Billionaire who bought a major social media platform and delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station.

_ _ _ _     _ _ _ _ In an annual tradition returning to Stony Brook University, students attempt to cross this water body in homemade cardboard boats.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Once-a-decade political practice upended in New York when the Court of Appeals rejected this year’s process and ordered that it be redone.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _     _ _ _ _ _ Officials from this alliance of countries said Russia shutting off natural gas from Poland and Bulgaria was “blackmail.”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Kansas to revive a law struck down by lower courts that would ban filming at this kind of livestock facility.

Click here for the answers to the clued words and to the identity of the mystery world leader.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie