Manhattan CB2 committee backs Bellevue funding request and opposes masked ICE courthouse arrests; adopts budget priorities including Be Heard

Manhattan Community Board 2’s Human Services Committee voted to approve two resolutions and to prioritize a set of budget requests for the coming budget cycle.

The first resolution calls on the New York State Department of Health to provide detailed performance metrics for Bellevue Hospital and to press for increased investment in Bellevue following the closure of nearby Mount Sinai Beth Israel. The resolution also supports Bellevue’s requests for capital funding, including imaging resources requested by hospital leaders. Committee discussion focused on how state and private funding might be directed to maintain Bellevue’s capacity; the committee approved the item by voice vote. Exact vote counts were not specified in the meeting record.

The second resolution — advanced by committee member Arturo and edited in committee discussion to reference state legislation including the MELT Act — opposes the use of masks by immigration enforcement agents in courthouse arrests and affirms support for elected officials and advocacy organizations working to end the practice. Committee members debated whether to narrow the resolution to state and city officials or to address elected officials more broadly; the final text directs the resolution to elected officials and relevant agencies. The committee approved the resolution by voice vote; the transcript does not record a numerical tally.

Separately, committee members reviewed and prioritized draft budget requests the committee will send as district needs. Priority requests discussed or proposed include:

• Be Heard coverage: a request for at least one Be Heard team more accessible to midtown Manhattan and better routing of eligible 911 mental‑health calls to the program; the committee directed staff to include this as a possible expense request.

• Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT): resubmitting an expense request advocating for IMT or similar high‑intensity mobile treatment teams for long‑term community caseloads.

• Mobile health vans (Show Vans): capital/expense support for health outreach vans discussed at a prior meeting.

• Bellevue Hospital funding: support for the hospital’s capital needs and for DOH to seek increased investment following closure of nearby MSBI services.

• Transitional housing and supportive housing funding: the committee discussed broader city investment in transitional housing for patients discharged from hospitals who lack stable housing.

• Library capital requests: the New York Public Library items raised by library staff were added to the possible requests list.

Committee members asked staff to organize the draft requests by city agency (for example, H+H/DOHMH requests, DSS/Housing requests and NYPL capital requests) so the committee can rank items by agency for submission. Emma Smith and Arturo volunteered to draft a Be Heard resolution for the full board to review and to circulate supporting materials ahead of the full board meeting.

Ending: Both resolutions passed on voice votes and the committee agreed to refine and prioritize budget requests for the district and to return with drafts at future meetings.