City Council candidate in the upcoming District 11 Democratic primary election, Danielle Herbert Guggenheim, a self-described single mother and Black and Caribbean American who has served 25 years with the City’s Board of Education, has responded to a letter to the editor published in The Riverdale Press on April 25 titled, “Closing the door on Medicare Advantage,” by incumbent Councilman Eric Dinowitz.

 

In the original letter, the councilman writes that as a [former] union leader and teacher for almost two decades, and as a friend and relative to dozens of public sector employees and retirees, he understands what he described was the “the unbreakable promise government makes to current and future retirees.”

 

“Between the uncertainty surrounding the Medicare Advantage lawsuit, and Trump and Musk attacking Social Security, our retirees and older adults have experienced heightened confusion and stress over the last several months,” Dinowitz said. “It’s important to note that despite scaremongering, no one has been forced to change their healthcare, but our city must do more to assuage those fears.”

 

The councilman went on to say that with a crowded Democratic field running for mayor, uncertainty looms about whether New York City’s next leader will continue the lawsuit to try to force the Medicare Advantage transition. He said he was calling on those running for mayor to make two pledges to the City’s retirees, as follows:

1. that they direct the New York City Law Department to drop all legal actions related to retirees’ healthcare; and
2. that they eliminate Medicare Advantage as the required healthcare plan for retirees in new bargaining sessions with all public sector unions.

 

“I want to be clear,” the councilman said. “I will never, ever, allow those who don’t want Medicare Advantage to be forced into it, and I will fight like hell to protect seniors from extremist threats of all kinds, whether standing up to Trump and Musk’s threats to Social Security and Medicare, or to bureaucrats at Tweed or City Hall who threaten union retirees. Period.”

 

He went on to say that there may be disagreements about tactics, but not outcomes. “I have long supported court challenges to kill the Medicare Advantage transition and am glad that court after court has ruled with retirees,” the councilman said. “I look forward to a final victory that guarantees all retirees what they were promised. It’s important to not forget that the Medicare Advantage situation is just one challenge facing our retiree New Yorkers. I have always advocated for older adults and retirees, and affordability in our city has been an issue I have fought for in City Hall since I was elected.”

 

Dinowitz said that on Bronx Community Board 8, he was the chair of the Aging Committee and fought to make subways more accessible and improve quality of life. He said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he made “thousands of calls” to older adults in the community to check in to see how they were doing, and ensure they had enough food, and he connected people with critical resources, including a city program providing free tablets so they could stay in touch with loved ones and access medical care.”

 

He said currently, on the City Council, he and his colleagues have delivered millions of dollars for senior centers, addressed food insecurity, helped constituents access SCRIE benefits, and provided resources for older New Yorkers. “I’m eager to continue this critical work and be a strong voice for our retirees and older adults,” Dinowitz said.

 

He continued, “In addition to calling on our future mayor to address Medicare Advantage, I urge our mayoral candidates to share their proposals for older New Yorkers. They must invest in and prioritize resources for our older adults, including tackling housing and food insecurity, inaccessibility, and divestment from critical services. As Trump and Musk attack older Americans and seek to undermine Social Security and Medicare, New York must once again rise to address the federal government’s shortcomings.”

 

The councilman concluded, “Our retirees dedicated their lives to serving our city and deserve to be supported in their retirement. I will keep fighting for retirees and won’t let the bureaucrats in City Hall win. And as a UFT member who has lived here for four decades, you can trust I always will.”

 

On Friday, May 2, Guggenheim, a cofounder and former vice-president of the Unity Democratic Club, launched in 2022, who is seeking to win the District 11 city council seat held, since 2022, by Dinowitz, responded to the letter, with her own letter titled, “Don’t Betray our Retirees,” and shared a copy with Norwood News.

 

She said that on a recent Sunday evening, her 82-year-old father called her in pain, and when she got to his apartment, he couldn’t sit up. She said she told him she was calling an ambulance and he said not to as he was afraid of the cost. “My father is a retired laborer, a proud Teamsters Local 856 member who spent his life working hard and playing by the rules,” Herbert Guggenheim wrote. “But like too many seniors in this country, even with insurance, he’s terrified that one medical emergency will break him financially.”

 

She continued, “This isn’t just my family’s story; it’s a national shame. Over half a million Americans are driven into bankruptcy each year by medical expenses. From 2007 to 2014, health insurance premiums rose 25% while spending on food, clothing, and housing fell. In 2018, the U.S. wasted $256 billion on administrative costs for for-profit insurers, dollars diverted from care and compassion to those that need and have paid for it into the hands of executives, investors, and bureaucrats.”

She said the pain of watching a parent decline is hard enough, but when you add the fear and helplessness that comes from knowing they may not get the care they need because they can’t afford it, it becomes unbearable. “That’s the reality every one of the 250,000 New York City retirees will face if they’re forced into Medicare Advantage,” she said. “These are our teachers, our sanitation workers, our police officers and nurses, public servants who spent decades caring for this city. Forcing them into a system that denies care, underdelivers on services, and prioritizes profit over patients is not just wrong; it’s a betrayal.”

 

Herbert Guggenheim said that in 1967, former New York City Mayor John Lindsay and the City Council made a promise that New York City would fully cover the cost of retiree healthcare. “Now that promise is being eroded through regressive bargaining and backroom politics; that’s not leadership, that’s abandonment,” she concluded.

 

“As a New Deal Democrat, I believe healthcare is a human right. I believe in honoring our commitments. I believe our city must protect the people who built it. That’s why, without hesitation, I would vote YES on Bill 1096. My conscience, and my father’s voice, would never let me do otherwise.”

 

Eric Dinowitz is the son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) and a former special needs teacher. The local assembly district and council district overlap substantially.

 

Council District 11 covers some or all of the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Norwood, Kingsbridge Heights-Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge, Riverdale-Spuyten Duyvil, and Wakefield-Woodlawn, along with Woodlawn Cemetery and Van Cortlandt Park. Guggenheim now co-chairs the Unity Democratic Club’s political affairs sub-committee, shaping policies and endorsements.

 

Primary Election Day in New York is Tuesday, June 24. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Early Voting runs from June 14- 22. To be eligible to register to vote, a person must be a U.S. citizen; be 18 years old on June 24; a New York State resident for at least 30 days before the election; not be in prison for a felony conviction; not be adjudged mentally incompetent by a court; and not claim the right to vote elsewhere. The last day to register to vote in person is June 14. Applications to register to vote by mail must also be received by June 14. For more information, visit https://vote.gov/register/new-york.