Millionaire who tried to charge Philly almost $1m to use empty hospital has property vandalized

[CatWoman]

People in Philadelphia angered by a man who wanted to charge the city nearly $1 million a month to use an empty hospital he owns for housing and treating coronavirus patients have vandalised his house.

Joel Freedman, a California businessman who owns the currently closed Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, told city officials they could rent the building from him for $1 million a month to house coronavirus patients.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “Joel Kills” and “Free Hahnemann” were spray painted onto a building owned by Mr Freedman in Philadelphia.

A paper taped to the door stated “Joel Freedman has blood on his hands” and “Open Hahnemann Hospital.”

A spokesperson for Mr Freedman said the vandalism was “sad and uncalled for.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-philadelphia-hospital-millionaire-price-gouging-a9443171.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2o8PhEuVwOXAnRIYobHxFyYLecahPEtWNQcBBvjH_JOGgbELlY_n39PlI#Echobox=1585847211

[elleng]

1. That's the least they should do to him.

[zackymilly]

23. Yep, he's lucky. He'll feel different if he contracts the virus. n/t

[gibraltar72]

2. Correction Freedman is sad and uncalled for.

[TheBlackAdder]

46. I hope Philly Zoning and Building Inspectors don't let any payoffs occur to get permits or COs.

[Zoonart]

3. Next time they'll burn it down.

[jberryhill]

6. Great minds think alike

I'll bring the fucking matches.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. Excellent idea!

Then no one at all can use the property.

Really?

[jberryhill]

18. I meant his house

The hospital is not the property that was vandalized.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. Oh, I didn't catch that.

But burning down his house is still a completely criminal thing to do.

[jberryhill]

41. Yes it would be a completely criminal thing to do

I also hear that it's against the law to rip tags from mattresses, and suggest we deal with the backlog of those cases first.

[jberryhill]

52. Look at the awful vandalism

[OnDoutside]

7. He'd probably love that....collect on the insurance, demolish and build apartments.

[3Hotdogs]

13. Nah, keep the amount of damage to just under the deductable.

[SoCalNative]

8. Then he would just be able

to get a big insurance payout.

[secondwind]

4. Seems like in times like these, this type of behavior is almost "normal". They are out of touch.

[jberryhill]

5. Good

Burn it down.

[RobinA]

9. No, Please

We don't need a large fire in the middle of a city. Although I get the sentiment.

[jberryhill]

17. Doesn't he live out in Montgomery County somewhere?

[NCjack]

10. Designate it a historical building. nt

[Coventina]

12. Nope. Absolutely called for!!

[CurtEastPoint]

14. WOMP WOMP, Joel...womp womp. And your greed, sir, is 'sad and uncalled for.'

[gratuitous]

15. The vandalism of the building is a measured and appropriate response

Joel Freedman is the person who started the vandalism, and his is in a far more deadly vein than some spray paint and a paper sign.

[ooky]

16. Greed filled man getting what he deserves for trying to profit from death

of Americans instead of offering help. Hope they visit his home too.

[superpatriotman]

19. Guillotines on the National Mall

Post haste

[sarisataka]

21. And whom shall we guillotine

In our new Reign of Terror?

[jberryhill]

42. Who's asking?

[sarisataka]

47. Robespierre

[jberryhill]

49. Oh, a wise guy, eh? You want answers? Get in line.

Next?

[sarisataka]

55. Peut tre je suis M. Barre

[jmowreader]

58. Obviously King Donald the 45th and all his minions

It is also obvious why they don't let us have the keys to the guillotine.

[SheltieLover]

28. THIS!

👆

K&R

[FiveGoodMen]

34. Absolutely!

[Johnny2X2X]

20. In the Old West

They'd have beat him and sent him walking out of town. Disgusting greed, these people are evil and worship money.

[crickets]

22. I am a bit appalled by the reaction to this.

Look, I don't like this guy either but lawless behavior like this is bad regardless. Asian Americans facing public discrimination, a train derailment aimed at the Mercy ship, Fauci surrounded by a security detail, wacko Evangelicals refusing to let go of the collection plate with no regard for the deaths that follow from holding services... enough. Everybody is way too keyed up. The real reason why things are this bad has one name: trump.

If we had a real sense of leadership in the country right now, if our president was actually trying to handle the situation capably, we as a people would be much better able to deal with the stress everyone is going through right now. We shouldn't be dealing with the shortages that trigger an NFL team owner to fly in N95 masks from China, we shouldn't be dealing with a death rate that has bodies piled in refrigerated trucks, we shouldn't be dealing with doctors and nurses dressed in garbage bags instead of proper PPEs. But we are.

Freedman could have helped Philadelphia out by donating use of the hospital for free but he didn't. After cooling off about it, it occurs that maybe it would have been ruinous for him to try. We may not know all of the facts here. Regardless, it's possible to judge the hell out of the man (and I still do) without vandalizing his property.

Eyes on the prize: the real demon in all of this is trump.

[SWBTATTReg]

27. Freedman should have known better than to do this. This is reprehensible behavior on his...

part. If I were the city, perhaps I would look at condemning and seizing the property, after all, it's a national emergency, perhaps they have some powers that will allow this to occur, and then compensate him at market rates later. Like all other condemnation procedures that I'm aware of.

[crickets]

29. I don't disagree with you.

I'd love it if the city found a way to legally take that hospital and put it to good use.

[SWBTATTReg]

31. Absolutely. I think they'll work it out. Desperate times call for desperate measures, eh?

Take care and be safe.

[crickets]

32. Thanks, and back at ya!

[SWBTATTReg]

44. Thanks! I enjoyed, by the way, your blurbs on the fairness doctrine, by the way. It does seem to..

have pretty serious implications for some of the garbage on the CV that we're hearing about, perhaps that's why faux news kicked off their one person recently (some lady, don't recall her name), calling the CV a hoax. I wish that they apply the fairness doctrine to rump! Twitter and all of them who allow the distorted CV news to be propagated online via twitter and faux news.

A good read.

[jberryhill]

51. Put him on the rack until he screams "Uncle" and open the damned doors.

[CatWoman]

48. fuck him

[jberryhill]

50. Well put

Succinct. Well reasoned. Spelled correctly.

A tour de force.

[jberryhill]

53. This is what we are talking about

If Banksy did it, his property value would go up.

[raccoon]

24. A bas les aristocrats! Nt

[DeminPennswoods]

25. If need be, I'm sure Gov Wolf and

Mayor Kenney will take the building by eminent domain if it's really needed. The PA state courts have already upheld the actions Wolf has taken under the emergency declaration law passed by the state legislature.

[DBoon]

26. pay him the value declred on property tax rolls

I'm sure he is paying his full share of taxes.

[JCMach1]

30. Burn it down

[madinmaryland]

35. Can't the city just claim eminent domain? Just take the landlord out of the picture.

[bucolic_frolic]

36. Big city slumlords are of an ilk

somewhere or other I read an article on one in Allentown PA. The usual, never repair anything, everything's an opportunity for a deal, high rents as I recall. Speculators are in it for the money.

[Grokenstein]

37. It's a start.

[elias7]

38. Not that I want to defend him, but LA is paying someone 10x what Freedman asked for.

“Elsewhere, city governments have struck deals with the owners of empty hospital buildings to lease their space. At St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, the city is paying $236 per night per bed, for a total of $2.6 million each month.

In Philadelphia, Freedman offered the Hahnemann building to the city for $27 per bed per night, plus taxes, maintenance and insurance, which the city would pay directly. All told, that added up to just over $900,000 per month.”

[CatWoman]

39. LA is not Philadelphia

basic rent in California is beyond outrageous, and California's infection rate is much, much higher.

[dhill926]

40. It's Philly...

he got off easy....

[CatWoman]

43. where's Nicky Scarfo when you need him?

[citizen blues]

45. The Pitchforks Are Coming

Just as plutocrat, Nick Hanauer, predicted in this TEDx talk. This is exactly what I've been concerned about starting to happen. We're playing Russian roulette with the Covid-19 virus out here. We never really know who's going to get the next bullet or if they're going to survive it when they do go down. With as botched as the response has been, people are scared, and that makes this situation increasingly volatile. With numbers predicted to soar, people could very well begin having the mentality: we're dying out here anyway, we have nothing left to lose. That could end up making the act of vandalism reported here look like high schoolers TP-ing a house.

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[guillaumeb]

54. Perhaps he can set up a Gofundme campaign.

[TeamPooka]

56. he's lucky they didn't burn it down.

[Corgigal]

57. Wait,

till parents can’t feed their kids.

Might be in 2 weeks.