QConfidential recently learned that former
Mayor David Dinkins was "disinvited" by the
Dr. Charles Drew Health Center, an extension
of Queens Hospital in downtown Jamaica. According to the former Mayor, an employee at the center sent him an invitation for an upcoming affair. A few days later, a member of the
hospital’s upper echelon called and left a message saying that the employee who had issued the invitation had no authority to do so
and Mr. Dinkins would not be welcomed.

Dinkins had attended the ribbon cutting ceremony during his one term administration years ago and the woman who issued the invitation thought it would be nice to have him back.

"I called back the man who had left the message with my secretary," said Dinkins. "And I said, ‘What the hell is this, you’re disinviting the former mayor?’"

According to Dinkins, the hospital big wig was apologetic but stood firm in the position that he could not attend. The former Mayor then received a call from Louis Martin, head of the NYC Health and Hospital Corp., whom he had appointed during his tenure as mayor, saying that the person who had called to un-invite him was "self-compelled."

A few days later, according to Dinkins, Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington called to apologize and to let the former Gracie Mansion occupant know the current mayor and his staff had nothing to do with it.

"Well," said Dinkins, "Giuliani might not have been directly involved but he has certainly created the atmosphere in which this is acceptable."

A hospital spokesperson told us, Mayor Dinkins is welcome any time!

Nearly non-stop Sydney Olympics coverage will saturate the air- waves over NBC and its cable stations over the next couple of weeks. Canned drama, suspense and an ocean full of teardrops along the lines of "Survivor" are expected. Meanwhile in-studio banter will provide lots of yucks to fill time, given that none of the events will be televised live. A broadcaster doing "The Games" for NBC commented, "The only genuine feel-good story of drama and a happy ending on the NBC Olympic telecast is that Marv will be back as the first team announcer doing the basketball games [referring to New York sportscasting legend Marv Albert]. The games will be a snooze. The NBA stars will smoke the Guatemalans and the team from Lithuania. But Marv is all the way back."

Albert will be handling the chores that he had relinquished when he was let go from NBC as a result of his infamous and embarrassing sex scandal.

The good news continues for Marvelous Marv.

The MSG Network is returning Albert to the TV booth to do Knick games next year after his exile in sports purgatory.

When the 30th Annual New York City Marathon comes to town on Nov. 5, Jim Maher, the chaplain at St. John’s University, will be among the 30,000 runners striving to finish the grueling 26.2-mile race. However, Maher’s participation in the race centers on a higher cause. The marathon-running priest will use the event as an opportunity to raise money for a soup kitchen at which he volunteers in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

The soup kitchen, founded in 1982 as part of the St. John’s Bread and Life Program, serves 280,000 hungry people each year — making it the largest such facility in the city. This year, Maher is attempting to raise $50,000 to help the soup kitchen. Not bad for a day’s work.

Maccabie basketballers and Forest Hills residents Jeremy Rosen and Larry Berman.

Seventeen-year-old Forest Hills residents Larry Berman and Jeremy Rosen, both currently seniors at Hebrew High School, were part of the USA Dream Team 2000 that competed in the Israel Sports Spectacular in Jerusalem in August.

The boys spent the month over seas with other young Queens athletes and competed against basketball teams from all over the world, and brought home second place for the red, white and blue.

The Olympic-style sporting events, held exclusively for teens, were sponsored by the International Maccabie Federation, which runs an Israeli Olympic games every four years.

Meet The Mets

Queens' LL Cool J

At the MTV Music Awards, L.L. Cool J of Hollis, Queens

 

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Queens NYConfidential is edited by: Michael Schenkler and Tamara Hartman. Contributors: Tom Allon, Steve Azzara, Nick Buglione, David Colby, Ira Cohen, Marcia Comrie, Barbara Jarvie, Mike Nussbaum, Dee Richard.