Mt. Sinai & Continuum announce merger plans

Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners announced a tentative merger agreement in a bid to control costs and provide more extensive medical care to patients.

The proposed marriage of two Manhattan medical behemoths comes amid continuing pressure on hospitals to comply with ObamaCare and adapt to other market forces sweeping the industry.

City residents have endured several hospital closures in recent years — most notably St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village.

In Brooklyn, Long Island College Hospital is on the chopping block.

Mount Sinai is a specialty/research hospital on the Upper East Side with its own medical school and is considered financially sound.

Continuum is largely a community-hospital network that includes Beth Israel, St. Luke’s and Roosevelt hospitals and the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary. One industry insider described Continuum’s financial condition as “fragile.”

Continuum had conducted merger talks with NYU Langone Medical Center, but NYU broke off the talks last year when it got wind that Continuum was also in discussions with Mount Sinai.

In announcing a “memorandum of understanding,” hospital officials described the merger as a good fit of two entities providing a complement of services.

“The combination will create more economies of scale, increase efficiencies and expand access to advanced primary and specialty care throughout this citywide network,” said Sinai CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis.

Continuum CEO Stanley Brezenoff added, “This collaboration makes available an extraordinary range of resources for the provision of compassionate, state-of-the-art care for patients. In joining with Mount Sinai, we will further enhance our ability to provide the full spectrum of outstanding care to the population we serve.”

Continuum doctors would become part of Mount Sinai’s Medical School faculty, and the merger presents opportunities to bolster research, officials said. Beth Israel, for example specializes in treatment of substance abuse and psychiatric disorders.

“If you are bigger, you have more bargaining power when you negotiate rates with insurance companies and contracts with labor unions. And you can negotiate better prices for food services and laundry,” said David Sandman, senior vice president of the New York State Health Foundation.

He said the merger provides an opportunity to eliminate duplicative services and more easily route patients to proper care.

Under ObamaCare, he said, hospitals will have to do a better job of providing clinical treatment rather than more expensive, in-patient surgical care.

“The emphasis is on primary care and keeping people out of the hospital,” Sandman said.

ccampanile@nypost.com

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Banah Sugar company says it will pay debts

Banah Sugar’s executive director, Yurek Vásquez, said the company will make payments to the more than 200 people and companies it owes money to, after the beginning of a reorganization process supervised by a federal court was revealed.

“This is a reorganization that gives us time to pay our providers,” Vásquez said. “Our intention is to continue working with them, fulfill our duty to them.”

Vásquez spoke to El Nuevo Herald for the first time after the sugar company filed for bankruptcy last week under Chapter 11, which allows continued operations while restructuring.

On Monday, several representatives of creditors expressed outrage at Banah’s non-compliance, accusing it of making payments with checks without funds.

Vásquez, who took over the leadership at Banah in November, said that the previous administration of the company faced “management problems.”

“One of these problems was a flawed communication between the previous administration and providers,” Vásquez said. “The fact that payments were pending did not mean that they were not going to get paid, but no one heeded the providers, nobody explained a payment plan to them so they would know when they were getting paid.”

Banah’s former executive director, Diego Leiva, told El Nuevo Herald he retired from the sugar company in October after learning the background of owner Alex Pérez, who served four years in prison for cocaine trafficking.

But Vásquez said Leiva did know about Pérez’s past and the real reason he left had to do with a mutual agreement after management problems were detected.

“I came to make an evaluation of the company and, after seeing the poor performance and deficiencies, I decided to make staff changes,” Vásquez said. “Leiva agreed with the changes, which included his resignation.”

The company operates with 15 employees. He said the size of the staff would depend on growth of production and new markets.

He said Banah is “now more efficient,” with a plant that can produce 24 million bottles of liquid sugar a year. Before, it imported liquid sugar at substantial cost.

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Friday is the deadline for homestead exemption applications

Friday is the deadline to apply for a homestead exemption or other property-tax break with the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser.

Two new exemptions are on the books. One aims to cut the tax burden for low-income seniors who have lived in their homes more than 25 years. The other is for the spouses of police and fire-rescue workers who have died in the line of duty.

Homeowners can apply for homestead and other tax cuts at the Property Appraiser’s offices or by calling 305-375-4091 for forms.

Information and online filing for homestead exemption also is available at the Property Appraiser’s website at http://www.miamidade.gov/pa/.

A homestead exemption excludes $50,000 of the assessed value of a primary residence from taxation and caps the annual increase in a property’s assessed value at a maximum of 3 percent.

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ET at The Sunset Sessions: What do Fun The Black Keys and Jason Mraz Have in Common

When I'm driving home from work listening to the radio I sometimes wonder, How do these radio programmers know what new music is out there? I hear the constant streaming of Top 40 hits, but where are the underground singer-songwriters? Where can radio and music lovers find the new IT group or artist that is going to blow up? Well I found the answer and I have three words for you... the Sunset Sessions.

PICS: New Music Tuesday!

For over 16 years, the sessions have opened their doors to new and upcoming artists, and you won't believe the list of alumni: Grammy winners Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, The Zac Brown Band, The Black Keys, and Fun., just to name a few, and did I mention they are all Grammy winners?

Michele Clark, who founded the Sunset Sessions, wanted to create an event that would bring together music supervisors, radio programmers, music managers, all in one place to discover artists and bands no one else is playing.

This past weekend I got to spend some time in San Francisco with some of music's most talked about new artists and groups including the much buzzed about, AlphRev and Saints of Valory. When I arrived at the Grand Hyatt Hotel right in the center of downtown you could feel the energy of the musicians as you stepped into the many rooms and stages to watch the various artists. Though they were all music industry professionals there on business, at the end of the day they are all music lovers in search of new music.

The Parlotones, the multi-platinum selling Johannesburg-bred quartet, who has shared the stage with bands like Coldplay, say that the event has "a cool vibe, everyone's music lovers and meeting each other so it's just a cool vibe." Kansas born rock band, Gooding, who were at the sessions for the first time, said "one of the things that makes it very special is the quality of not only just talent, but the people ... there's just a lot of passion here."

The opportunity is very different than other music industry events as rock and roll songstress, Anna Rose, says "it's rare, you don't get to sit in front of people like this and play ... especially for an independent musician like myself." Country spitfire Emily Bell says that the music professionals "really accept all these up and coming artists with open arms."

The Sunset Sessions have also gathered artists all over the world to come and showcase their music including Sweden's Anna Bergendahl, who performed for the first time in the US during the sessions, Keith Harkin from Ireland, Chris Assaad from Canada, and they even went to the island of Hawaii to bring singer songwriter Anuhea to join the fun; throughout her career she has jammed with the likes of Bruno Mars and Ziggy Marley.

I wasn't sure what to expect but after a full weekend of new music, I was refreshed and cannot wait to see where this year takes all of these new and amazing artists.

To see what other up and coming artists like Faulkner, Savannah Philyaw, and Fernando Perdomo, had to say about the Sunset Sessions and their performances watch the video above and follow @sunsetsessions on Twitter or go to sunsetsessions.org for more details on the next Sunset Sessions in Carlsbad, California.

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Bronx mother-murder suspect posed with mom's severed head: sources

The twisted Bronx man who allegedly killed his mother and chopped up her body reveled in the slaying by snapping a picture of himself holding her severed head, sources told The Post yesterday.

Bahsid McLean, 23, pulled out a cellphone camera, posed in front of a bathroom mirror and snapped the gruesome photo of himself smirking while holding his mother’s head under his arm like a trophy, the sources said.

Then McLean and a buddy stuffed his mom’s head in a bag, packed away the rest of her mutilated body, and dumped the parts with the neighborhood trash — in several locations, cops said.

Robert Kalfus

JUST SICK: Bahsid McLean cut off mom Tanya Byrd’s

head and held it to take a picture, sources said.

Tanya Byrd aka Tanya Mclean

One of the four bags holding the remains of Tanya Byrd, 45, a home health aide and devoted mother of three, was found in Morrisania early Tuesday morning by a father and son walking their dog.

Her body parts were wrapped in plastic, with some stuffed in luggage, cops said.

Detectives were already disgusted by details of the case: the brutal bedroom stabbing, the blood drained in the bathroom, and the body hacked with a brand-new power saw.

“He’s definitely sick,” a law-enforcement source said. “It’s a ghoulish act. This guy is so mentally defective to do that. That’s pretty outrageous. That’s hardcore s--t.”

Byrd was killed probably late Sunday night or early Monday morning in her Westchester Avenue home, sources said. McLean asked a friend, William Harris, 26, to help him get rid of the body, sources said.

Surveillance video picked up the two men in a Third Avenue hardware store in The Bronx, where they bought a power saw with cash, sources said.

A blade and a box were found in the apartment McLean shared with his mother; the saw was found in Harris’ home, sources said.

McLean was charged last night with second-degree murder, police said. Both men were charged with hindering prosecution and unlawful dissection of a human body. They blamed each other for Byrd’s death.

Cops said McLean killed Byrd because she “wanted him to grow up and move out and be a man.”

Additional reporting by Matt McNulty

jschram@nypost.com

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Knight Foundation holding IdeaJam Saturday

The Knight Foundation is hosting a free Knight News Challenge IdeaJam Saturday in conjunction with a nationwide contest it is running on open government that is seeking innovative ideas to improve the way citizens and governments interact ( www.newschallenge.org) through information and technology. Winners will get a share of $5 million and support to make their projects happen. The local IdeaJam will be at 3 p.m. at The LAB Miami, 400 Northwest 26th Street in Wynwood. It’s part of a full day of activities for The LAB’s grand opening from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., including a shark tank for entrepreneurs. To register for the IdeaJam and the grand opening events: http://cirqueducowork.eventbrite.com/

Nancy Dahlberg

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Broward commissioner withdraws pit bull ban proposal

Pit bull lovers came out in force on Tuesday to oppose a county commissioner’s effort to get the breed banned in Broward County.

After hearing dozens make emotional pleas, County Commissioner Barbara Sharief agreed to withdraw her proposal for a ban and work with experts to help keep neighborhoods safe from all dangerous dogs.

Read the full story at Sun-Sentinel.com.

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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Will Never Host the Oscars Together

To the dismay of William Shatner and fans around the world, Tina Fey recently revealed that she has no intention of ever emceeing the Academy Awards ceremony with or without her BFF, and Golden Globes co-host, Amy Poehler.

Pics: The 2013 Oscars!

When asked if she'd ever consider the gig, Fey told The Huffington Post that she wouldn't dare sign up for the task because the Oscars are far too much work.

"I just feel like that gig is so hard," she said, adding that her gender would make hosting duties extremely taxing.

Related: Stars React to Tina & Amy's Golden Globes Hosting Gig

Mused Fey, "The amount of months that would be spent trying on dresses alone ... no way."

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Coral Gables native Martin Zweig, Wall Street wiz, dies in Florida

A decade before he foresaw the 1987 stock market crash, Coral Gables native Marty Zweig was already considered a Wall Street wizard.

Renown business journalist Dan Dorfman called him “the country’s hottest investment adviser” in 1981, his picture appeared on the cover of Money Magazine in 1982, and he was frequent guest on the PBS financial show Wall Street Week.

He wrote two best-selling books: Winning on Wall Street, in 1986, and Winning with New IRAs, in 1987.

On Oct. 19 that year, just as Zweig had predicted three days earlier on Wall Street Week, the market plummeted 23 percent.

Zweig, whose three-story Pierre Hotel penthouse is one of New York City’s most lavish residences, died Feb. 18 at another of his homes, on South Florida’s Fisher Island. He was 70. Zweig had been treated for cancer, and underwent a liver transplant in 2010 with tissue from his younger son.

Born Martin Edward Zweig on July 2, 1942, in Cleveland, he spent his formative years growing up in Coral Gables where he was known as Marty Gateman after his widowed mother remarried.

He attended Coral Gables Elementary and Ponce de Leon Junior High schools, was a Coral Gables High School varsity basketball player and track star — class of 1960 — and 2001 Cavalier’s school Hall of Famer.

Childhood friend Richard B. Bermont, a Miami financial adviser, remembered Zweig as a great poker player even in high school, “pretty much a jokester, and the ladies loved him.’’

He legally changed his last name back to Zweig when he was 21, after his mother and Dr. Gateman divorced, said former wife Mollie Friedman.

Zweig wrote that his interest in financial began when the 1948 Cleveland Indians were playing in the World Series.

“I was the kid who knew the most about the team and had a vague idea about what batting averages mean. I had begun to love numbers. Perhaps this was a tip-off that I’d later graduate to the market.’’

He earned a bachelor’s in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, later an M.B.A. from the University of Miami and a doctorate in finance from Michigan State University.

In 1984, Zweig joined with stock picker Joe DiMenna, with whom he co-founded Zweig-DiMenna Partners, their first long/short hedge fund.

Zweig also created two closed-end funds traded on the New York Stock Exchange, according to his corporate biography: The Zweig Fund in 1986 and The Zweig Total Return Fund in 1988.

In his first book, he wrote: “When playing the market, remember you must deal with probabilities, employ sensible strategies to limit risk, and get aggressive only when conditions warrant.’’

He was as quirky in his private life as he was serious about investing. Stan Smith, a Fisher Island friend, said that last year, Zweig installed a “banana yellow’’ 1934 Packard convertible in his living room.

Zweig’s memorabilia collection includes the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy in 1962, a pair of JFK’s silk pajamas, the suits The Beatles wore on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Super Bowl rings, Heisman Trophies, Oscar statuettes and Gold Records; one of the Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide motorcycles that actor Peter Fonda rode in the film “Easy Rider;” an outfit that Jimi Hendrix wore in concert; and the booking sheet from one of Al Capone’s arrests, and a letter written by baseball legend Mickey Mantle describing a sexual encounter at Yankee Stadium.

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Hialeah sugar firm Banah files for bankruptcy

A sugar processing company that brought hype to Hialeah after it moved into a 300,000-square-foot space last July — promising to hire up to 300 workers — has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The company’s move to its new headquarters even prompted Miami-Dade County to rename a stretch of Southeast 10th Avenue “Banah Sweet Way” in honor of the company. Several local leaders, including county Mayor Carlos Giménez, attended the naming ceremony.

But late last week, the company, which is owned by a convicted drug trafficker and which had sought taxpayer benefits from a government program promoting investments, left behind a line of outraged creditors. The company had only 15 employees.

Banah Sugar International Group Inc. reported that it owed between $1 million and $10 million to a list of 232 people and companies, according to public records.

The company’s administrative director, Luis Estrada, told El Nuevo Herald on Monday that the company’s owner, Alex Pérez, was meeting with company officials and added that he was not authorized to comment on the issue.

The bankruptcy was filed under Chapter 11, which allows for an attempt to reorganize the company. It allows the company’s management to continue day-to-day operations, but the bankruptcy court must make all the company’s important decisions.

On Monday, several creditors criticized Banah’s owner for failing to make payments.

“I feel frustrated and deceived,” said Alexander A. Pérez, owner of Florida Patrol Investigators (FPI), a Hialeah company that provided security services to the company. “They sent me checks that bounced, and we sued them.”

FPI’s owner said that the company owes him close to $70,000 for security services at Banah his company at 215 SE 10th Ave.

Hialeah’s mayor, Carlos Hernández, declined to comment on the sugar company’s bankruptcy filing, but he defended renaming Southeast 10th Avenue after the company, saying that Banah had promised to make significant investments in the area.

County spokesperson Fernando Figueredo said that Giménez had attended the ceremony “in good faith,” since its intention was to highlight an investment made in a 10-acre plant where 200,000 bottles of liquid sugar were supposed to be processed every day.

“The mayor knew nothing about the company’s background,” Figueredo said. “He attended because the company was creating jobs and was being recommended to be recognized in Hialeah.”

Hiram Mendoza, an aide to County Commission Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa, said that in 2012 Banah requested to be included in a program to receive county and state financial incentives. He added, however, that Banah did not meet the goal of creating 300 jobs it had promised. “They have not received any financial aid from the state or the county,” Mendoza said. “It’s true that they asked for it, but they did not meet the goals.”

Last year, Banah executives announced it would hold a job fair.

On Monday, Estrada said the company never had a job fair. Currently it has 15 employees, he said.

In October, Francisco Alvarado, a New Times reporter, revealed that in 2001 the federal government had indicted Banah’s owner on felony charges of conspiracy of cocaine possession and possession with intent to sell. Two years before, DEA agents had arrested two men with six kilograms of cocaine hidden in a vehicle. The men declared under oath that Pérez, Banah’s owner, had handed them the drugs.

In 2003, Pérez pleaded guilty of one of the charges and served four years in a federal prison.

Diego Leiva, Banah’s former executive director, said he was surprised by the bankruptcy. “I left the company when Pérez’s past came to light,” said Leiva, who is among the company’s creditors. “I didn’t know anything about that.”

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