No end in sight to massive NYC nurses strike as dispute turns bitter -leaving patients stuck in middle

They’re nursing grudges.

The massive nurses strike hitting three major New York City hospital systems hit its fourth day Thursday with no end in sight as both sides increasingly dug in, flinging bitter accusations of bullying, retaliation and sabotage.

The 15,000 nurses with Mount Sinai, Montefiore Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian largely remained on the picket lines, joined by FDNY firefighters and a fresh crop of pols after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s show of solidarity earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, the private medical centers seemingly kept seeing patients smoothly after executives shelled out an estimated $100 million for temporary nurses in preparation for protracted contract talks, a hospitals insider said.

“We will keep it going as long as possible, as long as needed,” said Martine Clermont, 52, a striking emergency room nurse at Montefiore.

The strike is the largest nurses’ walkout in city history and the longest in recent memory, far surpassing the 7,000 workers who picketed for three days 2023.

But while hospital executives were caught off guard three years ago by the strike — which ended with favorable contracts for the nurses — they’ve taken an aggressive stance this go-round after the New York State Nurses Association pushed for expanded health benefits and staffing and pay increases.

Hospital leaders held firm that they couldn’t afford the nurses’ demands and prepared for war, finalizing strike plans with replacement staff as the union gave a 10-day walkout notice right after the New Year, said Ken Raske, president of the New York Greater Hospital Association, the trade group for Big Apple hospitals.

“The hospitals have been preparing for months,” he said during an interview Thursday, estimating the medical care systems have spent $100 million.

“We didn’t want to spend the money,” he said. “We were forced to spend the money.”

The hawkish hospital heads also took an unusually aggressive tack against the NYSNA — with Montefiore Medical Center leaders at one point contending the union tried to protect nurses who showed up to work drunk or stoned.

Union officials had accused Montefiore of preventing nurses from accessing their and their families’ medications from hospital pharmacies, leading to an unfair labor practice complaint.

Mount Sinai, meanwhile, stunningly claimed that three labor and delivery nurses had tried to sabotage their workplace, while the union denied the accusation — shooting back that the workers were illegally fired by voicemail.

The hospital system had also allegedly disciplined 14 nurse leaders as the strike loomed, union officials raged.

While the attacks were flying from both sides, those by the hospital officials carried the greater risk of backfiring, said retired state Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who chaired its health committee for 35 years.

“The vehemence from the hospital side surprised me. I didn’t see those attacks in the past,” he told The Post.

“The nurses are in a much stronger position with the public and elected officials. It’s hard to think of any group of employees in our economy more believed and respected than nurses.”   

Indeed, strikers drew support from the Uniformed Firefighters Association, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and other elected officials at Mount Sinai Morningside Thursday.

The nurses ultimately have the upper hand with the public if the stalemate drags out, said veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.

“Who is more popular: the nurse or a hospital executive? It’s the nurse,” he said.

Roughly 250 nurses marched in a circle near , chanting “Monte Monte you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side.”

Kate Pugh, a nurse in the adult emergency department at Montefiore Hospital in The Bronx, faulted management for the stalemate.

“This just feels like punishment. It feels like retaliation. It feels like they don’t want to negotiate with us because if they did, they would be out here,” she said.

“In 2023, they were negotiating every day. They’re not (now),” she said. “The money that’s being spent on travelers, and putting band aids on things, it could be spent on this contract that works.”

The traveling, temporary nurses have seemingly helped keep the hospitals running smoothly, based on interviews with several patients who largely experienced no major hiccups with service.

“We have no problem. I am not worried,” said Meybilin Portillo, 31, whose sister recently had a premature baby at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.

But Deborah Drummond, 58, said the nurse shortage created a hellish experience for her 96-year-old mother, who spent nearly 72 hours with pneumonia in the emergency room of Montefiore’s Einstein Campus in Morris Heights.

They tried transferring her mother to Mount Vernon, before ultimately keeping her in the Bronx at Montefiore Hospital in Norwood.

“They take damn good care of her here at Montefiore General. I’ve been able to sleep better at night knowing she’s taken care of,” Drummond said.

“It hasn’t been chaotic or anything they’ve been managing really well.”

— Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts