Hi. Here's a photo of a 3.5 million dollar listing at 21st and Locust in Philadelphia. It belongs to a guy named Joel Freedman. Who's Joel, you ask?

Well, he has specific taste in interior decor, that's for one thing. For another, he is a "special opportunity investor that makes private equity, structured debt, and real estate investments in the healthcare sector."

That's another way of saying: He bought Hahnemann Hospital in North Philly in 2019. Then he sold it to real estate developers. Auctioned off the medical equipment. Put medical professionals out of work. Shuttered the doors.

Here's an image of his closet:

And not that long ago, people were worried about what that might mean to poor and low-income families. People wrote things about it. Didn't seem to matter much. But people wrote about it.

It was pretty well documented that this was Not Great.

Hospitals, even gutted ones without equipment, are WAY BETTER CHOICES for overflow emergency hospitals - the physical structure of the buildings is better than hotels and stadiums.

Our emergency rooms are about to be overrun by COVID patients. Hahnemann will remain closed.

Why? Because Joel Freedman is claiming that the city isn't willing to pay "fair market price."

There is no fair market price to put on human lives. Open the doors and let the actual heroes get to work.

Anyway, here's a photo of one of his several bathrooms.

Negotiations ended today because this one person was not willing to move aside in the midst of a global pandemic. And there are other villains EVERYWHERE in this story. But this particular one is so callous and cruel that it's almost broken me. Our system is so, so, broken.

This is truly Bond-villain level shit, and it's disguised in expensive suits and LinkedIn rhetoric. Our city will suffer immensely because of this one human being. I can't quite wrap my mind around it.

anyway. h/t to @HelenGymAtLarge for her work on this. I stand behind the city in the event that it seizes the property using eminent domain. i'm not a lawyer or a doctor, just someone hoping that fellow citizens don't die in the city that I love.

oh cool my first viral thread!

ok thing one: nobody egg that dude's house. he clearly doesn't actually live there, and eggs are in short supply at the grocery store. save ya eggs. give 'em to your grandma. here's how to wipe 'em down first.

thing 2: when I said "north philly," it's bc i live in south philly and anything above market feels vaguely "north" to me. It's really Center City. Like midtown, for out of towners. Near-ish the Rocky steps and Love Park.

So. You know. A good location for a hospital.

Thing 3: I'm not a journalist, just some dingus with a twitter account. All this info took me like 12 seconds to research. I welcome anyone willing to do the real work on this. Bad PR might be useful, though I'm not holding my breath. (See: statement from @PhillyMayor)

thing 4: The bigger issue, as many of you mentioned, is that the system allowed this guy (and countless others just like him) to profit off for-profit healthcare in the first place. I hope this crisis brings a serious reckoning. It's unfathomable and unjust. We can do better.

thing 5: I'm too mad to come up with a real thing 5, because it's basically "i hope it doesn't become condos." I'm just wishing you all safety and health. Stay inside. Wash your hands. Endless love + gratitude to everyone in #philly and beyond helping keep us all safe.