Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
But this week Mayor Daley chastised Gold Coast opponents of a helipad Children’s Memorial Hospital wants to build as part of a new facility on Chicago Avenue east of Michigan. Some area residents have raised concerns about the safety of helicopters taking off and landing from the area, which is packed with residential and commercial high-rises. The mayor, though, insinuated that their questions were petty next to the possibility that kids could be saved, according to the Sun-Times. “So, once in a while, we have a helicopter landing. Why? To save your child — not your child, in a sense. But your child really. Another child coming from another city [who] does not have a Children’s Memorial Hospital. … We will look back in 20 years what we did with this new and wonderful hospital.”
Reilly’s had an intense first six months leading the 42nd Ward. This summer, over the objections of some powerful real estate and business interests, he effectively killed the plan of one of the ward’s key institutions, Northwestern University, to sell its historic Lake Shore Athletic Club building to a developer that wanted to tear it down and build condos. Earlier this month Northwestern announced it would sell the property to another developer that will turn it into upscale residences for seniors.
