Approximately 15,000 nurses in hospitals across New York City went on strike Monday over pay, staffing, and other issues. The strike affects five privately run hospitals in the five boroughs, including Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West, and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan, as well as Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx. According to The New York Times, the union representing the nurses is fighting for minimum staffing ratios to prevent nurses from becoming overwhelmed, higher wages, and more security at hospitals. BREAKING: Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals after weekend negotiations over contract disputes fail. https://t.co/7BX14sJrW5 — The Associated Press (@AP) January 12, 2026 More from The New York Times: It poses an early test for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office two weeks ago and spoke at a rally Monday in a show of support for the striking nurses. Before his election, Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, had said that the city “needs to reconsider its relationship to wealthy private hospital systems” and questioned whether such hospitals deserved to keep their tax exemptions. The striking hospitals include some of the city’s leading medical institutions and are among its largest employers. For weeks, hospital executives had been preparing to keep hospitals running and medical care accessible in the event of a strike. They secured contracts with staffing agencies to provide travel nurses and reserved hotel rooms for them, according to officials at the Greater New York Hospital Association, a trade group. NewYork-Presbyterian spent $60 million preparing for the strike, hiring more than 1,700 contingency nurses, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Some hospitals canceled scheduled surgeries and accelerated discharges over the weekend to reduce patient counts. The affected hospitals have also been transferring some patients in highly specialized units, such as neonatal intensive care units, according to Elisabeth R. Wynn, an executive vice president at the hospital association. At NewYork-Presbyterian, more than 100 patients were transferred during the last 10 days in preparation for the strike. On Monday morning, when the strike began, ambulances diverted some patients to other hospitals “to help with the transition to a strike,” according to Brian Conway, a spokesman for the hospital association. One of the hospitals had “an extended diversion” for pediatric critical care in the morning before resuming services, Mr. Conway said. The emergency departments at the hospitals with striking nurses were open and staffed. Nearly 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York because management refused to agree to safe staffing levels for patients, the union said. It could evolve into a protracted labor battle coinciding with a severe flu season. https://t.co/3RA8SP8va7 pic.twitter.com/3N0ubTKb1Y — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 12, 2026 “Nurses show up in our darkest moments. 9/11. The pandemic. Every illness and emergency. Their worth is not negotiable. Fair pay, safe conditions, dignity now. NYC stands with nurses and demands good faith bargaining for justice and care for all,” Mamdani said. Nurses show up in our darkest moments. 9/11. The pandemic. Every illness and emergency. Their worth is not negotiable. Fair pay, safe conditions, dignity now. NYC stands with nurses and demands good faith bargaining for justice and care for all. pic.twitter.com/sWLnyrulA4 — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) January 12, 2026 The Associated Press shared further: Some other Democratic city and state politicians also visited striking nurses, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent state health officials to the hospitals to keep watch over patient care. She called in a statement for the sides to negotiate a deal that “recognizes the essential work nurses do.” The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances, though the medical centers insisted they were prepared and committed to meet patients’ needs. The walkout could also put a strain on other city hospitals if patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike. The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but staffing levels are a top issue. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads. Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents such as an episode last week when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police. The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence. The hospitals say that they’ve improved staffing in recent years and that the union’s demands overall are too costly. Mount Sinai said the union was making “extreme economic demands.” Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said the union was pressing ”$3.6 billion in reckless demands,” including exorbitant raises. The union didn’t immediately respond to a question about its salary proposal and current wage levels. According to the hospitals, unionized registered nurses now average $165,000 a year at Montefiore, $162,000 at Mount Sinai, and $163,000 at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Columbia University Irving Medical Center; none of the numbers includes benefits. Montefiore says the union’s asks would raise the average to $220,000 in three years. Mount Sinai says the average there would hit $275,000. Watch additional coverage below: