Mitchell Wiener, the Assistant Principal of IS 238 in Hollis, died on Sunday, May 17, succumbing to the H1N1 virus just days after his school was among 11 in Queens and Brooklyn to close due to flu outbreaks.
According to published reports, Wiener, 55, suffered from pre-existing health conditions that may have been compounded by the onset of H1N1, or swine flu. He had been in critical condition, on a ventilator and in a medically-induced coma at Flushing Hospital since Wednesday, May 13.
A Flushing Hospital spokesperson noted that “We were treating him very aggressively,” the reports said.
In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Wiener “a well-liked and devoted educator.” The Mayor added that Wiener’s death “is a loss for our schools and our city. I ask all New Yorkers to keep his wife Bonnie and the rest of his family in their thoughts and prayers.”
