New York, New York - Some 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York City at three large private hospital groups over pay and conditions.

Officials declared a state of emergency over the work stoppage, which the New York State Nurses Association said on its website came after months of bargaining for a new contract reached a deadlock.

The association says it is the largest strike by nurses in the city's history.

Picket lines were set up at several private hospitals across New York, including facilities of New York-Presbyterian, Montefiore Bronx, and Mount Sinai.

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"Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients," Nancy Hagans, NYSNA's president, said.

"Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues – patient and nurse safety."

New York's Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani rallied in support of the nurses Monday, saying "we know that during 9/11 it was nurses that tended to the wounded."

"We know that during the global pandemic, it was nurses that came into work, even at the expense of their own health," he said, wearing a red NYSNA scarf.

Mamdani called on all sides to "return immediately to the negotiating table and not leave. They must bargain in good faith."

The hospital groups involved discharged or transferred a number patients, canceled some surgeries and drafted in temporary staff.

A Mount Sinai spokesperson told CBS News that "unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to, but we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses – and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts."