Proposed Hospital Tower Redevelopment in New York Undergoes Design Change

The revised design called for a 500-foot (152-meter) tall hospital tower at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue to provide space for up to 450 hospital beds.

19 February 2020 | New York City, United States

Northwell Health is looking to scrap its controversial plan to build a 41-story apartment tower on the Upper East Side of New York City, which drew fire from residential neighbors, that would have financed the overhaul of the historic Lenox Hill Hospital.

The company’s developers floated the downsized proposal on 4 February 2020 during a meeting with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Councilman Keith Powers, and other neighborhood representatives.

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“We asked for this new plan [from Northwell] to see what you could come up with,” Powers said on 10 February 2020.

“The concept I’m looking at is a hospital-first project,” he added.

Northwell’s presentation to the group still called for a new, roughly 500-foot (152-meter) tall hospital tower at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue to provide space for up to 450 hospital beds, according to a copy of the presentation.

But the rest of the century-old 10-building complex, which stretches down the block to Park Avenue, would merely be renovated, and many of its shortcomings would remain, the presentation warned.

Keeping much of the current layout would reduce the “operational efficiency” of the hospital, fail to fix the current low ceilings and would limit “the ability to address loading and ambulance deficiencies,” the document says.

Northwell drafted the downsized plan at the behest of Powers and Brewer after encountering stiff opposition to the proposed apartment tower from neighborhood residents.

“I appreciate Northwell’s willingness to show myself and the community options that don’t include a massive residential tower,” Brewer said in a statement, “and I look forward to more discussions with them.”

The company had planned to build the 490-foot (149-meter) tall residential building to help finance the complete teardown and reconstruction of the Lenox Hill complex.

“We’d like to thank Borough President Brewer and Councilmember Powers for their ongoing and thoughtful leadership of the Lenox Hill Hospital task force,” said Northwell spokeswoman Barbara Osborn. “No decision has been made as we are still in the process of studying the implications to the overall revitalization goals.”

For more on this story, go to the New York Post.