In order to secure crucial City Council approvals, Northwell Health just scaled down its proposed rezoning of an Upper East Side block needed to expand Lenox Hill Hospital.
Northwell on Wednesday agreed to reduce the size of an originally proposed 436-foot tower to 370 feet, leading the proposal to unanimously pass the Council’s land use committee and zoning subcommittee. This reduction followed community complaints about the size of the building and timeline of construction, Crain’s New York reported.
The project will include 475 single-bed rooms, expand the emergency room and build a mother-baby unit. Additionally, the new proposal will require eight years of construction, shaving a year off the original timeline.
Lenox Hill’s current campus spans an entire city block from Park to Lexington Avenue, between 76th and 77th streets, with some of the facilities dating back to the 19th century.
The hospital has spent five years in a standoff with a local community group that pushed back against the $2 billion redevelopment. The size reduction of the medical tower is the latest in a series of reductions that lowered the scale of the project; it was originally supposed to be 516 feet tall and include a now-scrapped residential tower.
Although the plans have been revised to scale down the size and adjust the construction schedule, Valerie Mason, chair of Manhattan Community Board 8, told Crain’s that “we remain extremely disappointed with the overall height and mass of the building,” adding that the board will continue efforts to further shrink the project.
“Let there be no confusion, this process is difficult,” said Upper East Side Council member Keith Powers, pointing to the back-and-forth with the local community. But he added that it was imperative to invest in Lenox Hill. “We’ve seen firsthand in Manhattan what it looks like when we lose our hospitals,” Powers said, likely referring to Mount Sinai’s closure of Beth Israel Hospital.
The vote marks one of the last steps Northwell must clear to secure city approval for the redevelopment of its flagship Manhattan hospital. The full City Council is expected to vote on the project next week, followed by a review from the mayor.
— Quinn Waller
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