Attorney General Files to Prevent Allure Group Purchase of Harlem Nursing Home

HARLEM, NY — State legal officials are trying to prevent the sale of a Harlem nursing home to a company currently embroiled in a separate scandal involving the sale of a Lower East Side health facility, according to court documents.

Officials from the state Attorney General's office filed an affidavit Monday in the state Supreme Court to block the sale of the Greater Harlem Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center to purchasers affiliated with the Allure Health Care, according to documents sent to Patch. The affadavit claims that because the nursing home, located at 30 W. 138th St., is a New York non-profit organization, it is subject to the Attorney General office's jurisdiction and oversight.

The court documents filed Monday claim that the sale of the nursing home to the Allure Group "would violate significant procedural provisions" of the state Not-For-Profit Corporation Law. The Allure Group announced it was acquiring the Greater Harlem Nursing Home in 2014..

The ordeal essentially boils down to trust issues.

Due to the Allure Group's role in the recent closings of two non-profit health centers — The Rivington House in Lower Manhattan and CABS Nursing Home in Bed-Stuy — the Attorney General's office beleives the sale may pose a threat to the Greater Nursing Home in Harlem, according to court documents.

In February 2015, the Allure Group purchased the Rivington House for $28 million, according to a city Department of Investigations report. Nine months later the Allure Group paid the city $16.15 million to remove a deed restricting the property for non-profit us. Then in February 2016 the Allure Group sold the Rivington House property to private developers for $166 million, the investigation reported. The Allure group had led the city to believe it had plans to run the Rivington House as a for-profit health center.

[Photo: Google Maps street view circa May 2016]