Controversial Lenox Hill Hospital Development Plan Moves Forward

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — After more than five years of town halls and community board meetings, the New York City Department of City Planning has given Northwell's Lenox Hill Hospital the green light to renovate the medical center and add extra stories to the building.

But exactly how much taller the building will be is still up in the air. The certification, announced on Monday, launched the mandatory public review process, which is the first step in finalizing construction plans.

The public review is a roughly seven-month discussion period where city planners will present the proposed plans to the local community board and the borough president, followed by public hearings.

These boards and stakeholders will make their official recommendations to the city, and once the process is complete, the plan will go before the City Council for a vote.

The project, a rehash of a scrapped 2020 expansion plan, will modernize and upgrade many parts of the hospital on East 77th Street between Lexington and Park avenues, which Northwell Health representatives said are far below current industry standards.

The new building, Northwell said, would upgrade operating rooms and emergency treatment facilities to modern industry standards, expand the emergency medicine capacity and convert all of its inpatient rooms to single-bed rooms. Currently, two-thirds of the hospital's patient rooms are shared rooms.

"Our current facilities, while steeped in history, are increasingly challenged to meet the demands of 21st-century medicine," Lenox Hill's executive director Daniel Baker told Community Board 8 at a committee meeting on Jan. 28. "That's why we're embarking on this journey to renew Lenox Hill Hospital."

But, some critics looked at the project — which, in one option, would rise 436 feet over Lexington Avenue and add only 25 new beds after more than six years of construction — with derision.

Local organizations, including Friends of the Upper East Side, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, and CIVITAS, have all opposed the rezoning before it was certified by the Department of City Planning and are now advocating for a new plan to be drawn up that is closer to the existing zoning of the block.

"We certainly understand the need for Lenox Hill to upgrade its services, nobody is opposed to that," Peg Breen, the president of New York City Landmarks Conservancy, said. "But the proposed building on Lexington Avenue is startling in its size, its bulkiness and its visibility. It would literarily loom over the adjacent historic district."

Currently, the building in question fits within the existing zoning of the block, which caps off all of the buildings at 212 feet tall.

"It would involve a massive up-zoning of the Lexington Avenue side and also of the midblock on East 77th Street," Nuha Ansari, the executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side, told Patch. "This is a totally outsized proposal for this part of the city. "

The renovation plans

There are two different designs currently on the table for the new building.

In one plan, the building would be built to rise 436 feet over Lexington Avenue, but taper down to 195 feet on East 77th Street and East 76th Street.

This plan would take six years of construction on the building itself and three more years of work on the building's interior, hospital officials said.

In another newer plan, the building would come to 395 feet over Lexington Avenue, and drop down to 360 feet over the side streets.

Building this plan would take six-and-a-half years of construction on the building itself, and two-and-a-half years of construction inside the building, hospital officials said.

But, with either plan, the hospital will transform all patient rooms into single-bed rooms, update operating rooms, and add new center specifically for labor and delivery patients, hospital officials said.

"Through these improvements, we are investing in a future that prioritizes quality care, efficiency and accessibility for all who walk through our doors in need,” Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, said.

Lenox Hill Hospital officials will present their proposal again in the coming weeks as part of the formal public review process, and are still working with Community Board 8 to finalize that date, a Lenox Hill spokesperson said. When a date is finalized, this article will be updated.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.