Lenox Hill Expansion Opponents Want Pols To Fight Project

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — In the wake of Community Board 8's overwhelming vote to oppose a Northwell Health's planned expansion of Lenox Hill Hospital, the main community group fighting the project is seeking a firm commitment from local elected officials to resist the expansion.

The Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood sent a letter Tuesday to City Councilmember Keith Powers and Gale Brewer asking the local politicians to "follow the clear expression of Community Board 8's position and enforce the zoning code."

"While we appreciate with your willingness to engage with Northwell and the community at this stage, you did not explicitly state your objection to Northwell's plan and requested zoning changes or advise Northwell that they need to withdraw their plan and go back to the drawing board," committee founder Andrew Soussloff writes in the letter.

Neither elected official could actually advise Northwell to "withdraw" any plan, as the Lenox Hill expansion plan has not yet been certified for public review. Community Board 8's vote to oppose the project was more symbolic than practical, and it has no actual effect on the healthcare company's eventual pursuit of zoning variances.

Powers and Brewer sent a letter to Northwell Health ahead of Community Board 8's vote last week to address concerns with the company's plans for its site on Lexington and Park Avenues between East 77th and 76th streets. Northwell Health's plan would require zoning variances to build a 516-foot hospital tower on Lexington Avenue and a 490-foot residential tower on Park Avenue. Both officials explore the possibility of an expansion that would conform to as-of-right zoning at the hospital's site.

The new hospital campus would not increase the number of beds at Lenox Hill, but instead create individual rooms for hospital patients. Hospital officials said that the new complex would account for increased congestion by moving ambulances off 77th Street and into the facility as well creating less obstructive loading docks on East 76th Street. Proceeds from sales at the new residential tower would help fund the creation of the new hospital campus, Northwell Health executives said.

The Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood was formed in early October specifically to oppose Northwell Health's project. The group is worried about the scale of the development and the potential health hazards of a 10-year construction project in a dense residential area. Other Upper East Side preservation groups such as Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and Save Central Park NYC support the committee's efforts.