UES Preservation Groups Join Opposition Of Lenox Hill Expansion

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Three groups that often focus on curbing development on the Upper East Side have joined the effort to oppose Lenox Hill Hospital's planned expansion, claiming that the project is "out of scale" for the high-density neighborhood.

The neighborhood preservation groups CIVITAS, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and Save Central Park NYC are voicing their opposition to Lenox Hill's expansion about a week before the local Community Board is set to vote on the project. Criticisms from the group stem largely around the proposed size of the hospital expansion and the planned residential tower that hospital officials say will help fund the project.

"Northwell's proposal for two supertall towers defies the work we've done to preserve the architectural history and integrity of the Upper East Side and Yorkville, particularly given Lenox Hill's history as the German Hospital. The massive scope of the plan and Northwell's lack of transparency regarding surrounding sites demand a more comprehensive and sensitive planning approach," Franny Eberhart of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, said in a statement.

Northwell Health presented the latest version of its expansion plans during a Community Board 8 zoning and development committee meeting in September. The plan calls for a 516-foot main hospital tower on Lexington Avenue and a 490-foot residential tower on Park Avenue between East 77th and 76th streets. Other buildings in the block-long complex would be about 200-feet-tall, according to Northwell's presentation.

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.

Community Board 8's zoning and development committee passed a resolution to oppose the plan and the full board will vote on Oct. 23. Northwell Health may need to secure zoning variances from the city in order to build its expansion as currently designed, but the official land use process has not been initiated.

"The proliferation of excessively tall building is compromising our public realm all over the City of New York. The Lenox Hill neighborhood is facing it now — the difference here is that zoning protections are in place, circumventing that zoning in the name of ‘progress,’ will destroy the very fabric of the neighborhood," Sheila Kendrick, a member of Save Central Park NYC, said in a statement.

Northwell Health has previously committed to discussing community concerns about the project with local stakeholders and working towards solutions. A spokesman for the healthcare company said that the project is still in its early stages in an interview earlier this month.

"We thank the Lenox Hill community for their continued feedback on our comprehensive renewal plan" the Northwell Health spokesperson said in a statement earlier this month. "We are still in the very early stages in the planning and approval process and we are committed to open communication and working collaboratively with the Upper East Side and citywide communities as we thoughtfully explore ways to preserve the highest possible standard of care for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers for generations to come."

The spokesman added that Northwell Health plans to host "a series of working groups" in the coming months to discuss the expansion plan with neighborhood residents and solicit feedback.

The group Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood was launched in early October for the purpose of organizing opposition to Northwell's expansion plan. 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.