Doctors Take On Mt. Sinai To Save 14th St 'Godfather' Hospital

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — Doctors and locals are saying "fuhgettaboutit" to Mount Sinai's possible plans to close a 14th Street hospital that served as the backdrop in a famous "Godfather" scene.

Those who oppose Mt. Sinai potentially relocating the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and selling the historic building will rally in the neighborhood Tuesday to make their case for preserving the space.

"'The Godfather' filming is part of the building's history," Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman told Patch. "But what makes the building worthy of landmark designation is its incredibly important history connected to public health, the hearing and visually impaired, the development of our city, and heroic figures like Helen Keller."

Keller led the inauguration of the final section of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary building at 310 E. 14th St. in 1903.

Doctors, preservationists and an elected official hope to raise awareness of the history at stake during a news conference at the Village Preservation building at 232 E. 11th St. at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

That history includes the famous scene in the 1972 film when Al Pacino must rescue his father, played by Marlon Brandon from would-be assassins about to arrive.

"You know my father, men are coming here to kill him," Pachino tells a disgruntled nurse. "Now help me, please."

The event comes around two months after the New York Post published a story about Mt. Sinai's possible plan of relocating the building's units at 218 Second Ave. to other facilities in Manhattan.

People within the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary building told the Post the hospital was quietly moving doctors and laboratories out of the building to make it available for a possible sale.

A sale of the building, along with an adjacent more modern building at could bring in around $70 million, according to the New York Post.

A doctor that works within the building told the New York Post, "“Mount Sinai is going to close this building and make whatever they can on it.”

“The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is not closing," a spokesperson for Mount Sinai told Patch. "Due to longstanding trends in the movement of ophthalmology and ENT from inpatient to ambulatory care, Mount Sinai Health System has embarked on a multimillion dollar plan to strengthen and modernize all NYEE programs and services by moving them into new and newly renovated ambulatory settings."

"And not a single current NYEE service – clinical, educational, and research - will be closing as a result of this transformation," the spokesperson continued.

For the rally on Tuesday, medical professionals from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and Assembly Member Harvey Epstein will be in attendance.

While Village Preservation didn't say it outright in its email about the event, but as Berman alluded to in his comment to Patch, a push for landmark status of the building is expected.

The designation of the building would mean that it couldn't be demolished if it were to be sold, making the sale in the first place much less likely to happen.

Village Preservation also created a petition for people to sign in support of the building staying under Mount Sinai ownership.