New NY State License Plate Revealed—And Required On All Cars
Access-A-Ride Renders Bike Lane Inaccessible
Cops: Fort Greene Violence Sparked By Chicken Wing Promotion
The UWS Gets Its Very Own Apple Store
64 Things Restaurant Patrons Must NEVER Do
Susan Sarandon and husband Tim Robbins testified before the Landmarks Preservation Commission today in protest against St. Vincent’s proposal to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village, as well as four other buildings to make room for a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). For the former Bull Durham stars, all that would mean a lot of noise and dust soiling the air near their building, which is a block away.
But if the proposal’s detractors had celebrities, hospital president Henry J. Amoroso had 100 health care workers and hospital employees demonstrating across the street from the hearing, some of them holding signs reading, “We Deserve A World-Class Hospital.” Meanwhile, a crowd of 150 residents opposed to the plan gathered inside for the public hearing; there was much cheering and hissing, according to the Times. Speaking before the commission, Robbins held up one of the signs and said, “Yes, we deserve a world-class hospital. Unless it was a life and death situation, I wouldn’t go there.”
Oddly, his argument would seem bolster St. Vincent’s move today, which is to formally seek a “hardship exemption” to force approval of the $1.6-billion development plan. If St. Vincent’s can prove that its current building is physically or financially preventing it from carrying out its mission, the project will proceed. So comments from Sarandon like, “I would not want to bring my children there,” would only seem to underscore president Amoroso's argument that St. Vincent’s is falling behind and needs a new home.
Crain's has it that a number of elected officials came out to support St. Vincent's plan; among them City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, New York state Sen. Tom Duane and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan). No decision was made by the commission today, but the Times notes that of the seventeen hardship applications been received by the commission during the last four decades, all but five have won approval.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Why not go the Hearst Building way? Keep the exterior we've all known, but build up? Nobody but tourists will notice.
^
Good example. I like gut renovations and utilizing air rights. It may be the middle path between preservation and growth.
HOWEVER, this IMO is the exception.
Walking to the LGBT center I always thought it looked like parking garage. It's an ugly, obsolete, Brutalist box that these NIMBY's want to leave just as it is, so they don't have to be inconvenienced by dust.
The proposal is terribly flawed because the towers aren't nearly high enough. Twin 60 story towers would restore faith in St Victim's mission.
The proposed buildings are way too tall for that neighborhood. Period.
If it's a Catholic hospital let the pope pay
for it,
Let's keep a little of NYC "Human Scale"with
new architecture,Jeez!
I also think it better speaking of R.Catholic things
that Robbins-Sarandon movie"Dead Men Walking" might
be a better movie of theirs to mention.
Sure, the pope should pay for it because it's a catholic hospital...and only catholic's should use it, because it's "a catholic hospital."
This whole thing is stupid. St Vincent's needs to renovate and improve in order to offer better services. People like to complain that the hospital is shitty, but then complain when the hospital tries to fix that.
That building is fugly. It also looks like it was built on the cheap, and probably full of mold and bad air. I've always thought I'd never want to end up in that building.
#5
Your ugly prejudice is showing! shame on you.
More evidence that the rich are succeeding in turning Manhattan into their own personal gated community.
Manhattan has a solid 700,000 fewer inhabitants than it did in 1920. How was this accomplished? The rich took over all the existing buildings and made it nearly impossible to build new buildings of ever greater density.
There are *many* tall buildings in the village. If anything, the neighborhood is a model for the provincial twits in Brooklyn who seem to think historic architecture and new high-rise development cannot coexist.
More development would help the village as well. Once a cultural mecca, it is now a tired place of tourists, hip-hop gays, and middle-aged rich people who don't have to work and like to pretend they are in their 20s. It's disgusting.
Build UP!
Sarandon and Robbins are the celebutards of the day. They just don't want their views blocked or new people in the neighborhood. The selfishness diminishes their work for other causes.
There is a big difference between a building everyone is "used to" and a building worth saving for historical importance. St. Vincent's is one of the few Level One trauma centers in the city and like it or not, if you're in a nasty accident, you will most likely be taken there. If the current facilities don't allow them to operate with maximum effectiveness, it's the citizens who suffer. Save the building if it's decided it's of historic value but don't deny the doctors and patients the resources they need to do their job better.
I recommend you all rent the 1970s film 'Joe' starring Peter Boyle. In it, you'll see a young Susan Sarandon naked.
WWJD - What Would 'Joe' Do?
you said it, smokedgouda! these two need to stfu. sure it's an interesting looking building but a hospital is way more important. i'm so sick of people trying to landmark everything.
I'm a fan of landmarking, especially considering what happened with Penn Station, but there has to be some middle ground. This building is just hideous, and NYC needs better hospital facilities.