Results tagged “stvincentshospital”

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-1 yesterday to approve St Vincent's controversial plans to build a 203-foot-tall, 16-story condo (right) on the east side of Seventh Avenue, between West 11th and West 12th Streets, in the Greenwich Village historic district. It's a big win for St. Vincent's over community outcry about the project's scale, and the hospital is counting on the condo deal to help fund the $830 million, 286-foot-tall medical building that will replace the doomed landmark O'Toole building. But in a concession to the commission, St Vincent's and partner Rudin Management agreed to shrink the condo 15 feet, so now the local gadflies have nothing to complain about! Oh, except for Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; he tells City Room, "It’s certainly not over." So maybe we'll get some more celebrity outrage? The plan to raze the sawtooth O'Toole building still faces a legal challenge, and the entire $1.63 billion project also needs approval from he City Council and the City Planning Commission.

The Giants might not be sure who will step up and lead their receiving corps next season, but at least we know that baby catchers should be well-supported at the just announced new birthing center at St. Vincent's Hospital, named after Eli Manning and his wife Abby. The newlyweds don't have any children yet themselves, but are helping to bankroll what the News calls a "state-of-the-art center focusing on natural childbirth and holistic care" at the hospital which has one of the lowest C-section rates in the city. The quarterback said, "We're enjoying being married right now. There's no exact plan, but we do plan on starting a family in the future." The construction of the Eli and Abby Manning Birthing Center will take place over the next five years and cost $10 million. Manning said, "We wanted to make it a special place to bring new life into the world."

The Sun has it that their new pitch would still demolish the O’Toole building, but the new hospital would be 9% shorter than previous plans, rising to less than 300 feet. Rudin Management Co., which would buy eight buildings from the hospital to finance the project, would also build a somewhat smaller luxury condominium once they tear down the buildings – it would drop to 233 feet from 265 feet and be 60 feet less wide. Rudin would also spare four of the purchased buildings.

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission is holding a public hearing to consider the largest proposal in its 43-year history: An application by the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center to demolish eight structures in Greenwich Village on West 11th and 12th Streets, near Seventh Avenue, and construct an $800 million, 21-story, 329-foot-tall hospital and condominium tower. Falling to the wrecking ball would be the 1963 O’Toole Building which houses the hospital. The plans are strongly opposed by local residents, The Municipal Art Society, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff:

It’s historical censorship. The O’Toole Building was one of the first buildings in the city to break with the Modernist mainstream as it was congealing into formulaic dogma… It represents a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s glass-box aesthetic in favor of ornamental facades… In patronizing fashion, hospital officials have suggested that preservationists are choosing buildings over lives, as if the two were in direct opposition. This is the kind of developer’s cant that is ruining our city. The addition of up to 400 co-op apartments is about money, not saving lives. There are plenty of other ways that the hospital could upgrade its facilities.

Indeed, Henry J. Amoroso, the president of St. Vincent’s, tells the Times that “only the value of the real estate we have today will fund the ability to build a new hospital.” As outlined in the proposal, the current buildings and the land they occupy would be sold to Rudin Management for $301 million, which would be used to finance the new hospital and pay off debt. The hospital first needs approval from Landmarks, then from the City Planning Commission and the City Council.