Lenox Hill Hospital’s $2-Billion Overhaul Proposal Comes Before Planning Commission

Northwell Health presented their $2-billion proposal to overhaul Lenox Hill Hospital to the City Planning Commission on Wednesday, May 21, which came complete with grilling by board members and hours of public testimony. If they approve of the proposal within the coming weeks, it will go to the City Council for one final sign-off.

Northwell essentially wants to consolidate the hospital’s 10-building campus into one tall tower on Lexington Avenue, a process that they estimate would take nine years; they believe that such a project is necessary to comply with certain regulations, as well as adequately modernize its facilities. The tower would be either 436 feet tall or 395 feet tall, with Northwell recently introducing the latter model in order to quell ongoing community complaints about height. An original proposal stood at over 500 feet tall.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine conditionally approved the proposal—which is supposed to hold advisory (non-binding) weight with the commissioners–roughly a week before the Planning Commission hearing. The commission now has under 60 days to issue their verdict. Community Board 8, notably, issued an advisory disapproval of the entire proposal in April.

Levine announced that Northwell had made two new commitments to earn his support: the future creation of a new mental-health clinic in the neighborhood, and the convening of a “construction task force” that would comprise local community board members and elected officials. Among other things, he also “urged” Northwell to consider further lowering the building’s height, as well as demonstrate that it would consistently accept diverse and low-income patients. Lenox Hill Hospital, after all, does offer “luxury” services.

At the May 21 CPC hearing, it appeared that Northwell was out to prove that it had heard these requests. Lenox Hill Hospital President Dr. Daniel Baker highlighted statistics that show that 60 percent of the hospital’s patients use public insurance, one-third of its patients come from outer boroughs, and 55 percent of its patients are non-white.

“New York City has long been home to a bastion of clinical firsts, academic fortitude, and empowering research. Lenox Hill Hospital is very proud to have been part of that for 160 years,” Baker told the commissioners.

Dan Garodnick, chair of the CPC, said he believed there was a “general” understanding of the need for modernization. However, he had questions about why the project would add only 25 new beds to the hospital’s current total of 450: “The size of the building is significant, as proposed. Why does it not enable more beds? How should the community, how should the Commission, think about that question?”

Interestingly, Baker said that Northwell Health is not “trying to have a great expansion project.” He added that the proposal was “definitely an increase in the size and the zoning and the square footage . . . but we’re trying to continue the current clinical needs, with the addition of 25 beds.” Baker also said that increasing the number of beds further would “add substantial volume and square footage to the project.”

Commissioner Gail Benjamin said that Baker should probably advertise an increase in rooms instead of beds, given that these figures are far more pronounced; Northwell is planning on upping the current hospital’s 311 rooms to 475. She expressed hope that this could have a positive effect on the amount of med-surge beds made available in the hospital. “It goes to the heart of the need . . . I know that state government, federal government, all your insurers are trying to reduce the number of med-surge beds in hospitals around the country, not just yours,” Benjamin said.

Baker replied that while he didn’t have on hand the exact details on which beds would be “demarcated” for what, he recalled that “72 beds would be earmarked for ICU use, up from 48 today.”

Commissioner Raju Mann brought up the two height options for the tower. Melanie Myers, a lawyer advising Northwell on the proposal, said that the newest lower-height proposal resulted from “long conversations” with Community Board 8, which “led [us] to understand that height was a concern.” As for which option Northwell preferred, they were “neutral,” she said.

Some prominent public speakers used their allotted time during the hearing’s public comment period to slam the proposal. Nuha Ansari, who was representing the preservationist group Friends of the Upper East Side, said that “Northwell is requesting an enormous upzoning of the hospital site that would completely upend the carefully balanced zoning framework, which has long protected the character of Lexington and Park avenues, and their low-rise blocks.”

Alida Camp, a member (and former chair) of Community Board 8, showed up to speak as an individual. “This plan is not the way for modernization of Lenox Hill,” she said. “Lenox Hill intends to be a luxury destination. The community should not be irrevocably harmed for a luxury hospital.”