NEW YORK | Lenox Hill - 100 E. 77th | 370 FT | 26 FLOORS

[NYguy]

https://www.ourtownny.com/news/lenox-hil...als-vow-again-to-keep-fighting-AF4117615

Expansion to Planning; Locals Vow –Again –to Keep Fighting
Now entering its sixth year, the conflict pits the Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood against Northwell Health, which, seemingly weary of negotiation, has submitted their case to the Department of City Planning.





BRIAN BERGER
20 JAN 2025

Call it the Battle of Lenox Hill.

Northwell Health is submitting its proposal for its new towers in its $2 billion, 10-year expansion project to the NYC Planning department, with little additional alterations since its scaled-down proposal still ran into strident opposition at a Community Board 8 hearing.

Like such storied battles as those that occurred at Bunker Hill; around Culp’s Hill at Gettysburg; and on San Juan Hill in Cuba, where Teddy Roosevelt rode to fame, the issues here concern land, money and self-determination.

While there are no musket or cannon shots involved, there is much animosity and wounded feelings. What’s at stake is the future of the one full city block that Lenox Hill Hospital calls home, bounded by 76th and 77th streets south to north, and Lexington and Park avenues east to west.

For those who don’t think about hospitals much, nearby landmarks on the Lexington Avenue side are St. Jean Baptiste Church at 76th Street; the 77th Street subway station; Tamam Falafel, between 77th and 78th; and Pastrami Queen at 78th.

The hospital says its existing hospital is a confusing hodgepodge of 10 buildings cobbled together over decades, and to stay competitive in the modern era it needs a coherent plan and an all-new structure.

The combatants in this fight are both formidable.

On the builder’s side is Lenox Hill Hospital’s owner since 2010, the nonprofit Northwell Health hospital system, based in New Hyde Park in Nassau County. Formerly known as the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (North Shore-LIJ), the name was changed in 2015.

Facing off against Northwell is the Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood—CPOLHN for short, and what that acronym lacks in mellifluousness, it makes up for in passion.

Other major facilities in Manhattan have advanced their physical plants dramatically and expanded over the past couple of years,” the CEO explained. “And we cannot just stand still and continue to exist where the youngest building in this facility today was built 40 years ago.”

Dowling described the existing superblock as “a combination of 10 pieces that were not put together in the ideal fashion. In fact, it seems like it was done for the purposes of confusion, so you couldn’t find your way around. It’s like that maze they put people into, and I’ve never been able to get out at the other end without help.”

Come that March, however, when Northwell’s plans were released, immediate outrage followed, especially over its inclusion of two buildings far larger than any that currently occupy the site: one, a 45-story, 490-foot residential tower on the corner of Park Ave and 76th Street, the other a 516-foot medical tower on the Lexington Avenue side.

The idea behind this plan—which blows way past the neighborhood’s existing height and zoning regulations—was that revenue from the residential building would be used to fund the multi-billion-dollar redevelopment.

To say that many of Lenox Hill Hospital’s neighbors were aghast is an understatement. Thus CPOHLN was formed, various experts and local stakeholders consulted, and politicos, including then Borough President Gale Brewer, and City Council member Keith Powers, brought on board to aid the fight.

While this isn’t quite David versus Goliath—it would be difficult to find a smarter, or more resourceful neighborhood group than CPOHLN—it’s close enough that the group’s success is far from assured.

[NYguy]

City Planning review session...
https://www.youtube.com/live/69oRJCyhMK8?si=kLUbvNT4fefsRzFF

[NYguy]

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[HyperPower]

these people act as if the Burj Khalifa is being built on their block. The building is mediocre for New York standards and barely stands out

[NYguy]

The sad part is that everyone will need a hospital at some point in their lives. This is just the usual NIMBY nonsense. The city should ask them if they would prefer a swap with the smaller scale Chinatown jail that’s being built.

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-pul...e-endorses-lenox-hill-hospital-expansion

Northwell gets support for $2B Lenox Hill project with new mental health clinic





Amanda D'Ambrosio
May 15, 2025

Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital has committed to building a new mental health facility on the Upper East Side so it can win key political endorsement for its controversial $2 billion expansion.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine reached a deal with Northwell Health to recommend the city approve its planned medical tower on Lexington Avenue between 76th and 77th streets, signaling his support for a project that has faced community pushback for years, he shared exclusively with Crain’s.

As a part of that deal, Northwell agreed to build a new outpatient behavioral health facility to serve up to 30,000 patients annually at 300 E. 62nd St., according to Levine — a new addition to a project that’s expected to cost billions.

The new clinic aims to bolster behavioral health resources in the city, which have diminished as private hospitals eroded beds and community-based care for many years because of financial concerns, Levine, who is running a campaign for city comptroller, said in an interview.

“That’s a trend I’d like to reverse,” Levine said. “A new facility serving this need is a really important step forward.”

Residents of the Upper East Side have firmly resisted Northwell’s planned Lenox Hill expansion, posing barriers to the hospital’s modernization goals. Community members oppose the height of the new medical tower, which could reach up to 436 feet tall, and its nine-year construction timeline that they say will disrupt the flow of the neighborhood.

Though mostly symbolic, the borough president’s blessing marks a positive development for the Lenox Hill expansion amid continued community opposition. Last month the local community board voted down the project because of how tall it is, urging Northwell to cut the building’s height in half to get the community’s consent to move forward. The vote, like the borough president’s, was advisory in nature and not binding, but it signified an early setback.

Northwell has pushed to modernize Lenox Hill since 2019, initially proposing a 500-foot-tall hospital with an adjacent residential building. Community concerns at the time led Northwell to toss out its plans for an apartment building, and it has since proposed two different options to mitigate objections about height, either by building a 436-foot tower or constructing a 395-foot, wider building to fit all necessary medical services.

[NYguy]

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[chris08876]

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

The City Planning Commission queried Northwell reps about its $2-billion plan to consolidate Lenox Hill Hospital’s 10-building campus into one tall tower. It would either be 436 feet tall or 395 feet tall, with the latter option introduced this year.

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.



[...]


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.”

=====================
https://www.ourtownny.com/news/lenox-hil...mes-before-planning-commission-BX4617627

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-pul...maller-lenox-hill-hospital-redevelopment

Lenox Hill agrees to shrink planned medical tower as it earns key Council approval


AMANDA D'AMBROSIO
August 6, 2025

Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital agreed to shrink the size of its planned medical tower on the Upper East Side to secure key approvals in the City Council on Wednesday.

The council’s land use committee and zoning subcommittee voted unanimously to pass zoning changes at the site of Lenox Hill Hospital to make way for a 370-foot medical tower. The committees approved a much smaller version of the 436-foot tower that Northwell proposed earlier this year, following criticism from local community members that the building was too big and that nearly decade of construction required for the project would disrupt the neighborhood.

Though approval will require Northwell to shave off 66 feet from its blueprint, the tower will still include 475 single-bedded rooms, preserving the patient capacity the health system sought in its original proposal, Councilman Kevin Riley, who chairs the subcommittee on zoning and franchises, said during the meeting. The smaller building comes with a slightly shorter construction timeline; the project will require eight years of construction, including five and half years of external work.

The councilmembers voted to ensure that 95% of the new building will be reserved for medical use only, up from Northwell’s proposal to use 75% of the space for that purpose, and updated a planned ambulance bay to ease traffic on 77th Street.

“Let there be no confusion, this process is difficult,” Upper East Side Councilman Keith Powers said during an explanation of his vote, pointing to the years of negotiations to meet the community’s concern about the project.

“It’s also undeniable that we cannot go down a path of disinvestment and the lack of hospital capacity,” Powers added. “We’ve seen firsthand in Manhattan what it looks like when we lose our hospitals.”

[ChiND]

I wonder if the plan is still to extend this all the way to Park. If so, I'm curious to see the Park Avenue facade.

[chris08876]

Lenox Hill Hospital Expansion Approved by City Council at 100 East 77th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side

The New York City Council unanimously approved plans for the expansion and modernization of Lenox Hill Hospital at 100 East 77th Street in the Lenox Hill district of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by Ennead Architects and Ewing Cole and developed by Northwell Health, the new $2 billion structure is expected to rise 370 feet tall along the eastern half of the city block. The existing 160-foot-tall medical complex is more than 150 years old and is bounded by Lexington and Park Avenues and East 76th and East 77th Streets.

The above rendering looks south from the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 79th Street showing a bulky massing clad in light-gray stone paneling and floor-to-ceiling glass. A setback is located around the midpoint of the tower, and a mechanical bulkhead caps the structure above its flat roof.

According to Northwell Health, the modernization will be the campus’ first in more than 50 years, and will address its issues of undersized rooms, inefficient layouts, and aging infrastructure. The planned modifications and expansion will yield 475 single-occupancy patient rooms, 30 new operating rooms, an expanded emergency department, and a new off-street ambulance bay to prevent traffic congestion. The project will also include a $7.5 million investment in the surrounding community.

Plans also call for a $20 million revamped subway entrance for the 77th Street station on the northeastern corner of the city block, complete with a new elevator for improved ADA accessibility. The following rendering depicts this located within a perimeter of steel columns clad in reflective aluminum paneling, alongside the double-height ground-floor frontage.


Plans for a redevelopment date back to March 2019. The original proposal consisted of a 516-foot-tall medical skyscraper and an adjacent 490-foot-tall, 200-unit apartment tower. This plan would have required the demolition of every building on the city block.

Due to neighborhood opposition, the project was scaled back significantly to its current scope.

================
NYY

[ChiND]

Does anyone know the plan for the Park Avenue side?
I hope that this junk will come down.


D. Fenton/Ourtown.com

[Crawford]

They wanted to build a new Park Ave. residential tower to finance their new hospital tower.

Of course the NIMBYs went crazy, so I believe nothing is happening there.

We could have had an amazing new Park Ave. residential tower and amazing hospital tower, but now we're just getting one squat hospital tower. And the NIMBYs are still mad.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by Crawford

They wanted to build a new Park Ave. residential tower to finance their new hospital tower.

Of course the NIMBYs went crazy, so I believe nothing is happening there.

We could have had an amazing new Park Ave. residential tower and amazing hospital tower, but now we're just getting one squat hospital tower. And the NIMBYs are still mad.

Thanks, Crawford. Will the new hospital building extend to Park, or will this junk remain on Park?

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Crawford

They wanted to build a new Park Ave. residential tower to finance their new hospital tower.

Of course the NIMBYs went crazy, so I believe nothing is happening there.

We could have had an amazing new Park Ave. residential tower and amazing hospital tower, but now we're just getting one squat hospital tower. And the NIMBYs are still mad.

I don't get the NIMBY concerns either with the out of scale. All they are doing is losing out on potential beds and more concentration of medical resources.

They used the excuse of ambulance noise too. There's always ambulance noise. Every corner, between the fire trucks and PD. Always sirens. Wouldn't have made a difference.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by chris08876

They used the excuse of ambulance noise too. There's always ambulance noise. Every corner, between the fire trucks and PD. Always sirens. Wouldn't have made a difference.

Siren noise is the official sound of New York, especially in Manhattan. Sirens, horns honking, and people. It’s not New York without it.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by ChiND

Thanks, Crawford. Will the new hospital building extend to Park, or will this junk remain on Park?

The U-shaped central building... the wing on the right and everything parallel to the right of it is where the new building goes.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

The U-shaped central building... the wing on the right and everything parallel to the right of it is where the new building goes.

Thanks. I wonder if the eyesores on Park will get a matching facade at least.

[Busy Bee]

My prediction is it probably does get a res tower replacing the Park properties, but not for another 10+ years.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

My prediction is it probably does get a res tower replacing the Park properties, but not for another 10+ years.

That would be good. Could you imagine how wildly successful a Stern on Park would be?