Cobble Hill

LICH Update: SUNY board calls special meeting re Fortis sale, and more

June 24, 2014 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Councilmember Carlos Menchaca at LICH rally. Photo by Mary Frost
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* The State University of New York (SUNY) board of trustees last Tuesday endorsed the sale of Long Island College Hospital (LICH) campus in Cobble Hill to the Fortis Property Group. The controversial deal, if finalized, would close the 156-year-old hospital and replace it with market rate condos and 80,000 to 90,000 square feet of ambulatory health services, doctors’ offices and a “stand-alone ER” operated by NYU-Langone and other providers.

* The SUNY board set a special meeting for Wednesday, June 25, at 10 a.m. to discuss the sale of LICH. The meeting will take place at The Global Center, 116 East 55th Street, New York, New York

* Community groups and local officials working to keep the hospital open issued statements condemning the sale to a developer, as did members of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican/ Hispanic and Asian Caucus. The caucus objected to SUNY’s decision to bypass two higher-ranked minority bidders to go with third-ranked Fortis, owned by the prominent Williamsburg Satmar Hasids Louis Kestenbaum and his son Joel. Mobilizing Preachers & Communities (MPAC) also issued a statement objecting to the same on similar grounds.

* In the meantime, political fallout appears to be growing. In an opinion piece, Raanan Geberer asks, “Will Gov. Andrew Cuomo have to pay at the polls because of LICH the way Christine Quinn did because of St. Vincent’s Hospital?”





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