NYM, preservation group come to agreement

January 15, 2015 Anna Spivak
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New York Methodist Hospital and Preserve Park Slope—a community organization dedicated to ensuring a high quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors by supporting thoughtful development and economic growth—came to an agreement regarding the expansion of the hospital’s Center for Community Health.

The CCH—an outpatient care center—will be built on hospital-owned property near Fifth Street, Eighth Avenue and Sixth Street, across the street from the hospital’s existing inpatient buildings in Park Slope.

PPS had sued NYM last year over the hospital expansion, which had been approved by the Board of Standards and Appeals, and which will include doctor’s offices, a new ambulatory surgery center, an endoscopy suite, an urgent care center and a comprehensive cancer center including radiation oncology and chemotherapy services on-site, as well as community education and conference facilities. The agreement was signed off on by New York State Supreme Court Justice Alexander Hunter.

“I am pleased that Methodist Hospital and Preserve Park Slope have reached a settlement that enables the expansion project to move forward and responds to community concerns,” said Councilmember Brad Lander. “The expansion of Methodist Hospital is an important part of preserving quality health care in the neighborhood, especially in the midst of a shifting health care landscape, and I look forward to working with the hospital and the neighborhood to ensure the highest level of care for our residents.”

Along with alterations in size and configuration, like eliminating the seventh floor of the new building (reducing the height of the CCH building by approximately 14 feet), the hospital made changes to reduce the effects of the building’s loading dock on nearby residents, and to address on-street parking as part of a traffic management plan to be developed by an agreed-upon expert, the bill for whose services will be footed by NYM.

The hospital is also adding landscaping outside the CCH along Eighth Avenue and moving a pedestrian entrance from the intersection of Eighth Avenue and Sixth Street onto Sixth Street. Going forward, NYM will include representatives of PPS on its design advisory committee and regularly update the status of construction on the hospital’s website.

“We are pleased that we have reached this agreement, which will help to address the community’s concerns regarding the height of the new building, the impact of increased traffic especially on pedestrian safety, and the effect of the new building on the neighborhood character,” said Andrea Stewart, a member of the Preserve Park Slope Executive Committee. “We will continue to work with New York Methodist Hospital to ensure that community input is incorporated into the site’s development.”

Lyn Hill, vice president for communication and external affairs at NYM said that the hospital is “delighted” that that it has been able to “resolve the litigation over the zoning variances” in a friendly manner.

“The settlement will allow us to move forward to construct the new outpatient healthcare facility which is very much needed by the entire Brooklyn community,” added Hill.

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