Update: St. Vincent's
5/3/10: On Friday, April 30, St. Vincent's hospital closed its doors after 161 years in operation. For many neighborhood residents, the question remains of what will happen to the hospital buildings left behind. Below, reprinted from an April report by GVSHP is a discussion of the possible fate of those buildings.
O'Toole building demolishment cannot be transferred.
The plan to demolish the O’Toole Building to make way for a large new hospital, which was granted as a hardship exemption, cannot be transferred to another entity. Therefore if someone else takes over the site, they would not have permission to demolish the O’Toole Building, and would not have permission to build the planned 280 ft. tall building.
Remaining buildings not protected.
As for the plan to retrofit four of the buildings of the current hospital on the ‘East Campus’ (east of 7th Avenue) for residential use and to demolish four others to be replaced by new condo development, those plans were approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and could in theory be acted upon regardless of what happens to the hospital, and could even be transferred to another developer, so long as St. Vincent’s consented. However, the condo development plans also require very large scale and very complicated zoning changes, which would entail months of public hearings and votes of approval by the City Council, City Planning Commission, and Borough President (St. Vincent’s began the process of seeking these approvals last year, but halted them before any were granted when their financial situation became dire). Thus no changes in use or new development should take place on the East Campus either without, at the very least, a full land use review procedure, which would take many months, many votes of approval, and would provide many opportunities for the public to weigh in and have a say in the process.
Centrentset Winter '09 newsletter available online
The winter newsletter from Centrentset has details about our annual shareholder meeting, capital project updates and other topics of interest to residents. Please click here to download.
Centrentset in Habitat Magazine:
(Reprinted from Habitat Magazine, December, 2009.)
Façade & Lamppost Restoration.
17-145-149 West 12th Street, a 103-unit cooperative turning 100 years old in 2010, located in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, recently completed a multi-level restoration project. To restore the façade to its original look, the board undertook a sensitive paint removal project to bring the original limestone back to the surface and used limestone restoration materials to fix any cracks. All marble flooring in the co-op was also cleaned. The next project was the installation of lampposts matching those originally located on the front limestone stoops of each building. The original lantern lampposts were powered by gas; the new ones, manufactured by Herwig Lighting, were wired for electricity by H&L Electric. S&M Contracting was responsible for the paint removal and the limestone patching. The architect was Alfred Karman, whose board contact was former Board President, Scott Lauer. The buildings are managed by Eric Ehrenhaus of Buchbinder & Warren. The $40,000 project began in October of 2008 and was completed in May of 2009.
Latest news on St. Vincent's/Rudin project
7/8/09: Crain's New York reported yesterday on the current state of the Rudin/St. Vincent's project here:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090707/FREE/907079977/1049
7/7/09: The New York Times reported on the same story, here:
Two organizations that are currently providing information and updates on the St. Vincent's and Rudin project: Protect the Village Historic District and
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Please visit these sites to find out what you can do to help.
If you would like to email PVHD, their address is: info@protectthevillage.org.
If you would like to email GVSHP, their address is: gvshp@gvshp.org.
Centrentset Spring '09 newsletter available online
The spring newsletter from Centrentset has details about our annual shareholder meeting, capital project updates and other topics of interest to residents. Please click here to download.
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