Joint Statement Opposing Northwell Health’s Redevelopment Plan for Lenox Hill Hospital
FRIENDS of the Upper East Side, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, and CIVITAS are long-standing advocates for the Upper East Side. We strongly oppose Northwell/Lenox Hill’s out-of-scale plan. We urge elected officials to demand a revised proposal that is closer to as-of-right, and to ask Northwell to provide alternative approaches to the construction process, as well as alternatives to the project itself.
Northwell Health’s proposal to expand Lenox Hill Hospital’s full-block campus between 76th and 77th streets and Park and Lexington avenues requires a massive upzoning of the Lexington Avenue site and the midblock on East 76th Street, threatening carefully-calibrated zoning protections that are designed to maintain the character of Park and Lexington Avenues and their low-rise midblock corridors. The proposal includes a 436-foot-tall hospital tower with massive floorplates rivaling those of the Freedom Tower, and exceeding those of any other hospital tower in the area. It disregards Lexington Avenue’s historically recognized constraints as a narrow, pedestrian-heavy, retail-oriented corridor with “special neighborhood character.” Similarly, the proposed tall building additions along 76th Street would disrupt the hard-won, low-rise character of the mid-blocks, which are largely residential.
The City deserves world class medical institutions. The Upper East Side is already well served by excellent hospitals. We appreciate that Northwell/Lenox Hill need to upgrade their service, but we believe there is a way for Northwell to do that without such a negative impact on the character and quality of life of the neighborhood.
The current proposal is outsized compared to the existing zoning, and the transportation improvement is out of proportion to proposed transit upgrades. It’s hard to understand how experts in medicine and architecture cannot improve service within the bounds of zoning that everyone else follows. We ask the Department of City Planning to urge Northwell to explore a more sensitive approach that ensures transparency, respects neighborhood history, and aligns with existing zoning protections.
The plan is grossly disproportionate. For an expansion yielding just 25 new beds, the 80% increase in building density is excessive and unjustified. The proposed scale raises severe environmental, infrastructure, and neighborhood character concerns, along with disruptions from a whopping 11-year construction timeline. Approving such a plan sets a dangerous precedent for contextual zoning and unchecked institutional expansion citywide.
Since their founding, our organizations have worked to preserve the unique character and livability of our city’s neighborhoods through sound, context sensitive planning as a vital tool of balanced urban development. The Northwell building proposal is antithetical to our collective efforts.
Lenox Hill Hospital has a long legacy on this block that goes back 150 years and predates Park Avenue’s transformation into a residential corridor. Established as the German Hospital in 1869, its architectural and historical footprint exemplifies the history of Yorkville. Several buildings connected to this history on the projected development site, including the Achelis and West buildings (c. 1916 by I.E. Ditmars) and the Einhorn (built 1937 by York & Sawyer) are set to be demolished. They are integral to the Upper East Side’s historic fabric.
We urge Northwell to seize this opportunity to propose a new build program that is more empathic to its surrounding neighborhood.