
The ongoing saga of Mount Sinai Beth Israel's closure has taken a step forward as Mount Sinai Health System has sold two of its properties for approximately $34 million. The sold locations at 317 and 321 E. 17th Street, previously affiliated with the Gramercy campus, are reportedly officially bought by a shell company. According to deeds registered in the city register, the buying entity, 317 East 17th Street LLC, is tied to developer Joyland Management with an address corresponding to Joyland's base in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood, as reported by Crain's New York.
Interestingly, the transactions for these sales took place on July 25, coinciding with the New York State Department of Health's approval to shutter Beth Israel's doors. In fighting the closure, local officials and community residents are concerned about the reduced access to medical services and have taken to the courts to contest. A state judge, faced with the lawsuit, has temporarily blocked the discontinuation of medical services at Beth Israel's primary facility, despite many doctors and nurses having already vacated their posts seeking job security elsewhere, as outlined in a New York Times report.
Mount Sinai spokesperson, Loren Riegelhaupt, has dismissed any alleged connection between the sale's timing and the closure approval as purely coincidental. "The two buildings on 17th Street have not been used for medical purposes for many years and have stood entirely vacant for more than three years," Riegelhaupt told Crain's New York. The sale is deemed as having no impact on Beth Israel's hospital services on 16th Street as the hospital, burdened with losses of up to $600,000 a day, plans to use the proceeds to mitigate these financial damages.
Joyland Management, moving swiftly after the purchase closure on December 16, has already filed permits for merging the two properties and converting them into a 13-story mixed-use building. The redevelopment plan includes 96 apartments, although it remains unclear whether these units will be condos, rentals, or feature below-market-rate apartments—a point of contention among local leaders who have advocated for affordable housing on these properties. These developments taking place as Beth Israel is also required by the Health Department to partially compensate for the imminent service vacuum by funding an ER expansion at Bellevue Hospital and operating a round-the-clock urgent care center for a limited period, "for now," according to Mount Sinai spokesperson Riegelhaupt's statement obtained by the New York Times.
In the reflection of Beth Israel's century-long history, the community grapples with the continuing trend of hospital closures in Manhattan with the past loss of Cabrini and St. Vincent's hospitals. Activist Mark Hannay, referring to the potential shuttering of Beth Israel, voiced concerns in a letter to the state health commissioner about a "dangerous gap in availability of emergency care in Lower Manhattan," thus highlighting deeply felt trepidations surrounding healthcare accessibility in the densely populated urban area, as detailed by the New York Times. As the legal battle ensues, Beth Israel for the meantime remains operational, a beacon of healthcare amidst the waves of change lapping at its foundation.