Formation of Committee for Oversight on LICH

Dear Cobble Hill Community,

The call to action: The formation of the Construction Period Task Force to oversee the construction on the former Long Island College Hospital Campus

The projects currently underway on the former LICH Campus and those scheduled there for the near future are so significant in size that they require the coordinated oversight of elected officials, city agencies, the Cobble Hill community, and the developers of the site to preserve public safety and the quality-of-life in Cobble Hill and the surrounding community.
To that end, a Construction Period Task Force has been formed to bring these participants together in a working group to assess current and future problems and to troubleshoot when necessary. The Construction Period Task Force has been organized and is being led by City Councilman Brad Lander and Brooklyn Community Board 6 (CB6) Chair Sayar Lional.
Each month the Task Force will sit down and discuss the issues that require immediate action as well as those problems we anticipate throughout the campus and its multiple sites during this next decade of construction.  The persistent issues of open spaces, traffic, and logistics planning are among these, along with the ground level, street level, and below ground concerns and hazards that face us every day on and near the campus sites. The Task Force is dedicated to addressing the issues that the Cobble Hill community brings forward.

The first meeting of the task force was held on February 1, 2018 and proved to be both informative and productive.

The Cobble Hill Association (CHA) would like to thank our elected officials including Councilmember Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, NYC Public Advocate Letitia James, State Senator Brain Kavanagh and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon for their vigorous support of the community of Cobble Hill in mitigating the enormous negative impact of the LICH Campus development and for their help in the formation of this task force.

The CHA would also like to thank City Hall and Mayor Bill de Blasio for committing to, participating in, and dedicating resources to the task force.  We are grateful for the hard work of the city agencies thus far and for their continued involvement and interest.

The Construction Period Task Force will meet monthly and is made up of the following members:

Councilmember Brad Lander (co-chair)
Brooklyn CB6 – Chair, Sayar Lional (co-chair)
NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer
NYC Public Advocate Letitia James
State Senator Brian Kavanagh
Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams
Office of the Mayor of the City of New York
NYC Department of Buildings (DOB)
NYC Department of Transportation (DOT)
NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
NYC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)
NYC Police Department (NYPD)
Fortis Property Group (FPG)
NYU Langone Cobble Hill (NYU)
Cobble Hill Association (CHA)

Background:

Massive As-of-Right (AOR) development is taking place on the former LICH campus located in the northwestern corner of Cobble Hill, bounded by, and immediately adjacent to, the BQE, Atlantic Avenue, a city park and the Cobble Hill Historic District, which consists of well preserved nineteenth-century buildings.
The CHA has been calling for coordination and greater oversight of this work.
At a public meeting of the CHA on November 28, 2017 Comptroller Scott Stringer called for the formation of a task force to monitor the development of the former LICH campus, to mitigate quality-of-life issues and to ensure the safety of the public and the community.  At that meeting Councilmember Brad Lander quickly added his support and made a commitment to organizing and ensuring the participation of the relevant city agencies.

The campus development will include:

  • A large medical facility (70 Atlantic Avenue)
  • A new tract of townhouses (88-96 Amity Street)
  • Rehabbed historic/landmarked and 100+ year old buildings (350 Henry Street and 97 Amity Street)
  • New residential towers with deep foundations (347 Henry Street, 91 Pacific Street and 350 Henry Street.)
  • Community parks and playgrounds (Henry Street I, II, III and Upper Van Voorhees Park)
  • Easements and other declarations

As of January 2018 there are six active construction sites on the LICH campus:

  • 347 Henry Street – formerly 112 Pacific Street and 349 Henry Street (FPG)
    • New construction – Residential
    • 15 Stories
    • 25 condo units – 3+ BR
    • Main entrance on Henry Street
    • On-site parking with entrances and exits on Amity and Pacific Streets
    • Excavation commenced Nov 2017 (piles are drilled, not driven)
    • No approved building plans by DOB
  • 350 Henry Street – Polhemus Condominiums (FPG)
    • Rehabilitation of existing Landmarked building
    • Approvals by LPC and DOB
    • 17 Condo Units
    • Shared on-site parking with the Polhemus townhouses
    • Slated completion: late 2018
  • 88 – 96 Amity Street – Polhemus Townhouses (FPG)
    • New residential construction
    • Approvals by DOB (LPC not needed)
    • On-site parking with entrance/exit on Amity Street
    • Eight individual townhomes
    • Slated completion: late 2018
  • 70 Atlantic Avenue – formerly 339 Hicks Street (NYU)
    • New construction of a medical facility consisting of an emergency room and other medical units.
    • No approved building plans by DOB
    • Main patient entrance on Atlantic Avenue; ambulance entrance on Hicks Street
    • NYU slated to take possession of the property from SUNY and begin excavation pending Fortis demo completion in the second quarter of 2018
  • 91 Pacific Street – formerly 339 Hicks Street (FPG)
    • New construction of residential condos
    • No approved building plans by DOB
    • 36 Story building – 29 Stories residential above a 7 story base
    • 103 condo units, studio to 4 BR, starting at 7th floor
    • No on-site parking
    • Building cantilevered over NYU
    • Excavation commenced Dec 2017
  • 350 Hicks Street – (FPG)
    • New construction: mixed use
    • No approved building plans by DOB
    • Excavation scheduled to commence end of first quarter 2018
    • 19 stories
    • 48 condo units, studio to 3 BR, starting at 8th floor
    • Community use facility (60,000 sq. ft.): 3rd thru 7th floors
    • On-site parking with 300+ spaces, some dedicated to NYU