Following the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s discussions regarding the St. Vincent’s Replacement Hospital project, St. Vincent’s has announced that it intends to seek a hardship exemption to demolish its O’Toole building in order to move forward on its plan to provide a 21st-century, state-of-the art green hospital for the West Side of Manhattan. It also stands ready to amend its LPC application in the event the Rudin Family decides to modify its plans to develop the current hospital campus for residential use.

“While we are disappointed by the discussions of the Landmarks Preservation Commission as it pertains to the O’Toole site, we understand that the Commission’s scope is to examine the appropriateness of demolition within the historic district. Nevertheless, St. Vincent’s remains focused on building a 21st century medical center for the West Side of Manhattan, and will move forward with a hardship application, an avenue provided for in the Landmarks laws,” said Henry Amoroso, President and CEO of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers. “The reality is that the O’Toole site is the only location where we can build a fully efficient, state-of-the-art green hospital to serve the people of New York. We are committed to continuing our more than 150-year mission of providing quality healthcare to an enormous number of New Yorkers, and we will return as soon as possible to the Landmarks Commission with a hardship application for the demolition of the O’Toole building.”

The Landmarks laws allow non-profit applicants, such as St. Vincent’s, to apply for a hardship exemption in situations where the Commission is not prepared to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for demolition, but finds that the structure is unusable for the non-profit’s charitable purposes.

For more information, please contact:

Michael Fagan
Vice President, Public Affairs
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers
(212) 604-7965