WPCNR City Hall Dispatch-Reporter. By John F. Bailey. October 23, 2003: Dr. Herbert Pardes in a telephone interview from his office in Manhattan with WPCNR, was very enthusiastic about the agreement announced today by Mayor Joseph Delfino at City Hall in White Plains. Pardes said the exchange of 55 acres of hospital-owned land for rezoning of the Westchester Avenue side of NYPH Property as commercial medical was an "understanding in principle" that had yet to be formally approved by the New York Presbyterian Hospital board.
He told WPCNR: “First of all I want to say I’ve enjoyed working very much with the Mayor. I think it augers well for us to do good things for White Plains and also for New York Presbyterian. We have an understanding in principle. Obviously these things have to be run by their respective boards and councils. We also have to make sure that our sites can be done in a reasonable manner, a reasonable cost, and legal and regulatory. There are all kinds of caveats. This is an enormous hurdle we have overcome. I think we’re very optimistic about the fact that we can get the details laid out over whatever period of time so that the beneficiaries of both sides will be very pleased.”
Asked if the hospital had any plans on how they expected to develop the North side of the property, designated for commercial medical, Pardes said, “Not yet, it’s a little too early for that. There’s nothing I can say about that, because nothing’s set right now.”
Commercial Medical Aims at Partnering for new devices, medicines
WPCNR asked Dr. Pardes what the hospital considered "commercial medical" use, and he commented:
”We’re interested in medical research. We’re interested in biotechnology. We’re interested in health care. We’re interested in health care and medical things we believe can give better medical care to people.
I’m very excited about what’s happening in health care medicine for patients, and we’re working on various things that we think can make it even better for patients. A lot of it has to do with better treatments and research that might lead to better devices. Things like that.”
Pardis said the Delfino-Pardes talks had taken place over the last 6 to 9 months. He said his staff had met with the city staff a number of times, and he had met with the Mayor a half-dozen times.
Hospital Statement on the Agreement:
Shortly after Mayor Joseph Delfino's announcement, New York Presbyterian Hospital issued this statement, confirming the details of the Mayor's statements:
We have had productive discussions with the Mayor and are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle on a new Master Plan in which the hospital will lease 55 acres of park land to the City of White Plains and the Hospital will be granted new, expanded development rights on portions of its Westchester Campus.
A final agreement, which must be approved by the Hospital’s Board of Trustees, must assure that the sites within the rezoned area are fully capable of being developed at reasonable cost. It will also depend on the successful outcome of regulatory and legislative processes, including legally enforceable assurances against future adverse zoning changes.
We expect to establish a long term agreement that reflects the continued strength of our relationship with the City of White Plains.
