WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey, September 22, 2006: Paul Wood, City Executive Officer and Susan Habel, Commissioner of Planning presented a speculative subdivsion plan clearing the way for New York Presbyterian Hospital to build if they wished, over 100 homes on the Bryant Avenue side of the New York Presbyterian Hospital property, pending Planning Board approval of such a project.  The city duo said this subdivsion plan was a city-inspired subdivision plan to acquire 5.5 acres of parkland from New York Presbyterian Hospital in return for accepting a 60 acre 125-unit single family home subdivision plan for their property fronting Bryant Avenue.

The Phantom Subdivision Presented by the City last night to the Common Council. Area on diagram shows Bloomingdale's in the upper left corner. Bryant Avenue at base. Parkland to be acquired by the city is at lower left. It was not made clear what the advantage is to New York Presbyterian Hospital in accepting the city proposal, which would according to Mr. Wood, would render the Proton Accelerator/biotech proposal "moot," and unbuildable on its formerly approved site.Photo by WPCNR News.

The Pinnacle Team: William Null, left requested a six month extension of time until Pinnacle submits their guarantee to build affordable housing for Louis Cappelli on The Pinnacle site. Null said they needed the time to acquire grants and tax credits to build the $17 Million project. Null disclosed construction costs had gone up 30 to 40%. Photo, WPCNR News.

In other action, William Null, representing the Pinnacle project, requested a six month extension to the time when they have to post a guarantee and secured financing to build the affordable housing part of their Pinnacle project. The guaranttee is critical for the Ginsburg group to post because it allows Louis Cappelli to open his Ritz-Carlton Hotel one year from now, without being tied to the affordable housing being built at the Pinnacle by that time. The Common Council was reluctantly supportive of the idea, with only Benjamin Boykin, exasperated,  acidly observing "All of us are running out of time. I'm running out of patience."

The Pinnacle attorney, Mr. Null, told the WPCNR, when asked if The Pinnacle was going to start demolition of the existing buildings where The Pinnacle is to rise on Main Street this month, as promised the Council one month ago, said "We're moving forward as best as we can." Asked if this meant the city could expect demolition to begin within this month, Null, repeated, "We're moving forward as best we can."

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The City Team: Paul Wood, Executive Officer, and Susan Habel, Commissioner of Planning. Photo, WPCNR News.

Wood and Habel said the Board of Directors of the New York Presbyterian Hospital had yet to approve the plan. In return for granting White Plains the park, the hospital receives a ready-to-go subdivision plan that has been designed by the City of White Plains should they ever wish sometime in the future to build possibly housing on this portion of their property. Ms. Habel told the Common Council the hospital has agreed to put their proton accelerator-biotech division project on hold for approximately nine months, while the city submitted the "phantom" subdivision plan for Common Council approval.

Habel said that the subdivsion plan would remove the special permit status for the portion of the property covered by the subdivision plan, which included the approved site for the proton accelerato-biotech center.  Should the council approve the memorandum of understanding, the hospital would not be able to build the proton accelerator on its present approved site because it is within the "phantom subdivision" the city has prepared.  The subdivision is simply an option for the hospital, Wood and Habel made clear, offering the hospital the opportunity to build 131 homes on 60 acres if the hospital wished to do so at some future date in return for the 5.5 acres.  Habel said the acreage covered was not an "environmentally sensitive site."

Martin Cohen, Vice President for Real Estate for New York Presbyterian Hospital,  walking ahead of reporters Keith Eddings, Alex Phillipidis and yours truly down the City Hall steps, answered questions on his departure. 

Cohen said when I asked him if the hosptial was actively considering building housing on the city-inspired subdivsion land, said offering the opportunity for building housing "was definitely an interesting option."

When asked why the New York Presbyterian Hospital would agree to this proposal which was initiated by the city according to Wood and Habel, Cohen declined to offer an explanation.

Informed by WPCNR that the proton accelerator/biotech project should the Hospital accept the subdivision would effectively prevent the proton accelerator/biotech project being built without another approval process for another area of the site, Cohen said, "It does? I wasn't aware of that."

Cohen said the hospital was not actively shopping the subdivided property and had not explored it. Cohen refused to talk about the status of the proton accelerator/biotech project and what priority it occupies in the New York Presbyterian Hospital's future plans. 

The removal of the special permit of the hospital, only applies to the subdivision area, and does not apply to the 114 acres on the north end of the property. Previously, during the approval process of the proton accelerator/biotech research center had ruled out areas on the North end of the property as being too small to accommodate the requirements of the complex.

Ms. Habel said a Memorandum of Understanding would be forthcoming to the Council outlining the proposal in more detail.

In other news...

At the public hearings on the procedure of the City applying to the Empire State Development Corporation, for $1.4 Million in grants to Cappelli Enterprises for demolition and asbestos removal at 189 Main Street and $1 Million for the Pinnacle, no one appeared to comment, and the Council passed the resolutions unanimously.

The council adjourned to executive session to discuss what reporters speculated was discussion of pending litigation against the County of Westchester to protest the city not being given right of first refusal on the disposal of the Grand Avenue Post Office property, which the county agreed to lease to HANAC and Bluestone to build a $60 Million plus affordable housing project last week.

The city fathers were very positive about accepting a hydrogen filling station on the Department of Public Works site to fuel hydrogen vehicles the city announced it was acquiring in a news conference Thursday morning.