WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. December 4, 2006 UPDATED DECEMBER 5, 2006 10:15 P.M. EST.: The New York Presbyterian Hospital through its spokesperson, Geoffrey Thompson issued a statement Tuesday on the Common Council votedown of its proposed Memorandum of Understanding with the City, the statement comments:
"The Hospital is disappointed that the subdivision proposal was not accepted by the Council. We appreciate the efforts of the mayor in this matter."
The hospital chose not to respond to WPCNR's question of whether they would proceed with a subdivision according to existing zoning with a contract-vendee or proceed with the proton accelerator project which has been approved for four years and not started.
The Common Council Monday evening, with Benjamin Boykin casting the deciding vote, in consort with his colleagues, Rita Malmud, Thoma Roach and Dennis Power rejected the Memorandum of Understanding proposed by Mayor Delfino as a mechanism to acquire 6.5 acres of land for public recreation adjacent Bryant Avenue.
The Mayor, speaking after he saw the proposal was going to go down, vowed he would not go back to New York Presbyterian Hospital again, saying "we should have worked more closely with you." Councilpersons Arnold Bernstein and Glen Hockley voted with the Mayor in favor of the Memorandum.
Councilpersons, with Thomas Roach speaking first, followed by Power, Malmud and Boyking all rejected the proposal as a bad precedent, allowing other developers to request the city to spearhead proposals in the future. Councilpersons Boykin and Roach left open the door by asking the hospital to come before the city in the usual existing process, but no councilperson commented on whether the actual division of the property into approximately 126 homes was good for the city.
