The Cobble Hill Community and its Representatives Reject Fortis Redevelopment Plans for LICH site

City Councilman Brad Lander, New York Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, and New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez announced at the Cobble Hill Association's fall community meeting that they would not support the current proposed rezoning (ULURP) plans for the former Long Island College Hospital site. "The community does not support this ULURP proposal— and neither do I," Councilman Lander told his constituents, who filled the auditorium of P.S. 29 and also spoke passionately against the Fortis plans, which feature luxury high-rise towers of at least 35 stories.  Cobble Hill Association President Laurel Burr and First Vice President Buzz Doherty also reported that, after holding nearly 20 block meetings to discuss the Fortis proposals, there was a clear consensus within the community that the redevelopment plans were unacceptable and needed to be significantly downscaled to win neighborhood approval. The CHA would like to thank our representatives for their work on behalf of Cobble Hill and our President Laurel Burr for her tireless efforts to mobilize community action on this vital issue. Please follow us on Facebook for the latest developments. 

CHA Response to Fortis' Current Plans

Here is the complete text of the Cobble Hill Association’s response to the Fortis As-of-Right and ULURP Proposals (as they were presented on May 18, 2015). This was first presented on July 14, 2015 to local elected officials including Council Member Brad Lander, State Assemblywoman JoAnne Simon, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Diana Reyna, Council Member Levin’s deputy chief of staff, Casey Adams, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez’s Brooklyn director, Dan Wiley, Brooklyn Community Board 6 and the Fortis Property Group development team. This was also handed out in printed form at the meeting held by Council Member Lander on August 6th.

Announcing an Important Public Meeting for the LICH Development Site

Thursday, August 6 from 6:30 to 8:30pm

at the Brooklyn Montessori School

at 185 Court Street (at Bergen Street)

This meeting will include a brief presentation of the options put forth by Fortis, followed by opportunities for community feedback and discussion. All are invited to attend.

The Cobble Hill Association would like to extend our special thanks to Council Members Brad Lander and Steve Levin, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, State Senator Daniel Squadron, State Assembly Woman Jo Ann Simon, and Congress Woman Nydia Velézquez for all their hard work in decveloping htis process, and also to the Fortis Property Group for their commitment to work with the community.
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Here is Friday's press release:

July 24, 2015: NYC Council Member Brad Lander, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, NYS Senator Daniel Squadron, NYS Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, NYC Council Member Stephen Levin, Brooklyn Community Board 6, and the Cobble Hill Association issued the following statement regarding the future of the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) Site:

“Local elected officials, Community Board 6, and the Cobble Hill Association are working together to involve the community in the future of the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) site.

Fortis Property Group, LLC was selected to purchase the LICH campus through an RFP process managed by the State University of New York, after it decided to close LICH. This process was staunchly opposed by elected officials and community organizations.

To date, Fortis has indicated that two options exist for the redevelopment of the core LICH site: (a) an “as-of-right” option, which does not require discretionary public approvals, which would include about 400 market-rate units, and (b) a rezoning or “ULURP” option, which would roughly double the number of residential units and include affordable housing units, space for a public school, increased park space and more small retail opportunities. A rezoning would require review by the Community Board, Borough President, and City Planning Commission, and approval by the City Council.

Both of the proposed options present development that is dramatically out-of-scale with the adjacent Cobble Hill Historic District, which has a height limit of 50 feet (in each case, the tallest building Fortis proposes would be over 40 stories). In either scenario, NYU Langone will also build an approximately 108,000 sq. ft. health center at the corner of Atlantic and Hicks.

We will continue to work together to ensure all of the community’s options are explored. This working group will help organize public dialogue about the options. It is not a decision-making body, and will not recommend that Fortis pursue a particular option. Rather it will organize forums where residents, businesses, and stakeholders (including the Brooklyn Heights Association and Atlantic Avenue BID, both of whom represent areas adjacent to the LICH site) can learn more about the various options, weigh in on Fortis’ potential development options, propose alternatives, and provide community feedback. All stakeholders (elected officials, the community board, community organizations, individuals, etc.) will ultimately make their own decisions about Fortis’ proposals.

Over the next 2-3 months, the working group will organize several open, public meetings where Fortis will present their proposals and consider feedback, as well as several smaller meetings with stakeholders to drill-down on specific issues including: urban design, parks/open space, retail/commercial, the health care facility, the potential public school, potential affordable housing, and traffic/parking/transit and other infrastructure concerns.

A public meeting will take place the evening of Thursday August 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Brooklyn Montessori School at 185 Court Street, at Bergen Street, in Cobble Hill. The meeting will include a brief presentation of the options put forth by Fortis, followed by opportunities for community feedback and discussion. All are welcome to attend."

LICH settlement: Electeds' Statements today, CHA statement tomorrow

Big updates on the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) settlement have been floating around news desks today. Below are statement excerpts from elected officials. The official Cobble Hill Association will come tomorrow, Friday, February 21st.

Our most steadfast supporters, local electeds Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and City Councilmembers Brad Lander, Steve Levin, and Carlos Menchaca jointly released the following statement:

We've long urged SUNY and the State to agree to a new, more open RFP process for LICH, to make sure our community and all of Brooklyn have the best possible healthcare outcome.  And, finally, SUNY has come to agreement with the community and healthcare providers on a process that achieves this basic goal, while offering added transparency and community input. Now, it's critical that the process moves forward in good faith and in a timely way, with meaningful community participation from the many neighborhoods that LICH serves. We will continue to work with SUNY, the community, and our colleagues to ensure that LICH continues to provide care, and play the role that Brooklyn needs.

An excerpt of Mayor Bill DeBlasio's statement is as follows. 

For months, we were told the free-fall closure of Long Island College Hospital was inevitable. We fought back. We went to court to keep the padlocks off the doors. We fought shoulder to shoulder with this community and used all the tools of city government to press for a better outcome. And now, we have a resolution that finally puts people's health first.

His full statement is available here. 

An excerpt of Governor Cuomo's follows below.

Today’s agreement is a victory for all parties involved and paves the way for putting a long-term, sustainable health care facility in place for the residents of Brooklyn,” Governor Cuomo said. “We are in the midst of a health care transformation here in New York State, and the reality is that yesterday’s costly, inefficient models of delivering service are no longer viable options for tomorrow. Under the terms of today’s agreement, SUNY is reopening the solicitation process to find a new operator for LICH that will guide the facility as it modernizes and continues its important mission of serving New Yorkers.

His full statement is available here. 

Tomorrow, we will post the official Cobble Hill Association response to the close of litigation and the start of improved health care for our community.

Elected Officials Join the CHA's Condemnation of SUNY's "Transparent" RFP for LICH.

This press below press release was sent out this afternoon, adding a wide range of support to the Cobble Hill Association's own disappointment in SUNY's most recent actions regarding Long Island College Hospital.

BROOKLYN ELECTED OFFICIALS RESPOND TO SUNY ON LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL

BROOKLYN -- Today, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Councilmembers Brad Lander, Steve Levin, and Carlos Menchaca sent the following letter to State University of New York (SUNY) Chairman Carl McCall regarding Long Island College Hospital (LICH):

February 1, 2014

H. Carl McCall, Chairman, Board of Trustees

The State University of New York

33 West 42nd Street

New York, NY 10036

Dear Chairman McCall,

As federal, state and city elected officials representing the community impacted by Long Island College Hospital, we are deeply disappointed in the wide gap between your letter of January 30, which claims SUNY has embarked on a process that is “reopened and publicly transparent,” and your continued actions, which neither correct the deficiencies of the July Request for Proposals (RFP), nor add meaningful transparency. As we have told you collectively, SUNY's current path is not legal and will not lead to the best possible conclusion to address the community's needs. As such, we will not participate in this process.

For more than a year, each of us, along with community organizations and healthcare providers, have urged SUNY to adopt a truly fair and open process with the shared goal of preserving healthcare in Brooklyn. At every step, including at the meeting convened by Public Advocate James and referenced in your January 30 letter, we have been rebuffed. 

As we have expressed repeatedly, a good-faith effort to solve the crisis at LICH must include a fundamentally improved process, with healthcare focused priorities and significant community representation throughout. As you know, allotting the community merely one token representative per committee is deeply insufficient, as is the continuation of the same RFP process that has been rejected since July.

We have outlined a process to reach a reasonable conclusion. We again implore SUNY to engage it substantively. SUNY's unwillingness to meaningfully address our concerns needlessly risks extending the process indefinitely.

Sincerely,

Nydia M. Velazquez, Member of Congress

Daniel Squadron, State Senator

Joan Millman, Assembly Member

Brad Lander, City Councilmember

Stephen T. Levin, City Councilmember

Carlos Menchaca, City Councilmember

A weekend of #SaveLICH advocacy

Taken by Cobble Hill Blog

As many in the neighborhood know, the illegal LICH closure has moved forward at a rapid pace. SUNY Downstate, who has been mismanaging the facilities and aim's to sell off the property to pay other debt, has defied court orders and this weekend began diverting ambulances from the hospital and moving current patients out of the facility. This stirred not only many calls and emails aimed at Governor Cuomo, who has still yet to act in any way, but rallied the community and our local elected leaders to action.

For details of some of this weekend's rally, check out this article on the Cobble Hill blog.
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8860

Also, always find the latest LICH updates on the CHA facebook and twitter accounts.

Cobble Hill Congresswoman shines

Amidst the rush of the holidays, we never got to post this little gem....
I caught a tweet from @SailorX, a Capitol Hill producer for NBC News, who said Fox News was reporting Cobble Hill's own congressional rep Nydia Velaquez was the very last member to come in and vote on the 9-11 first responders' health care bill. Why wasn't our rep one of the very first to come and vote for such a critical NYC issue? Was she simply taking her time for no reason? Absolutely not...

"Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) was the last member to come in and vote....just before they closed it around 5:38 pm. She was wearing sweat pants and New Balance track shoes, no coat and crying. I asked her why it was so important for her to come back.

"I was torn between two important things that I care about," Velazquez said fighting back tears. "My mother and the 9-11 responders."

Velazquez says her 90-year-old mother is in San Juan and suffering from bleeding ulcers. Velazquez said her plane landed at 5:20 pm and she came directly to the Capitol to vote. She will return to Puerto Rico tomorrow morning." (Read more: http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/i-want-you-to-see-this-rep-nydia-velazquez/#ixzz19evE3XJn)

If you'd like to reach out and thank the Congresswoman directly, visit her website for contact info.
http://www.house.gov/velazquez/contact/index.html

Street Cars from the Past in Brooklyn's Future?

Brooklyn Historic Railway Association.

Just days after local papers and blogs spoke of Bob Diamond possibly leaving the borough and ending the not-to-be-missed Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours, the Department of Transportation finally announced they're beginning a "Study To Determine Feasibility Of Streetcars In Brooklyn." This is wonderful news for transit-starved Red Hook as well as all of its neighboring communities. Special thanks to Representative Nydia Velázquez and Brooklyn Street Car guru, Bob Diamond, for persistent years advocating for the innovative and sustainable form of transportation.

"Once again, we're looking back to the future with our transportation network," said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. "Once ubiquitous in New York City's streetscape, streetcars remain part of the transportation mix in cities from Toronto to Melbourne, and we need to consider all options to improve transit access in underserved neighborhoods like Red Hook."

The full DOT press release can be read here...
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2010/pr10_040.shtml

and check out a related posts about it at the WSJ here, Streetsblog here, 2nd Ave Sagas here, and the NYT here.

SPRING, 2010 GENERAL MEETING

Please join us for the Cobble Hill Association, Spring general meeting. Keynote speaker will be our Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.

Time: 7:30 P.M.
Date: Monday, May 10, 2009
Place: Long Island College Hospital
Conference Room A
Enter at main entrance 339 Hicks (at Atlantic)

Agenda:
1) Election of Cobble Hill Association Officers:
       Roy Sloane, President
       Dave "Paco" Abraham, 1st VP
       Ron Lau, 2nd VP
       Elizabeth Velikonja, Treasurer
       Dereck Denkla, Membership Secretary
       C.Murray Adams, Corresponding Secretary
       Laurie Maurer, Recording Secretary
2) President's Report
3) Presentation of Cobble Hill Hero Awards
4) Keynote Speaker: Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez

All members of the public are invited. No admission charge.