Submitted by Delia Guazzo, Jan 22, 2008 11:21

St. Vincent's proposal is not driven by medical or community need so much as it is driven by money and profit. Simply put, St. Vincent=s has stated that it needs to squeeze every dollar from its sale of its current facility. That is not a valid reason to permit it to build the equivalent of a 35-story hospital, one that dwarfs the scale of every other building in the Village. It is even less reason to permit the Rudin Group to receive the benefit of, and expand, St. Vincent=s past waivers of zoning and density restrictions on the basis of St. Vincent=s status as a medical facility. St. Vincent=s is proposing to reduce the number of its beds by almost half, and to move part of its facilities out of the proposed new hospital. Nevertheless, the overall density of the entire proposal, both hospital and residential, is LARGER than the present configuration. In addition, the Rudin Group has refused to reveal its own projections about the scope of the profit it intends to make, and the basis upon which the behemoth Abookend@ of luxury condos is a critical component of its proposal.

The historic value of the Village is an asset that belongs to us all. St. Vincent=s shouldn't be permitted to sell it to the highest bidder.

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