A number of local elected officials squared off against a pair of celebrity Greenwich Village residents in the ongoing debate over the construction of a new St. Vincent’s Hospital.

The City Council speaker, Christine Quinn; the president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer; state Senator Thomas Duane, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler all officially endorsed plans for a new 299-foot tall hospital that would require the demolition of the O’Toole Building at 12th Street and Seventh Avenue.

At a public hearing yesterday the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission heard opposing arguments about the hospital’s “hardship exemption” case, in which hospital administrators must convince the commission that maintaining the O’Toole Building they own interferes with the hospital’s ability to carry out their charitable purpose.

Actors and New York residents Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were among the dozens of people that testified against the new hospital, which is part of a joint proposal with Rudin Management Co.

If the proposal is approved, five buildings will be demolished, and a hospital and luxury apartment tower will be built within the historic district. During the hearing, which was held at New York University, proponents of the hospital, including the president of St. Vincent’s, Henry Amoroso, held a rally outside in Washington Square Park stressing the need for a new medical facility.

Those opposed fear the precedent that a development of this scale within an historic district could set.

The 11-member commission took no action yesterday.