Jewish Home Approval Requires Public Participation

We, as residents and advocates of the Park West Village neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and

We, as advocates of quality nursing home care in New York State and throughout the United States, and

We, as advocates of public participation in community-based planning everywhere,

call upon you to rectify the failure of the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council to respect the rule of law in granting their approval to Jewish Home and Hospital to construct a 20-story, 408-bed nursing home on West 100th Street in Manhattan.

WHEREAS:

The State Department of Health has granted approval to Jewish Home to construct a 20-story nursing home on West 100th Street without public notice, and without any opportunity for the residents of the surrounding neighborhood and their elected representatives to present any information to the Department concerning the proposed building or its sponsor, Jewish Home.

The State Department of Health has circumvented the requirements of the Public Health Law and the State Hospital Code for obtaining approval to construct a nursing home, by treating Jewish Homes application to construct a building on West 100th Street as a modification of a previously approved application to construct a much smaller building on West 106th Street.

The State Department of Health has ignored the fact that the application it approved for West 106th Street describes a 14-story, 305,000-square-foot building, while the application it approved for West 100th Street without public notice describes a 20-story, 378,000-square-foot building that represents a 43-percent increase in height and a 24-percent increase in floor area.

The State Department of Health has ignored the fact that the proposed West 100th Street location is currently the site of a narrow parking lot located on the block that already bears the most overwhelming traffic burden of any block on the Upper West Side or in Manhattan Valley, that it poses a threat to the health and safety of the residents of the proposed nursing home and to the residents of the surrounding neighborhood, and that it does not comply with the site requirements of the State Hospital Code.

The State Department of Healths review of Jewish Homes application to construct a nursing home on West 100th Street lacks any analysis of compliance either by the proposed building or by its sponsor, Jewish Home with all applicable codes, rules, and regulations as required by the Public Health Law.

The State Hospital Review and Planning Council granted its approval to construct a building on West 106th Street on August 7, 2008, 18 months before Jewish Home filed its application to construct a much larger building on West 100th Street on February 2, 2010. The Council has never placed Jewish Homes West 100th Street application on the calendar of its Project Review Committee for public comment, even though this new, 155-page application warrants an entirely new approval process.

NOW, THEREFORE:

We, the undersigned, call upon you the heads of the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council to respect the right of Park West Village neighborhood residents to public participation in a decision that affects them directly and to respect the rule of law, by holding public hearings on Jewish Homes application to construct a 20-story nursing home on West 100th Street as the Public Health Law empowers you to do.

The approval process for the construction of any nursing home must include public participation by the residents of the surrounding neighborhood, their elected representatives, and advocates of quality nursing home care.