A group of residents formed the Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood (“CPOLHN”) in 2018 when Northwell first announced its plans to build a hospital tower on Lexington Avenue along with a residential tower on Park Avenue. Our mission was, and continues to be, to protect the residential character of the neighborhood.
The Committee and its supporters protested with Op-Eds, rallied outside Lenox Hill Hospital, attended, presented at many Community Board 8 meetings, and met with NYS and City elected politicians. We received much press coverage on local news sites (see links below). To date, more than 8,000 supporters have signed a petition against the project with over 3,000 supporters in the local Lenox Hill zip codes.
Click HERE to sign the petition. Outreach is critical. Our politicians will listen to their constituencies. Please email this one-pager (link) to your friends and neighbors and ask them to join us.
Key members of the Committee and some of our key supporters held seats on a Task Force lead by then Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Member Keith Powers. At that time, the residential tower was dropped from the plans before everything (including the Task Force) was paused in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
In March 2021 the Zoning and Development Committee of Community Board 8 voted unanimously to reject the original Northwell proposal and the entire Board voted 35-3 against it.
The Committee was reactivated in full force when Northwell announced its “new” plans in December 2022. More than 200 people recently participated in a Community Board 8 Zoning Committee meeting when Northwell disclosed its “new” Hospital proposal. And, numerous supporters spoke passionately at the March 2nd NYC Planning Commission’s Preliminary Scoping meeting and subsequently submitted more than 55 written testimonies against the Hospital’s proposal.
The Committee To Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood is a 501C3 nonprofit, financed by contributions from member buildings and individual residents. Budget allocations cover fees for hiring experts in city planning, healthcare, zoning, health equity, environmental assessment, and public relations. All other staff are unpaid volunteers.