Greenpoint Hospital (300 Skillman Avenue) was a hospital located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It opened in 1914 and closed in 1982. As of 2016 final disposition of the hospital site's ten buildings were still pending.
History
The hospital initially had six buildings. Talk in 1959 of closing part of the hospital pending "modernization" and a 1968 "crash program to remedy decaying conditions" were part of the hospital's last decades.
At the time of Greenpoint's closing, Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center was deemed to be the community's replacement. Controversy over this matter existed since Woodhull "was completed in 1978 but stood empty for four years because the city said it could not afford to operate it." Even when it opened, it was noted that Woodhull is "five miles away." A subsequent study confirmed that "the amount of time it would take for a vehicle to reach Woodhull from various points in Greenpoint" averaged "just under 40 minutes."
The closing was followed by a series of unkept promises to the neighborhood: instead of a nursing home or senior housing, it became a shelter for homeless men, with the words "a dumping ground" used by neighborhood activists, particularly a 1970s-founded group named Neighborhood Women. It took eight years to reduce the number of men in the facility from "more than 1,100" to 200. By 2010 the city was still promising to use it for affordable housing. In 2016, although some units had been built, the New York Times summarized the situation as another promise: "more participants will bring fresh ideas for this valuable city land."
The hospital had been described as a "10-building complex" and many in the neighborhood claimed they "at least need a substation to keep our people alive in times of emergency." Money had been spent four years prior to build "an emergency wing" and the request resulted in a nine month study which asked "Can a 24-hour emergency facility maintain itself while the other buildings on the grounds are put to alternative uses?"
Greenpoint's closing was followed a year later by that of another neighborhood hospital, Cumberland, both of which were to be "an exchange" for over-half-an-hour-away Woodhull, "one of the most modern and expensive hospitals in the world." Another option had been explored in 1964: "Greenpoint Hospital should be relocated and enlarged, and Kings County Hospital beds should be decreased."
References
- ^ "Court Upholds Closing of Greenpoint Hospital". New York Times. July 16, 1982.
- ^ Matt A.V. Chaban (January 18, 2016). "With Plan for Greenpoint Hospital, Neighbors May Finally Get Their Way". New York Times.
- Tanay Warerkar (September 14, 2018). "See long-abandoned Greenpoint Hospital's future as affordable housing". Curbed NY.
- "Hospital Unit Asks Greenpoint Closing". New York Times. April 17, 1959.
- John Kifner (December 18, 1968). "Defects at Greenpoint Hospital Found to Remain After a Year". New York Times.
- ^ Monica Surfaro (February 9, 1975). "Hospital Study in Greenpoint". New York Times.
- still being sought in 2006: Saki Knafo (August 27, 2006). "Yearning for a Dream Home for the Golden Years". New York Times.
- Ronald Sullivan (August 11, 1983). "A City Hospital in Fort Greene will be closed". New York Times.
- "2 Hospital Changed Urged for Brooklyn". New York Times. October 19, 1964.
External links
40°42′58″N 73°56′23″W / 40.71611°N 73.93972°W / 40.71611; -73.93972
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