No Affordable Housing For St. Vincent’s Hospital Site

By Kevin Korber of Village Confidential

Among the many objections over the redevelopment of St. Vincent’s Hospital in the Village is the protest that a new development would not include any affordable housing. That doesn’t look to change any time soon, as TheRealDeal reports that developer William Rudin has not made any plans for affordable housing to be included in the project, despite pressure from community leaders to make affordable housing available.

Rudin claims that the cost of purchasing and redeveloping St. Vincent’s Hospital, which reportedly ran up to $1 billion, would make the inclusion of on-site affordable housing unfeasible.

Rudin’s statements came under fire from members of Community Board 2, which has already expressed its disapproval over the sale and redevelopment of St. Vincent’s Hospital. CB2 Land Use Committee chair David Reck argued that the project as it is would be a “burden on the community” and the inclusion of affordable housing would alleviate that burden. Reck did say that the board was open to the possibility of Rudin developing affordable housing in the neighborhood, but away from the St. Vincent’s site.

The St. Vincent’s development is currently still going under the land use review procedure to determine whether or not the development can proceed as planned. Despite opposition in the community, the project has already received approval from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.