New York Methodist Hospital plans get thumbs up

A key Park Slope community board panel did an about-face on New York Methodist Hospital’s contentious expansion plan in the neighborhood, and voted to back the hospital’s plan to Build An Outpatient Services Center On Sixth Street.

Community Board 6’s Landmarks and Land-Use committee initially turned down the plan on November 21. The hospital then presented a revised design for the center on Monday, which the committee then reversed course on, signing off on the plans.

The new renderings show slightly shrunken parts of the three-story upper façade of the nine-story building, located at 506 6th Street.

Still, the panel asked for some minor changes, including that a portion of the center should be scaled down. The group also called for fewer parking spaces, limited signage and the creation of a “construction task force,” though the nature of the task force was not specified, according to the New York Daily News.

“Realistically the hospital does need something,” committee member Jerry Armer told the newspaper, after voting to back the project. “If the Board of Standards and Appeals follows our recommendation, the proposal can be made more acceptable.” [NYDN] – Hiten Samtani