UES residents bring planned hospital to court

A rendering of a planned health care complex on the Upper East Side
A rendering of a planned health care complex on the Upper East Side

WEEKENDEDITION Some Upper East Side residents loathe the new 1.1 million-square-foot hospital facility coming to their posh enclave. And having exhausted other means of protest, a community group is now taking the project to court.

A group of a dozen neighbors, known as Residents for Reasonable Development, accuses the city of granting special permits for the $226 million complex. They also object to the size of the project, which will include a 350-foot-tall Hunter College nursing school and a 450-foot-tall Memorial Sloan-Kettering clinic that will block locals’ sweeping East River views, according to the New York Post.

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“The approvals given by the City Planning Commission and City Council were not in accordance with a well-considered plan or to serve the general welfare, but were given for the sole benefit of [the developers], in violation of the law,” the suit, filed Friday, states.

Construction on the facility, which will be located on the block next to the FDR between East 73rd and East 74th streets, is scheduled to start next year. [NYP]Christopher Cameron