Deal to replace NYU at LICH “almost impossible”: report

State officials say potential bidders are wary following a flurry of legal actions

From left: NYU Langone Medical Center and Long Island College Hospital
From left: NYU Langone Medical Center and Long Island College Hospital

Fear of becoming embroiled in a lengthy legal battle contributed to NYU Langone Medical Center’s decision to step away from a potentially lucrative deal to operate a facility at Long Island College Hospital. Now, the same worry could keep another hospital from taking NYU’s place.

The state has held conversations with more than one potential operator, but the bulk of litigation surrounding the project is making bidders reluctant, a state official with knowledge of the talks told Capital New York. That could leave Fortis Property Group without an operator for the limited medical facility that it agreed to establish when it bid $240 million for the state-owned site, where it plans to build luxury residences.

“People are working around the clock … and expectations are low,” the state official told the news site. “To have anyone come in and offer what NYU was proposing seems almost impossible.”

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Judge Johnny Lee Baynes, a Brooklyn Supreme Court justice, advised the New York State Nurses Union to file suit against NYU Langone and Fortis to resolve a dispute over hiring at the medical component of the site. Sources told Capital New York that NYU officials believed Baynes was trying to get them to commit to a larger operation than they originally proposed.

“[Justice Johnny Lee] Baynes has been pushing for a full service [hospital] for months,” a state official told the news site. [Capital NY]Tom DiChristopher