Neighbors Wont See the Light of New Cancer Center
By [Megan Bungeroth] A hospital renowned for cancer research and treatment is finding itself at odds with the Upper East Side community as some residents claim that their own health and well-being is being threatened by a planned new facility. Memorial Sloan-Kettering plans to construct a new outpatient cancer surgery center on York Avenue near East 61st Street and is seeking several variances from the Department of Buildings in order to make adjustments to the as-of-right allowances for the site. Both the as-of-right plan and the requested adjusted plan, however, would build right up to the lot line windows of 440 E. 62nd St., a residential co-op building with 144 units. â??We have three points of light coming into our apartment: the kitchen, the living room and the bedroom, said Ross Maller, a resident of the building. â??They"re looking to make it so that it covers every sunlight point in every apartment on the south side of the building. Dozens of residents attended the meeting to express their dismay over the hospital"s plans, decrying the entire project, regardless of the variances sought. Since the lot line windows in the co-op are technically illegal, according to current building codes, the adjacent property owner is allowed to build right up to those windows, essentially blocking them. A few people spoke in support of the new center, which will be the Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases and will specialize in complex outpatient cancer surgeries, allowing patients to return home after about 20 hours instead of several days or weeks. Alex Zimmer, who lives on East 84th Street, said that he"s been a cancer patient himself for close to nine years, and he welcomes the new facility to the neighborhood. â??It"s much better to be treated within 24 hours, and it"s much better for my family who drops me off and picks me up to be able to do that in the same day, Zimmer said. The crowd was so heated that a few people booed him. Shelly Friedman, an attorney for Memorial Sloan-Kettering, presented the hospital"s case. If the hospital were to build without the variances, it would be a taller, slimmer building with 20 stories's 336 feet tall, including mechanical equipment on the roof. But they need more square footage per floor, Friedman said, in order to accommodate the needs of the surgical suites as well as comply with federal and state guidelines for hospital safety and building codes. â??We actually really tried to make the as-of-right building work, Friedman said. It would be incredibly inefficient and costly, he said, to spread patients out over eight floors, which the taller building would necessitate, rather than three, under is the new plan. Each of the twelve planned surgical suites requires a certain amount of space, and doctors and hospital staff need access to certain equipment on each floor. But residents of 440 E. 62nd St. were not persuaded; even though the as-of-right building would also block their windows in 57 units, they insist that at least there would be slightly more space between them and the new construction if the variances were to be denied and building were narrower. Several residents, clearly distressed at the impending project that will change their homes forever, even tried to turn back the clock, demanding to know why Sloan-Kettering needs to build on that particular site and suggesting that they instead scrap the project and move it up to business-starved Harlem, where the land is cheaper. â??East Harlem is ripe for this kind of development, said board member David Rosenstein. Others expressed concern over increased traffic on York Avenue and issues that will arise with construction, like noise and dust. Friedman said that the hospital will meet with local residents to ensure that their concerns are addressed. Many implored the board to hold off on making any official recommendations, though Friedman said the hospital would proceed with or without a resolution. The board decided to hold the vote and discuss the project in depth before making a decision. An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote about development in East Harlem to board member Barry Schneider. The speaker was board member David Rosenstein.