Daily Archives: May 2, 2019

New MSBI will be seven stories

The site is now a vacant lot where a New York Eye and Ear Infirmary building once stood. (Photos by Sabina Mollot)

By Sabina Mollot

The downsizing and relocation of Mount Sinai Beth Israel took a step forward last week when the hospital filed an application to begin construction at its new site on East 13th Street, east of Second Avenue.

According to the filing, the new structure, with the address 315 East 13th Street, will be seven stories plus a cellar and a mechanical penthouse. As of this week, construction workers could be found at the site, now a vacant lot, next to Mount Sinai’s New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Workers were also doing renovations to the infirmary’s basement.

The filing was first reported by YIMBY, who noted that the lot, formerly a 14-story building that housed doctors and staff of the NYEE Infirmary, was demolished last August. The application was filed last Tuesday by the architect Jeffrey Brand of Perkins Eastman.

Continue reading →

Letters to the editor, May 2

Cartoon by Jim Meadows

Why 2020 Census matters

To the Editor:

A severe undercount in the 2020 Census would dramatically reduce the amount of federal funding New York receives for a range of critical programs delivered by nonprofits – jeopardizing the very existence of these organizations, causing them to cut staff, end programs and cripple their ability to connect with underserved communities. Twenty billion dollars a year is on the line for New York City alone.

 A Community Resource Exchange survey found that nonprofits fear they’ll be forced to reassess how to effectively meet needs if they have to scale back, particularly because they already operate on budgets stretched thin due to years of government underfunding.

We’re at serious risk of a 2020 undercount due to the late start in funding outreach efforts, proposed citizenship question and apprehension around online submissions. This would build on the decade of under-investment we saw because of the last Census undercount.

Continue reading →