LICH Remains Open, for now

Some state funding and a quasi-merger have kept LICH open, for now. From the NY Times:

"Long Island College Hospital, known as LICH, has been at risk of closing since at least 2008, when its parent company, Continuum Health Partners, announced that the hospital was straining under the weight of $170 million in capital debt and proposed to shut down its maternity and pediatric operations. The State Health Department denied Continuum’s 2008 plan to close maternity and pediatric operations, leading to the search for a partner.

Governor Paterson said Thursday that the state would provide $40 million to support the merger. In 2009 the state gave LICH $22 million to help stabilize itself and to make it more attractive to a prospective partner."

Let's hope that that money got allocated, or that Cuomo will honor the deal.

State Court Deals a Blow to Atlantic Yards Opposition

News of another legal hurdle cleared by the Atlantic Yards/Ratner Development. Looks like clearing and Eminent Domain will start fairly soon. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"The suit, filed by panoply of elected officials and opposition groups, claimed that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke a state law that was passed in the wake of Atlantic Yards to curb abuses by state authorities through stricter transparency and ethics guidelines.

The plaintiffs pointed to the fact that the MTA renegotiated the deal with Ratner this summer, getting just $20 million up front instead of the $100 million originally promised. At the time, the transit agency did not seek new bids for its eight-acre train yard at the heart of the proposed arena, housing and commercial development.

But state Supreme Court judges did not agree with project opponents, ruling last Wednesday that the renegotiated deal did not warrant restarting the bidding process."

Looks like the Ratner/MTA Express will be arriving at Atlantic Terminal. Opposition will of course continue, but with the recent successful bond sales and legal setbacks, it looks like the development will proceed.


For more, head on over to Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn.