The Mount Sinai Health System says Rivington House, a one-time HIV/AIDS nursing home in Manhattan, has been made available to serve as a temporary medical facility to treat Covid-19 patients.
The need for hospital beds in New York State is great. Indeed, both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have been outspoken about that need, and have looked high and low for facilities that could be retrofitted to treat patients if the city’s hospitals are overrun with patients. Cuomo said earlier this week that New York State could require as many as 110,000 hospital beds, roughly double the number that exist at this moment.
“We are making sure that the city and state know about this facility and do with it whatever is best for us to all get through this,” said Dr. Jeremy Boal, president of Mount Sinai Beth Israel and the system’s downtown clinical operations just days ago.
“Mount Sinai is offering—and will continue to offer—any and all assistance possible to the city and state during this crisis, including repurposing and creatively using existing space and creating new space in anticipation of the increase in Covid-19 patients,” a Mount Sinai spokeswoman told Crain’s New York Business. “However, ultimately, it’s the city’s and state’s decision on what will be used and for which purpose.”
Until recently, Rivington House had operated as a specialty nursing home for patients with HIV/AIDS. The building featured in the media for the way city officials handled the sale of the property. In 2015, VillageCare and a small group of nursing home owners applied to lift the deed restriction on the building, allowing it to be transformed from an AIDS nursing home into a residential or commercial property. When the building was ultimately sold for $116 million, Mayor de Blasio drew criticism for straying from his policy to increase affordable housing in the city. It was eventually reclassified and sold to China Vanke Co., Adam America Real Estate, and Slate Property Group for residential development.
Mount Sinai Health System recently implemented extra precautions to provide the safest environment possible and protect our patients, staff and visitors due to the escalating COVID-19 emergency. According to officials, it has begun prohibiting all visitors across the Mount Sinai Health System, including visitors to the emergency departments, inpatients, ambulatory sites and other facilities. “Preventing avoidable exposure is critical to ensure that we can continue to respond to this public health crisis,” officials said in a release.
In January of 2018, the Jewish Voice reported that the Allure Group originally had purchased Rivington House in February of 2015 for $28 million, with promises that the facility would remain an operating nursing home. They then paid the Department of Citywide Administrative Services $16 million to adjust the deed on the facility. Prior to the decision to lift the deed restrictions on the nursing home by the city’s Department of Administrative Services, the site was limited to a not-for-profit residential health-care center.
Shortly after the purchase, the Allure Group, walked off with a $72 million pay day after they sold it to real estate developers for the purpose of building luxury condominiums at the site, The Jewish Voice reported in 2016.
The Wall Street journal reported that Joel Landau who is the public face of the Allure Group, contributed $4950 to the De Blasio campaign in 2013. It has also been reported in the Daily News that James Capalino, an influential lobbyist had placed pressure on the administration to lift the deed requirements in order for one of his clients to turn Rivington House into luxury condos. Capalino was instrumental in acquiring $50,000 in donations to Mayor De Blasio.
The mayor claimed he was misled by the company and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services changed the deed without consulting him.
