LICH Closing May Benefit Neighborhood

SUNY Downstate is expected today to recommend shuttering its Long Island College Hospital facility on Atlantic Avenue, leaving around 2,000 employees at the facility in jeopardy of losing their jobs. The facility has been losing money hand-over-fist since its acquisition by SUNY in 2011, and it has been determined by SUNY that the facility is its most attractive option to sell. That means - you guessed it - SUNY will sell the LICH property for redevelopment.

This is a development (pun intended) that will rub a lot of people the wrong way. After all, it means further reducing healthcare choices for the borough, in addition to the 2,000 jobs that may be lost. But the sale of LICH can also be a great opportunity for the far west end of Atlantic Avenue to reinvent itself and serve as a crucial community link between the growing recreation opportunities on the waterfront and the burgeoning retail and entertainment district on Atlantic from Downtown Brooklyn  to the Barclays Center.

Connection to the Water

Development of Pier 6 (and more recently, Pier 5) at Brooklyn Bridge Park has created an uncomfortable realization that, while the park is one of New York's gems, there aren't many easy ways to access the southern portions. The only major roadway linking the park to Downtown, Atlantic Ave, is less than hospitable, thanks to on/offramps for the BQE and a dreary underpass that is slated to receive a makeover in the near future. Complicating this is LICH, whose presence creates a long, lifeless stretch on the south side of Atlantic from between Henry and Hicks Sts to the BQE.

The Atlantic Avenue "funderpass" / Credit: Atlantic Ave BID

Mixed-use redevelopment of the LICH site would invigorate this stretch of Atlantic and encourage foot and bike traffic between Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Atlantic Avenue BID. Ground-floor retail and restaurants would add life to this stretch of Atlantic and help to shore up businesses on the north side of Atlantic by increasing foot traffic in the area. New housing units would also liven the area (I will leave discussions about height on Atlantic for another time), introducing hundreds of new households to the neighborhood. All of this would drastically improve the walkability of western Atlantic and encourage new connections, both between the park and Downtown, and between Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights via a more engaging common boundary.

Although it is de rigueur for groups to argue against any new development in Brooklyn, replacing an inward-focused hospital center with a vibrant, mixed use community would be a win for Cobble Hill and the Atlantic Avenue BID. That does not mean it should be a giveaway: whoever ultimately develops the site should bring tangible benefits to community members of all income levels, and not simply build luxury condos with a prime view of Manhattan. That means working hard on concessions such as affordable units (or perhaps a New York trial for inclusionary zoning) and reopening the street grid on Pacific St, but it is far from impossible. 

It is sad to see a major local employer go under, but given the economics facing LICH, this was probably inevitable. The sale of LICH represents a rare large scale opportunity to add new life and vibrancy to the neighborhood without major displacements or disruptions. Proper development will help cement a corridor of activity from Brooklyn Bridge Park to the Barclays Center, pumping money into local businesses throughout. Let's hope that whoever purchases the property gets it right and seizes the opportunity to become the final link in Atlantic Avenue's renaissance.