The city's plan is geared at addressing a shortage of senior housing and skilled nursing beds on the Lower East Side due in part to the 2015 closure of the Rivington House. /Image Courtesy: Property Shark

NEW YORK CITY—The de Blasio administration reports that the city will be moving forward with a mixed-income project on the Lower East Side that will include 88 units of senior affordable housing in response to the Rivington House closure several years ago.

The initiative, announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio, also calls for the funding of 60 skilled nursing beds at the NYC Health + Hospital/Gouverneur. The plan by the city to help address a shortage of skilled nursing home beds on the Lower East Side comes after the New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced recently a settlement with the Allure Group in connection with closure of two nursing home facilities, including the Rivington House, without sufficient community notice.

“This plan is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to the Lower East Side, the seniors who built this amazing and diverse community, and the immediacy of their needs. This neighborhood must be made whole for a broken city process that resulted in the sale of a critical health care facility,” Mayor de Blasio says.

The latest proposal replaces and improves an earlier plan for senior affordable homes and health care at 30 Pike St., city officials note. Last year, the city announced sweeping reforms to a decades-old deed modification process that resulted in the sale of Rivington House in 2015 and loss of the nursing home beds. The new rules provide increased transparency and accountability, and require the city to consider the public value of a project seeking modifications to land-use restrictions.

The 88 new affordable homes, enough for approximately 100 seniors, are the result of a public-private partnership between the de Blasio Administration, the Chinese American Planning Council and Gotham Organization. The council, one of the largest non-profit providers of educational, social, and community services for Asian-Americans in the United States, and Gotham, the New York City-based developer, owner and operator, partnered with the city last year to create a plan that would add senior affordable homes to a 400-unit, mixed income, mixed-use, new construction development project at the existing parking lot adjacent to 50 Norfolk St.

“Gotham has a longstanding history of working collaboratively with city government and local organizations to provide much-needed housing and other community amenities. We are committed to creating a mixed-use development that will serve the neighborhood for years to come,” said Gotham EVP of development Bryan Kelly.

“We look forward to furthering our mission through this partnership with the City and Gotham. This plan not only provides quality affordable housing to seniors in our neighborhood, but also creates an improved home base for our employees and community members to better extend our services,” said Chinese American Planning Council president and CEO Wayne Ho.

The new skilled nursing beds will occupy two new units at the 227 Madison St. Gouverneur facility. The units, being built in previously unused space at the 295-bed facility, are expected to be fully operational by April. To accommodate the new capacity, Gouverneur has begun hiring the approximately 75 health-care professionals, including nurses, doctors, therapists, social workers, and dieticians needed to run the units, city officials say.

Photo courtesy of Property Shark.

Instant Insights /

City Moves Forward With Critical Senior Housing Plan on Lower East Side

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