Red Hook Councilman Kills New Nursing Home Project
The City Council has voted 47-2 to kill a proposed 200-bed state-of-the-art nursing facility in Red Hook.
Barry Braunstein, who owns the Oxford Nursing Home in Fort Greene, wanted to move the facility from the aging building it inhabits and build a new one in Red Hook, Crain’s reports.
Councilman Carlos Menchacha (pictured) who represents Red Hook, shot it down after the plan had languished in the land-use review process for nearly a year, saying the site identified by Barry was zoned for manufacturing and subject to flooding.
Braunstein had written in a letter last year that the flooding “is a threat we have overcome by careful design and planning,” and the project surpassed FEMA standards for safety.
The decision was a blow to the healthcare workers union 1199 SEIU, and carries on a long tradition of Council members falling in line behind the local member with regards to land-use matters. [Crain’s]
