Clinic plan back in OR

Riverdale residents voice disapproval for 11-story megacomplex

STRIDENT community complaints forced a Bronx health-care giant to send its plans for a megaclinic in tony Riverdale back into surgery.

Montefiore Medical Center and Simone Development withdrew the plans they had submitted to the city to build an 11-story, multiuse medical complex on Riverdale Ave.

“We have asked Simone to revisit its architectural plans,” Dr. Steven Safyer, the president and CEO of Montefiore Medical Center, said in a statement.

“Montefiore has a long legacy of working with its community as a partner.”

The hospital made the announcement last week during a Community Board 8 committee meeting.

A series of “detailed conversations” with local politicians led to the decision to withdraw the plans, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The quartet of lawmakers included: Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Riverdale), state Sen. Jeffrey Klein (D-Throgs Neck), Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Riverdale) and recently elected City Councilman Andrew Cohen (D-Riverdale).

“We are very hopeful that when Montefiore and Simone submit their revised plan, it will be a compromise that can garner community support by taking into account the concerns raised by local residents,” the officials said in a joint statement.

Representatives for Montefiore, which already oversees six hospitals and 150 clinics in the Bronx and Westchester, told residents that the center would serve the needs of the community.

The community, however, demurred.

“But we already have 125 medical practices in Riverdale,” said Stuart Gartner, a member of the Committee to Protect Riverdale. “The initial premise — that our community is under-served — is ridiculous.”

Neighbors rallied after the 93,000-square-foot complex was announced in November, citing a litany of complaints including traffic concerns, noise and parking. And they’re not done yet.

“We are hopeful, but we are very cynical,” Gartner said. “The community continues its very strong opposition to this project.”

There was nothing stopping Montefiore representatives from plowing forward with the plans as initially proposed, but officials said they would seek a compromise.

“(We) are optimistic that Simone can develop a creative solution that respects the concerns of the community and delivers a less fragmented, more holistic health-care presence in Riverdale,” Safyer said.