Call it a prescription for growth!
The New York University Langone Health System is expanding into the former Bay Ridge Job Center on Fourth Avenue with speciality physicians and a radiology department later this year. And the offices will be a real shot in the arm for the area where hospital closures have left few options for medical treatment, said one community leader.
“It’s a sorely needed addition,” said Josphine Beckmann. “There’s a lack of resources in the area since we lost the Victory Memorial Hospital, so anything that brings quality care and expanded services is a plus.”
Officials aim for the medical center to serve as a one-stop-shop of sorts with on-site specialists, said a Langone spokesman.
“The goal is convenience,” said Neal Gorman. “Say a physician referred you to an ear, nose, and throat specialist — rather than having to go trudge to another location, you’d have that specialist right there.”
Langone is leasing the four-story building between Senator and 68th streets, which housed the Bay Ridge Job center until October when the city’s Human Resources Administration lost its lease.
Some locals feared the building would be razed and converted into luxury housing since the lot is zoned for three-story rowhouses, city records show. But the medical system’s takeover puts locals at ease.
And it’s a welcome surprise that the property owner is swapping one community resource for another, said one Ridgite.
“I’m so happy to see [Langone] moving in,” said Margaret O’Hara, who lives a block over from the building. “It’s nice to see another resource coming in that will help people — we had the job center, now we have medical offices. I think that’s a pretty good trade off.”
