French Hospital of New York, at 329 West 30th Street (between Eighth and Ninth Avenues) was a hospital established in 1881 and closed in 1977. The last building it occupied was built in 1928 by the Société Française de Bienfaisance (French Benevolent Society). It was in the

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

neighborhood. At its opening, it was operated by the

Sisters of the Holy Cross The Sisters of the Holy Cross (CSC) are one of three Catholic congregations of religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, CSC, at Le Mans, France in 1837. ...

. Its owner, the French Benevolent Society, merged with the Polyclinic Medical School and Health Center in 1969. The French and Polytechnic Medical School and Health Center closed May 13, 1977 for a lack of funding.

History

The building replaced the French Hospital facilities at 450 West 34th Street (erected in 1904), 230 West 34th Street (acquired in 1888), and original French Hospital on West 14th Street (built in 1881) – then the city's French section. The hospital closed in the 1960s and in 1981 became residential rentals under Section 8. The New York City French Hospital was founded in 1880 by doctors

Julio J. Henna Julio J. Henna (24 May 1848 – 2 February 1924) was a Puerto Rican physician and political figure. Henna participated in the founding of the Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York as part of the section's faction tha ...

, Chauveau, Deberceau, Muvial, and Ferrer. Dr. Henna, who was also a member of the medical faculty at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

, became medical director of the institution. In the novel ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'',

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfather ...

's gunshot wounds are treated at the French Hospital.''

'',

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably ''The Godfather'' (1969), which ...

, Putnam, 1969.

References

Bibliography

* French Hospital (New York, N.Y.) (1932). ''Formulary of the French Hospital'', 56 pp. * French Hospital of the French Benevolent Society of New York (1950). ''The French Hospital'', New York: The Society, 14 pp. * Nagel, Joseph Darwin (1962). ''The French Hospital, New York: 1889-1900'', New York, 8 pp. (reprinted from the ''Academy Bookman'', v. 15, no. 1, pp. 2–9, 1962)

External links

French Benevolent Society
records at

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

{{Authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1928 Historic sites in New York City Catholic hospitals in North America Defunct hospitals in Manhattan Hospitals established in 1881 Hospitals disestablished in 1977 1977 disestablishments in New York (state) 1881 establishments in New York (state)