Greenpoint Hospital (300 Skillman Avenue) was a hospital located in

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn� ...

. It opened in 1914 and closed in 1982. As of 2016 final disposition of the hospital site's ten buildings were still pending. Greenpoint Hospital jeh

History

The hospital initially had six buildings. Talk in 1959 of closing part of the hospital pending "modernization" and a 1968 "crash program to remedy decaying conditions" were part of the hospital's last decades. At the time of ''Greenpoints closing, ''

Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center Woodhull Medical Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, is a health care system located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Its focus is on preventing disease and promoting healthy lifestyles ...

'' was deemed to be the community's replacement. Controversy over this matter existed since ''Woodhull'' "was completed in 1978 but stood empty for four years because the city said it could not afford to operate it." Even when it opened, it was noted that ''Woodhull'' is "five miles away." A subsequent study confirmed that "the amount of time it would take for a vehicle to reach Woodhull from various points in Greenpoint" averaged "just under 40 minutes." The closing was followed by a series of unkept promises to the neighborhood: instead of a nursing home or senior housing, it became a shelter for homeless men, with the words "a dumping ground" used by neighborhood activists, particularly a 1970s-founded group named ''Neighborhood Women''. It took eight years to reduce the number of men in the facility from "more than 1,100" to 200. By 2010 the city was still promising to use it for affordable housing. In 2016, although some units had been built, the ''

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'' summarized the situation as another promise: "more participants will bring fresh ideas for this valuable city land." The hospital had been described as a "10-building complex" and many in the neighborhood claimed they "at least need a substation to keep our people alive in times of emergency." Money had been spent four years prior to build "an emergency wing" and the request resulted in a nine month study which asked "Can a 24-hour emergency facility maintain itself while the other buildings on the grounds are put to alternative uses?" ''Greenpoints closing was followed a year later by that of another neighborhood hospital,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, both of which were to be "an exchange" for over-half-an-hour-away ''Woodhull'', "one of the most modern and expensive hospitals in the world." Another option had been explored in 1964: "Greenpoint Hospital should be relocated and enlarged, and Kings County Hospital beds should be decreased."

References

External links

1930 census. Institution(s): Greenpoint Hospital
Defunct hospitals in Brooklyn Hospitals established in 1914 1914 establishments in New York City Hospitals disestablished in 1982 1982 disestablishments in New York (state) Greenpoint, Brooklyn {{NewYork-hospital-stub