Neponsit Beach Hospital, also known as Neponsit Beach Hospital for Children, Neponsit Hospital, Neponsit Children's Hospital, and various other names, is a former municipal

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

located adjacent to

Jacob Riis Park Jacob Riis Park, also called Jacob A. Riis Park and Riis Park, is a seaside park on the southwestern portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It lies at the foot of the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Brid ...

and the

Neponsit Neponsit is a small affluent neighborhood located on the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula, the southernmost area of the New York City borough of Queens. The area starts at Beach 142nd Street and ends at Beach 149th Street. It borders the neig ...

community (part of the larger district of

Belle Harbor Belle Harbor is a small residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula, the southernmost area of the borough. Belle Harbor commonly refers to the area from Beach 126th to Be ...

— as until the mid-1950s all telephones south of Beach 49th Street in the Rockaways were on the "BElle Harbor 5" exchange, which utilized manual switching until then, when the prefix was also changed to "GRanite 4"), located toward the southern end of the

Rockaway peninsula The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of th ...

in Queens, New York City. Originally oriented towards the treatment of children, the hospital treated military veterans during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but closed in 1955 due to a declining need for tuberculosis hospitals. Afterwards, it operated as the Neponsit Home for the Aged, later the Neponsit Health Care Center, a city-run nursing home until its controversial closure in 1998.

Description

Neponsit Beach Hospital was located on the east side of

Rockaway Beach Boulevard Rockaway Beach Boulevard, opened in 1886, was the first major east-west thoroughfare on the Rockaway Peninsula in the Borough of Queens in New York City. Much of its route parallels the Rockaway Freeway and the IND Rockaway Line above the Freeway ...

just south of Beach 149th Street (originally Mohawk Street), with Rockaway Beach at its southern edge. The hospital sits at the southwest corner of the

property, adjacent to the residential portion of

. It currently occupies a site. The grounds were originally in size, extending west to the end of the

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

in front of the park, and including the beaches on the coast of Neponsit Bays 1 and 2. The hospital consisted of three buildings, two of which front the beach. The original building, built in 1915, was designed by the

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...

firm. It is four stories high with a red-brick outer facade. It is designed in a "U" shape, with eastern and western wings opening towards the beach. Open-aired balconies and enclosed porches were located on the building facing the beach. It was built with a 122-patient capacity. Renovations were made to the building in 1938 and 1958. Adjacent to the original building is the nurses' residence completed in 1941. It is the easternmost of the two buildings. It was designed by Dodge & Morrison architects, and built as a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) project. It is also four stories tall. Fronting Rockaway Beach Boulevard is the hospital's power plant, built at the same time as the nurses' home. The building also contains the hospital's laundry facilities, a men's dormitory, and an administrative center. A fourth building, a parking garage later converted into an office, no longer exists. The hospital's location on the sea provided patients with exposure to sunlight and beach recreation. The hospital originally contained two sets of murals, commissioned by the Works Progress Administration in 1938. The first set of murals called "The Circus" were painted by

Louis Schanker Louis Schanker (1903 – May 7, 1981) was an American abstract artist. Early life He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish environment in the Bronx, New York. His parents, Sam, a tailor, and Fannie Schanker, were of Romanian descent. He had five sibl ...

and located on the four walls of the dining room. They consisted of eleven panels depicting clowns and other circus characters. The second series of murals, called "Children at Work and Play", were created by

Helen West Heller Helen West Heller (1872 – November 19, 1955)Various sources provide a date of birth in either 1870 or 1885, but most agree on a date of 1872. was an American painter, printmaker, poet, and illustrator. Heller was born Helen Barnhart in Rushvi ...

. The 23 panels portray children taking part in games and activities, and include disabled children. Both artists utilized

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

painting. The Neponsit Hospital is currently unused and in disrepair. As of 2014, $266,000 is spent annually by

NYC Health + Hospitals NYC Health + Hospitals, officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City as a public benefit corporation. , HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the Uni ...

for maintenance and security of the property. The beach directly in front of the hospital (Neponsit Bay 1), now part of Riis Park, is popular among the gay community as well as

nudists Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

. A fence, which had originally been erected to separate the hospital from the park, later isolated this section from the rest of the beach until it was taken down by

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 At ...

in 2011. A second fence just west of Beach 149th Street separates Bay 1 from the Neponsit portion of Rockaway Beach.

Transportation

The and local buses directly serve the hospital on Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The Q22 runs east-to-west across the Rockaway Peninsula. The Q35 travels between Rockaway Park and Brooklyn. The express route to Manhattan also operates on Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The closest

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

station is the Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street station on the

IND Rockaway Line The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The trai ...

north of the hospital, connected by the Q22 and Q35.

History

American homes and gardens (1907) (18157435701)

Development

Around the turn of the 20th century, social journalist

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...

(the namesake for the future

) advocated for a children's hospital to be built in the Rockaways, in order treat the increasing cases of tuberculosis in the city. In 1904, the city planned to build an oceanside park in the western Rockaways, supported by Riis'

Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (AICP) was a charitable organization in New York City, established in 1843 and incorporated in 1848 with the aim of helping the deserving poor and providing for their moral uplift.Coble, Alan ...

. The Association as well as New York City Mayor

George B. McClellan Jr. George Brinton McClellan Jr. (November 23, 1865November 30, 1940), was an American statesman, author, historian, and educator. The son of the American Civil War general and President of the United States, presidential candidate George B. McClell ...

also lobbied for a hospital and "

convalescent home A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

" to be established. On May 15, 1906, an act was passed in the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

allowing for the purchase of beach property in or outside of the city for a maximum of $2.5 million. The act also allowed a portion of the property to be leased for the creation of hospitals. On March 15, 1907, the

New York City Board of Estimate The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...

accepted $250,000 from the Association to construct a hospital for people with "non-pulmonary tuberculosis". Efforts to develop the park (then called Seaside Park) and the hospital were suspended on November 1, 1907, due to the

panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...

, but resurrected in 1909. The agreement between the Association and the Board of Estimate was renewed in 1912. The land for what would become Riis Park, extending east-to-west, was sold to the city in 1913 by the Neponsit Realty Company, which was developing the Neponsit neighborhood. The site for the hospital was then transferred from the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

on April 24, 1913. The hospital was funded by private sources and built by the Association, before being turned over to the city. The money had been raised by the Association by 1906 and held in a trust. As part of their campaign, the Association distributed pictures of a boy suffering

spinal tuberculosis Pott disease is tuberculosis of the spine, usually due to haematogenous spread from other sites, often the lungs. The lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebrae areas of the spine are most often affected. It causes a kind of tuberculous arthriti ...

at Sea Breeze Hospital in

Coney Island, Brooklyn Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the s ...

, who was strapped to a board as part of his treatment. This boy was later called "Smiling Joe". The pictures were included in letters sent out by the Association, as well as in newspapers and magazines across the country. "Smiling Joe" also received visits from then-President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

. Rockefeller would pledge $125,000 to the project. Construction on the hospital began on January 28, 1914. It was provisionally known as Seaside Hospital. The hospital, which cost $250,000 to construct, was completed by March 1, 1915, and relinquished to the city the next day.

Early history

Archives of American Art - Louis Schanker - 2798

Neponsit Beach Hospital for Children opened on April 16, 1915. Neponsit Hospital was operated by the Bellevue and Allied Hospitals organization, a city agency which also operated

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 ...

in Manhattan. It replaced Sea Breeze Hospital, also operated by the Association, with children from Sea Breeze transferred to Neponsit. Upon opening, the hospital was subject to odors and fumes from waste disposal operations on nearby Barren Island (now

Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...

). In the 1930s and early 1940s, the hospital was expanded as a

(WPA) project, adding the nurses' residence and power plant. The expansion was first announced in November 1929 by city hospitals commissioner Dr. William Schroeder, Jr. The project was intended to double the patient capacity of the facility. In June 1931, an appropriation of $300,000 was made by the Board of Estimate for the nurses' home. In December 1933, the city applied for a loan to fund the project. Sketches for the murals were approved as part of the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

in October 1935. The first contract was awarded in December 1935, for the power plant. The contract for the nurses' residence was awarded in 1938. In addition, the WPA planned to plant 800 trees and create gardens on the grounds of the hospital, and add a high, sea wall. The power plant was completed in 1939, and work on the nurses' residence began shortly afterwards. The nurses' residence was completed in February 1941. The hospital was closed temporarily on January 7, 1943, to conserve fuel during

. Also during the war, the fence separating Riis Park from the hospital grounds was erected. The hospital was reopened on March 1, 1945, after the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...

began leasing it to treat servicemen with tuberculosis. Following the war, the Public Health Service continued to use the hospital for veterans of the war. After short extensions of the lease, it was returned to the city in 1950. * * *

Closure of hospital and conversion into nursing home

Neponsit Beach Hospital returned to city operations in summer 1950 following minor renovations, and was now associated with Queens General Hospital in Jamaica. In July 1950 Neponsit Beach Hospital began operating as an annex of

Triboro Hospital for Tuberculosis Triboro Hospital for Tuberculosis or Triboro Tuberculosis Hospital, later simply Triboro Hospital and now known as "Building T" or the "T Building", is a former municipal tuberculosis sanatorium and later a general hospital located on the campus o ...

(adjacent to Queens General), with 24 patients transferred from Triboro to Neponsit. On June 19, 1952,

Queens Hospital Center Queens Hospital Center (QHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and originally called Queens General Hospital, is a large public hospital campus in the Jamaica Hills and Hillcrest neighborhoods of Queens in New York City. It is operat ...

was formed with the merger of the adjacent Queens General and Triboro Hospitals. Neponsit Beach Hospital, the College Point Outpatient Department, and the Ozone Park ambulance station were also absorbed into the new medical center. Around this time, the city planned to renovate and expand Neponsit Hospital so it could be used in a general hospital capacity in the event of an emergency. Plans were drawn up by the

York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...

firm in 1952. In July 1953, the Board of Estimate approved fireproofing and electrical work for the hospital, including fire stairs to replace the original wooden staircases. However, in January 1955 the city decided to close Neponsit Beach Hospital due to a declining need for tuberculosis treatment. The hospital was vacated on February 1, 1955, with patients transferred to Sea View Hospital or Triboro Hospital. It was officially closed on April 21, 1955. The planned $1 million addition to the complex was cancelled; the plans were approved in 1956 solely in order for the York and Sawyer firm to be compensated. Following the closure of the hospital, the site was considered a "hot property", located on the beach in the fairly exclusive Neponsit neighborhood. The site of the hospital was valued at $1 million. Numerous groups had conflicting interests in the future of the site. New York City Parks Commissioner

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

desired to use the hospital land to expand the adjacent Jacob Riis Park. Moses planned to raze the hospital buildings in order to construct sports fields, a swimming pool, and a comfort station, and to extend the beach. Moses also pointed out the clause in the 1906 act which provided the land for the hospital, in which it must be returned to the Parks Department when no long used for a hospital. The U.S. Welfare Department proposed that the hospital be converted into a nursing home. Local businessmen such as the Rockaway Park Businessmen's Association, supported by the Rockaways' Chamber of Commerce, desired to build homes on the property.

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

Lawrence E. Gerosa desired for the property to be turned over to a private owner, in order to get it "back on the tax rolls". Gerosa may have been influenced by the Rockaway developers, an assertion put forth by Moses. Local residents, meanwhile, wanted the facility reopened as a general hospital, as an annex or relocation of

Rockaway Beach Hospital Peninsula Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, formerly known as Rockaway Beach Hospital and Peninsula General Hospital, was a community hospital in the Far Rockaway, Queens, Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, Queens, New York. PHC, founded in 190 ...

, or converted into a school. These residents were opposed to the Riis Park plans, in part out of fear that extending the park would lead Riis Park visitors to "invade" the adjacent beaches in Neponsit. Jacob Riis Park td (2018-08-03) 019

On June 29, 1955, the

New York City Planning Commission The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...

unanimously approved Moses' plans to extend Riis Park. On July 21, 1955, however, the Board of Estimate voted 10–6 to block Moses' park plans. Those opposed included the five borough presidents, as well as Gerosa who cast multiple votes. The two members in favor of park expansion were Mayor

Robert F. Wagner Jr. Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...

and city councilman

Abe Stark Abe Stark (September 28, 1894 – July 2, 1972) was an American businessman and politician. Born on the Lower East Side in New York City, he became a tailor and owned a clothing store at 1514 Pitkin Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. ...

, who each cast three votes. This led to a back-and-forth exchange of letters between Moses and Gerosa. After a lawsuit by the Park Association of New York City, on October 14, 1955, New York Attorney General

Jacob K. Javits Jacob Koppel Javits ( ; May 18, 1904 – March 7, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician. During his time in politics, he represented the state of New York in both houses of the United States Congress. A member of the Republican Party, he a ...

stated in an advisory ruling that the city did not have the jurisdiction to sell the hospital as it was still parkland. The ruling had been requested by Moses. On October 27,

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Justice Peter M. Daly ruled in favor of the Park Association, preventing the sale. The ruling was upheld by the

Appellate Court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

in Brooklyn on July 9, 1956. On October 15, 1958, a compromise plan was proposed by councilman Stark and Mayor Wagner. The plan entailed the conversion of the hospital into the nursing home proposed by the Welfare Department. The surrounding undeveloped land would be absorbed into Jacob Riis Park. The plan was approved by

in February 1959. Renovations were made to the main building and the nurses' residence. The Neponsit Home for the Aged was dedicated and opened August 31, 1961. Among those in attendance was city councilman Stark, who urged the construction of more facilities like the Neponsit Home, due to the increasing elderly population in the city. This included the conversion of the former Manhattan Beach Hospital (now the site of

Kingsborough Community College Kingsborough Community College (KBCC) is a public community college in Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the only community college in Brooklyn. Costing $2.4 million, the Neponsit Home was the first municipally-operated geriatric facility in the city. Meanwhile, of the property were turned over to the Parks Department to expand Riis Park, adding of beach.

Later use and final closure

In July 1985 under Mayor

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...

, the

New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation NYC Health + Hospitals, officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City as a public benefit corporation. , HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the Uni ...

(HHC), which operates city-owned health facilities, planned to transfer 10 patients diagnosed with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

from Bellevue Hospital to an isolated wing of the Neponsit Home. The plan received opposition from the local community, due to fears about the transmission of the disease at the time. On July 31, a Queens judge blocked the move. Koch proceeded to drop the plans on September 3. Between September 10 and 12, 1998, the nursing home was evacuated and closed after bricks fell from the roof of the building due to damage from the Labor Day storm of that year. Residents of the home were forced to leave the facility in the middle of the night. Patients were transferred to

in Lower Manhattan, and the Coler and Goldwater Hospitals on

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...

. City officials under Mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

stated that the buildings were in danger of collapsing, and that renovations were required to make the facility structurally sound. An estimate made by an engineering firm on June 19, 1998, stated it would take $1 million to renovate the facility; following the closure, that figure rose to $50 million. After closing the home, the city initially planned to sell the site, to "get it back on the tax rolls" according to deputy mayor

Joe Lhota Joseph J. Lhota (; born October 7, 1954) is an American public servant and a former politician who served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and was also a former deputy mayor of New York City. He was the Republican nomi ...

. The site was worth an estimated $15 to $20 million. By late October, however, Lhota stated that the sale of the site was blocked by the deed restrictions on the property, based on the 1955 court ruling which prevented the sale of the hospital at that time. Meanwhile, accusations were made against Giuliani of using new tactics to justify closing health facilities, after attempts to privatize

Coney Island Hospital The hospital's Behavioral Health Clinic Coney Island Hospital is a public teaching hospital located in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is owned by NYC Health + Hospitals, a public benefit corporation of the city. ...

Elmhurst Hospital Center Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, is a 545-bed public hospital in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. It is one of the 11 acute care hospitals of NYC Health + Hospitals, a public ...

, and

. There were also rumors of a plan to develop a hotel on the site. After the plans to sell the site fell through, Giuliani and the city decided to demolish the hospital and develop a waterfront park on the site. The plan was announced October 28, 1998 by Giuliani and the HHC. It was opposed by the local community. On October 30, 1998, District Court Judge

Deborah Batts Deborah Anne Batts (April 13, 1947 – February 3, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. During Gay Pride Week in June 1994, Batts was sworn in as a United States distr ...

blocked the demolition of the buildings. On November 2, 1998, the federal government released a report on the relocation, finding that the Health and Hospitals Corporation endangered the lives of the 300 residents, and deceived them about plans to later return to the Neponsit Home. It also found that the hasty evacuation was unnecessary. Based on the report, the

Health Care Financing Administration The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer M ...

fined the HHC $3,050 per day for every day the former residents remained in sub-par housing, totaling $450,000. In December 1998, a portion of the complex, the Neponsit Adult Day Health Care which provided outpatient physical therapy, was relocated to the gymnasium of the Young Israel of Far Rockaway synagogue in

Far Rockaway Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line ...

. A second court ruling on October 29, 1999, stated that the HHC overextended its authority when evacuating the facility, and blocked demolition. Despite this, the Giuliani administration continued to try and demolitish the building. In March 2000, a structural evaluation was conducted by the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

, finding the three Neponsit buildings to be in good condition, with repairs estimated at $600,000. Rockaway Bch Bl Bch 102nd St td 18 - Sands Point Therapy

Rockaway Bch Bl Bch 102nd St td 18 - Sands Point Therapy

Following a lawsuit over the closure of the facility by former residents and the

Legal Aid Society The Legal Aid Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal aid provider based in New York City. Founded in 1876, it is the oldest and largest provider of legal aid in the United States. Its attorneys provide representation on criminal and civil matt ...

, on June 2, 2003, under the administration of

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

, the HHC agreed to pay $5 million out of court, with $18,000 going to each patient or their estate if they had passed away. In addition, the city must give notice in the future if it intends to transfer 100 or more nursing home patients. Redevelopment or use of the site, meanwhile, was limited due to its deed restrictions. On March 9, 2004, the Neponsit Adult Day Health Care moved to a permanent location in the Sands Point Professional Building at Beach 102nd Street in nearby

Rockaway Park Rockaway Park is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The area is on the Rockaway Peninsula, nestled between Jamaica Bay to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The neighborhood of Rockaway Beach lies on its eastern b ...

. In 2006, the HHC considered plans to turn over facility to the city, and develop luxury homes on the site. These plans were opposed by local residents and politicians. Alternate plans from the community called for a veteran's rehabilitation center, or a children's hospital. Local politician Lew Simon, in opposition to the city plans, stated it would take "seven years" to rezone the land for other purposes. None of these plans came to fruition. In 2008, the HHC spent $1 million in order to cleanup debris on the property, and repair fences and windows. At this time, the site was appraised at $40 million. In April 2022, the New York City government announced plans to demolish the remains of the Neponsit Beach Hospital. These plans prompted opposition from LGBTQ community. , city officials had not finalized plans for the site, although they tentatively planned to convert the hospital site into a parking lot and a lifeguard station.

References

{{authority control Tuberculosis sanatoria in the United States NYC Health + Hospitals Defunct hospitals in Queens Hospitals established in 1915 1915 establishments in New York City 1998 disestablishments in New York (state) Nursing homes in the United States Rockaway, Queens McKim, Mead & White buildings United States Marine Hospitals