Brooklyn politicians hope that landmarking LICH will keep SUNY Downstate from closing it.

Cobble Hill really wants to keep its hospital. Ever since the State University of New York trustees voted unanimously to close the Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill, local politicians—and just about everyone else involved—have been desperately trying to keep the medical center open. A group of unions and doctors won a temporary reprieve, but the prognosis for the hospital is not good.

SUNY chairman H. Carl McCall claims that "There is no plan whatsoever with respect to real estate," but local councilman Brad Lander, who represents the 39th District, snaking from Cobble Hill to Borough Park, thinks otherwise.

"It's hard to pin down motives," Mr. Lander told Crain's New York Business, "but it doesn't seem like all the avenues have been explored to make this facility profitable and have it continue to function as a hospital." He estimated the value of the real estate at $500 million, if converted to housing, as is allowed by the current zoning designation.

But besides converting it to housing, the issue of what can be done with LICH is a thorny one. And if Mr. Lander and a coterie of Brooklyn politicians have their way, the range of possibilities for the buildings will get a lot smaller.

The current zoning designation for the hospital is R6, the same as the surrounding neighborhood, and the predominant development type in R6 zones is the workaday townhouse. Though a tower-in-a-park-style development would be possible under the current zoning, a would-be developer would have to sacrifice about 20 percent of the floorspace to do it.

To hedge against this possibility and remove the incentive for SUNY Downstate to sell the campus for cash, Mr. Lander, along with Councilman Steve Levin, Borough President Marty Markowitz and a few state senators, are calling for the land use protections in place in the rest of Cobble Hill—a 50-foot height limit and the historic district landmarking—to be extended to the hospital's campus.

LICH's two main blocks south of Atlantic Avenue, between Henry and Hicks streets, would be the biggest prize for any would-be developer. But LICH's main building north of Pacific Street is also massively overbuilt according to the current zoning—if it were torn down and rebuilt, the developer would have to downsize the building by more than 200,000 square feet.

The biggest threat (at least, if you see development as a threat) might not be a wholesale razing of the site, though, but rather an obscure land use move: demolishing most but not all of the building, in order to keep from having to comply with the underlying zoning.

According to section 54-41, a little-known provision of the New York City zoning code—the same provision that L&L intends to use to resculpt a post-war office tower at 425 Park Avenue into a Foster + Partners masterpiece—land owners are allowed to reconstruct overbuilt buildings without downsizing, so long as they keep 25 percent of the existing floorspace and the new building doesn't violate any zoning provisions that the old one did not.

And while the 50-foot height limit wouldn't stop a future landowner from using 54-41, inclusion in the Cobble Hill Historic District might, as it would require the notoriously fickle Landmarks and Preservation Commission to sign off on any renovation.

Mr. Lander and others are hoping this designation would dissuade SUNY Downstate from trying to sell off the property in the first place—but what happens if they call hospital advocates' bluff and do it anyway?

The Observer spoke with Ross Moskowitz, a land use attorney at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, who pointed out that if the landmarking goes forward but efforts to save the hospital are unsuccessful, the protections could backfire.

"There could be unintended consequences," said Mr. Moskowitz. For example, "the building could sit dormant and be an eyesore in the community"—or the building could simply be converted to residential use without any alteration to the façade, leaving the less-than-stunning structure, built in 1972, in place forever.

Brad Lander, speaking with The Observer, said that they were in it to win. When asked if landmarking the building could backfire, preventing the uninspired brick building from being remade into a more attractive building, Mr. Lander called the choice between the possible residential alternatives a "lose-lose."

"As opposed to tearing it down and building newfangled ugly condo towers?" the councilman asked. "You're offering me two very bad scenarios, and saying, are you afraid you're choosing one very bad scenario instead of another?"

The New York City Economic Development Corporation will hold a scoping meeting tonight at the Long Island College Hospital at 6 p.m. for the planned development on Piers 7 through 12 on the Carroll Gardens and Red Hook waterfront. The E.D.C. has some grand plans for the development--from parks to housing and waterfront access.

Critics of the plan point out that it doesn't provide any additional housing in Red Hook--instead it will generate more traffic, which is a bone of contention that Red Hookers have been pleading to the city about for months. (Readers of this blog will rememember our coverage of a Fairway-related traffic fatality earlier this year and the D.O.T.'s seeming complacency.)

It's a guaranteed packed house; emotions are sure to run high! Turn off that damn TV and show up. It's better than Lost!

-Matthew Grace

-Matthew Grace

Update: The Brooklyn Papers informs that the community boards are organizing these hearings on their own. They're a bit upset because they've been cut out of the traditional review process because the Atlantic Yards project is overseen by the state, not the city.

Last night around 10 p.m. at the intersection of Van Brunt and Wolcott streets in Red Hook, a woman was struck and thrown by a gray minivan that had just turned out of the Fairway parking lot five blocks away, according to witnesses. The van was heading north on Van Brunt as the woman was trying to cross the street. According to police at the scene, the woman, who is in her early 20's and had not yet been identified, is in serious but stable condition.

The accident happened in front of P.S. 15, at an intersection where faded paint marked three of the four crossings. Witnesses said the woman was walking across the one unpainted crossing. She was taken to Long Island College Hospital, where a source at the hospital confirmed that she was alive. The hospital would not release any information.

Residents in the neighborhood have been complaining about increased traffic and dangerous conditions in recent months with the opening of the Fairway grocery store and the nearby cruise-ship terminal. The Department of Transportation recently installed a traffic light for the cruise-ship terminal on the north end of Van Brunt Street, but has not installed any traffic-calming measures for the south end of the street. Recently in The Brooklyn Papers, residents said that traffic signal near the cruise-ship terminal should have been installed near the school, in the neighborhood's center. According to the Daily News, D.O.T. Commissioner Iris Weinshall is a frequent shopper at Fairway.

A policeman at the scene said the driver of the van had not been charged. There was nobody at the 76 Precinct's stationhouse who would answer any questions.

Update: According to the NYPD, the victim is in critical condition as of 5 p.m. on July 7. The driver of the van was charged with unlicensed operation--basically, no driver's license.

We've also gotten off the phone with a spokesperson from the D.O.T. She said that the D.O.T. is waiting until the fall before conducting any traffic study on Van Brunt Street. According to the spokesperson, it's necessary to wait a few months for traffic patterns to emerge so that accurate measurements are taken. The D.O.T. spokesperson was unaware of the traffic signal at Van Brunt and Bowne streets, which was installed before the cruise-ship terminal ever opened.

-Matthew Grace

4:45 a.m.

5 pounds, 14 ounces

Long Island College Hospital

After only three hours of labor, Monica Grandy Fass, a 39-year-old psychologist, has a new little angel-faced analysand! “It was a surprise,” said delighted dad Mark Fass, 36, Ms. Grandy Fass’ husband of three months, a reporter for The New York Law Journal and contributor to New York magazine. The chubby-cheeked, redheaded firstborn is already a film fanatic. “We took her to see An Inconvenient Truth on Day 8,” Mr. Fass said. “She was very disturbed by it. People should go see that movie, she thinks.” O.K., Pops, stop projecting …. Currently, Clara is sharing her parents’ single bedroom, in a Carroll Gardens building with a patio, but this is a temporary setup. “Know anyone looking to buy?” Mr. Fass asked.

12:13 p.m.

8 pounds, 8 ounces

Long Island College Hospital

After 30 hours of labor culminating in a C-section, Sarah Phipps, who teaches second grade at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn, has a very special little new charge to share with her husband of two years, Lloyd Miller, 31, leader of the Deedle Deedle Dees, a cult children’s-rock band. “It’s very different than teaching,” said the first-time mom, 35, who has strapped a co-sleeper to the marital bed in a one-bedroom-plus-den Carroll Gardens apartment. “You’re much more anxious. As a teacher, I feel very calm and confident. As a mom, I’m constantly worrying: Is she getting enough to eat? Is she breathing?” The more laidback Mr. Miller, meanwhile, has already written a song inspired by his tyke’s fondness for tilting back in her Baby Björn and cooing at nature:

I got a song that I sing when I’m looking up at trees: “Gaahara.”

I got a song that I sing when I’m picking up leaves: “Oooh.”