Please join Village Preservation and allies in preservation, the disabled community, and doctors, staff, patients, and alumni of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYEEI) for a rally and press conference on Tuesday, October 15 at 11 am calling on the city to move ahead with our urgent call to landmark the hospital’s historic building at 13th Street and 2nd Avenue. The rally, open to all, will be held in front of the building.
Ever since Mount Sinai first indicated plans to close NYEEI in 2022, Village Preservation and our allies and some local elected officials have been working with hospital staff and patients to seek landmark designation for the historic building as part of a broader campaign to preserve and enhance the hospital’s services. We’ve been joined in these preservation efforts by statewide and citywide preservation organizations, the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York and the 504 Democratic Club, and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who have now also called on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to landmark the endangered building.
The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is an architecturally distinguished structure built in stages between 1856 and 1903; Hellen Keller spoke at the building’s ribbon cutting. It’s the oldest specialized hospital in the Western Hemisphere and a place of enormous importance to the history of the disabled community and African Americans.
Add your voice! Click here to tell City officials to support landmark designation of the historic Eye and Ear Infirmary.
