Plan for $3B NYU Langone facility at Nassau Community College put on hold over 'external factors'
Nassau Community College in Garden City. Credit: Howard Schnapp
NYU Langone Health and Nassau County are not proceeding with plans to build a major medical center at Nassau Community College, County Executive Bruce Blakeman and NYU Langone said Friday.
Blakeman announced plans for the $3 billion-plus facility almost two years ago. It was expected to create thousands of jobs on more than 40 acres at the college and be “the state of the art, No. 1 hospital in America,” Blakeman said at the college’s May 2023 graduation ceremony.
But on Friday, Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle said in a statement the county and Manhattan-based NYU Langone “mutually agree to pause further negotiations as a result of external factors that have presented issues that may prove to be too burdensome to overcome.”
NYU Langone had envisioned “a new, state-of-the-art, integrated academic medical center on Long Island that would expand access to NYU Langone Health’s world class care there,” spokesman Steve Ritea said in a statement Friday. But, he said, “despite our best efforts to work through a number of technical issues, we are unable to proceed with this specific location.”
Ken Langone, co-founder of Home Depot and chairman of the NYU Langone board, said in an interview Friday that it “was just too complicated” to build a major medical center on the campus.
“We considered all the things that had to be done and they’re certainly manageable but there’s a lot of moving parts,” he said. “We just made a decision, ‘we’re going to cool it.’”
NYU Langone has numerous major outpatient facilities in Nassau County, including one expected to open next year in the former Lord & Taylor store in Manhasset, Langone said.
“We have a major presence in Nassau County,” Langone said. Blakeman and other county officials “could not have been more gracious,” he said. “I have nothing but wonderful thoughts to say” about them.
NYU Langone is now in preliminary talks about siting “a major hospital” at the Canon U.S.A. Inc. headquarters in Melville, Langone said. The plans could include a new 20-story building along with medical offices in the existing Canon building, he said.
Canon officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
NYU Langone has a 591-bed hospital in Mineola, NYU Langone Hospital — Long Island. In 2023, Langone said the hospital needed to expand but could not do so in its current location. At the time, he said if NYU Langone opens a new hospital on the NCC campus, its Mineola hospital could become an outpatient facility.
The Manhattan-based health care system completed its merger earlier this month with Long Island Community Hospital, now known as NYU Langone Hospital — Suffolk, in Patchogue.
The county and NYU Langone expressed gratitude to each other in their statements.
The health care system has assured the county of its “continued commitment to the delivery of excellent healthcare services to the residents of Nassau County,” Boyle said.
Ritea said, “Our commitment to expanding our presence on Long Island has not changed. We are actively exploring multiple alternative sites for a new medical center to serve Long Island. We remain dedicated to the project as originally envisioned: one that would include a teaching hospital, medical education, and a research facility.”
Local officials “should work very hard” to make sure NYU Langone locates the facility on Long Island, said Herman Berliner, a distinguished professor of economics and former business school dean at Hofstra University.
Offering tax incentives and cutting through “red tape” would be worth it, he said. “Those are jobs I’d like to see on Long Island and opportunities I’d like to see on Long Island."
NYU Langone Health and Nassau County are not proceeding with plans to build a major medical center at Nassau Community College, County Executive Bruce Blakeman and NYU Langone said Friday.
Blakeman announced plans for the $3 billion-plus facility almost two years ago. It was expected to create thousands of jobs on more than 40 acres at the college and be “the state of the art, No. 1 hospital in America,” Blakeman said at the college’s May 2023 graduation ceremony.
But on Friday, Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle said in a statement the county and Manhattan-based NYU Langone “mutually agree to pause further negotiations as a result of external factors that have presented issues that may prove to be too burdensome to overcome.”
NYU Langone had envisioned “a new, state-of-the-art, integrated academic medical center on Long Island that would expand access to NYU Langone Health’s world class care there,” spokesman Steve Ritea said in a statement Friday. But, he said, “despite our best efforts to work through a number of technical issues, we are unable to proceed with this specific location.”
Ken Langone, co-founder of Home Depot and chairman of the NYU Langone board, said in an interview Friday that it “was just too complicated” to build a major medical center on the campus.
“We considered all the things that had to be done and they’re certainly manageable but there’s a lot of moving parts,” he said. “We just made a decision, ‘we’re going to cool it.’”
NYU Langone has numerous major outpatient facilities in Nassau County, including one expected to open next year in the former Lord & Taylor store in Manhasset, Langone said.
“We have a major presence in Nassau County,” Langone said. Blakeman and other county officials “could not have been more gracious,” he said. “I have nothing but wonderful thoughts to say” about them.
NYU Langone is now in preliminary talks about siting “a major hospital” at the Canon U.S.A. Inc. headquarters in Melville, Langone said. The plans could include a new 20-story building along with medical offices in the existing Canon building, he said.
Canon officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
NYU Langone has a 591-bed hospital in Mineola, NYU Langone Hospital — Long Island. In 2023, Langone said the hospital needed to expand but could not do so in its current location. At the time, he said if NYU Langone opens a new hospital on the NCC campus, its Mineola hospital could become an outpatient facility.
The Manhattan-based health care system completed its merger earlier this month with Long Island Community Hospital, now known as NYU Langone Hospital — Suffolk, in Patchogue.
The county and NYU Langone expressed gratitude to each other in their statements.
The health care system has assured the county of its “continued commitment to the delivery of excellent healthcare services to the residents of Nassau County,” Boyle said.
Ritea said, “Our commitment to expanding our presence on Long Island has not changed. We are actively exploring multiple alternative sites for a new medical center to serve Long Island. We remain dedicated to the project as originally envisioned: one that would include a teaching hospital, medical education, and a research facility.”
Local officials “should work very hard” to make sure NYU Langone locates the facility on Long Island, said Herman Berliner, a distinguished professor of economics and former business school dean at Hofstra University.
Offering tax incentives and cutting through “red tape” would be worth it, he said. “Those are jobs I’d like to see on Long Island and opportunities I’d like to see on Long Island."
Maura McDermott is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in 2012, she has also covered real estate and the business of health care.
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