Report: Concern over the potential sale of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

Last week the Post reported on the ongoing rumors about the sale of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at 218 Second Ave. and 13th Street. 

"Worried doctors and staff members" told the paper's Steve Cuozzo that the circa-1902 building "might be sold and demolished for a new building." 

The building, part of Mount Sinai Health System (and the location of a Marlon Brando scene from "The Godfather"), "is at the center of a three-way drama involving medical care, historic preservation and a potential real-estate windfall." 

Per the Post: 

In the interest of "streamlining" and reducing costs, Mount Sinai is gradually moving surgery, clinical, ambulatory and other departments to locations it has around Manhattan — a claim which Sinai did not dispute. Some doctors said the stealthy process will ruin the "synergy" of having all the functions in one spot and diminish patient care. 

And... 

They fear that Mount Sinai will eventually empty the old building and an adjacent one built in the 1960s at 310 E. 14th St. to clear the way for a lucrative sale to a developer. One doctor who didn't want to be named said, "Mount Sinai is going to close this building and make whatever they can on it." 

Earlier this spring, Village Preservation launched a campaign to request landmarking for the building. 

According to the Post, a new building could have up to 210,000 square feet of floor area. Real-estate sources told the paper that the land could fetch in the neighborhood of $70 million.