A few weeks back, rat-baiting signs arrived at the long-empty lot at 326 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...
We didn't think too much about it at the time.
Still, we've always wondered, though, why this lot hadn't been snapped up by a developer. So we decided to look up to see who owns this property.
According to public records, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (of Mount Sinai) a few doors away has owned the property since 1975.
Facing mounting debt and an aging infrastructure, Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials announced last week that they are closing their facility on First Avenue at East 16th Street in the next four years.
Mount Sinai Health System reportedly plans to replace the existing facility by opening a smaller hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue "with a full-service emergency department and 70 inpatient beds."
In addition, hospital officials have placed Gilman Hall, an apartment building it uses to house medical residents, up for sale. The 24-story property, at the corner of East 17th Street and First Avenue, could fetch as much as $80 million, per Crain's.
So this is just speculation. Perhaps Mount Sinai will sell off this chunk of real estate to help offset costs of the new facility a few buildings to the west. Or perhaps they will use this space to build a facility. Or maybe they are just rats here and the lot will remain empty.
