By Trudy Whitman
Cobble Hill is watching with interest as Long Island College Hospital continues a consolidation process. The row of Henry Street brownstones between Congress and Amity streets — nos. 354 to 364 — were vacated some time ago and are privately owned. Most have been returned to residential use. Two, however, sit empty, unrenovated and rather forlorn looking. These are owned by Roger Quadrozzi, who, when contacted by the Cobble Hill Association, said that rehab work on the buildings was being held up by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The community was hoping that private ownership would be the eventual fate of 112 Pacific Street, the unattractive building at the corner of Henry known in the neighborhood as the “dog building” because it was used for animal experimentation at one time. Unfortunately, the structure was donated to LICH with the proviso that it be used for hospital purposes in perpetuity. Several hospital departments, including human resources, volunteers, security, and components of the engineering department, have recently moved to 112 Pacific — whose official name is the John Osborn Polak Memorial building. The computer training center was already situated there.
Perhaps the jewel in the crown of LICH’s real estate holdings is the Dudley Memorial Building at 110 Amity Street. It was constructed in 1903 as a nurses’ residence and originally attached to two brownstones, according to George Wahlert, the hospital’s librarian and archivist. Walls were broken to allow for entrances connecting the adjoining brownstones — one on Amity Street and one on Henry Street — to the Dudley Building. The brownstones were torn down years later, and a temporary library was placed on the Henry Street lot in 1972. The community was not happy about the makeshift library that remained in place for 30 years, unused for much of that time. It was finally destroyed in the early 2000s, according to Wahlert.
The Dudley Memorial Building was last inhabited by the Stanley S. Lamm Institute for Developmental Disabilities, a well-regarded diagnostic and treatment facility for patients with neurological disorders. The Lamm Institute, which was founded under another name in 1950, moved to110 Amity in 1974. But the Lamm programs have recently been bifurcated and moved to other locations, according to Zipporah Dvash, LICH’s director of public affairs. This week the pediatric program, which includes developmental pediatrics, pediatric neurology, and occupational and physical therapy, moved to the eighth floor of the hospital’s main building at 339 Hicks Street.
“The space is more appropriate for people with disabilities, enabling us to maintain and manage their care on a superior level,” Dvash explained via email.
For Lamm’s older patients, Dvash continued, the hospital looked for a partner that “had a lot of experience and know-how in caring for adults. YAI, a citywide leader in the care of the disabled, was that group, and most of the adult patients have been transferred to the YAI program.”
The fate of the large, stately 110 Amity Street building has not been decided, Zipporah Dvash stated. Conversations with two realtors revealed no buzz about a possible sale, although Continuum Health Partners, the network to which LICH belongs, is known for playing their real estate cards close to the vest.
The Kane Street Synagogue (Kane Street at Tompkins Place) has announced its lineup of films for the third annual Brooklyn Israeli Film Festival, held this year from January 25-28 at the synagogue. “The Ashkenazim,” which follows young Israelis exploring their heritage, will be screened on Thursday, January 25, at 8 p.m. The award-winning documentary “39 Pounds of Love,” will be shown on Saturday, January 27, at 8 p.m., and will be followed by a conversation with its director, Dani Menkin. “Out of Sight,” a winner at the 2005 Israeli Academy Award celebration, is the series’ curtain closer. It will be shown on Sunday, January 28, at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the Brooklyn Israeli Film Festival are $25 in advance for all three films and $10 per film at the door. For additional information, send an email to office@kanestreet.org or call 718 875-1550.
Also at Kane Street in January is The Afro-Semitic Experience, a group, according to Rolling Stone magazine, that manifests its “religious and political convictions . . . in the spiritual union that brings about the music.” This music combines klezmer, bebop, gospel, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and the harmonies of West Africa.
Kane Street hosts The Afro-Semitic Experience on Saturday, January 20, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at the door are $20 for adults and $10 for children. (Pssst! Craig Hammerman will be in the audience. Community Board 6’s district manager has a cousin who plays with the group.)
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2006
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