NEW YORK—A proposal to build a 20-story nursing home adjacent to an elementary school is causing unrest for parents and neighbors on the Upper West Side.
Representatives of more than half a dozen government agencies attended a town hall meeting to discuss various Upper West Side issues on Wednesday. A winding line of more than 100 neighbors curled around the room—the majority of them expressing concern over the proposed nursing home.
The proposed developer, Jewish Home Lifecare (JHL), is planning to move from its 2-acre building at 106th Street to West 97th Street at Park West Village—currently a parking lot. The proposed site is next to PS 163 elementary school, and parents are concerned that noise from construction could obstruct their children’s learning.
Avery Brandon, a mother, lives across from the proposed nursing home site. Her daughter will begin kindergarten at PS 163 this fall. At the town hall meeting, Brandon read a letter outlining her concerns that construction could affect the development of PS 163’s children.
“How do you ensure these kids will not be subjected to sound levels so high that it will be impossible for them to hear their teachers—or just plain think?” she said.
Spokesman for the 160-year-old nonprofit nursing home, Ethan Geto, said JHL would do their utmost to communicate and work with the neighborhood’s concerns.
