The now defunct Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills may be heading back to the auction block. File photo
Forest Hills’ former Parkway Hospital site on 113th Street might be heading to auction once again after its last winning bidder failed to close on the deal.
The building at 70-35 113th St. was once home to a 251-bed hospital in the middle of Queens but has since deteriorated into a community eyesore after it shuttered in 2008 following a mandate by the state Commission on Healthcare Facilities. Residents have since reported it as a property riddled with boarded up windows, graffiti and unwanted vegetation.
A company called 70-35 113th St. Holdings LLC initially claimed the property with a $22 million bid when it was auctioned off at Jamaica’s Queens Supreme Court in January. But that group failed to meet several payment deadlines and address its outstanding lien of $14,860,000, a spokesman for City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) said.
At the time of the auction, the winning bidder paid the required 10 percent down payments but missed deadlines on both Feb. 10 and March 10. to deliver the rest of the balance even after the deadlines were extended for leeway, the spokesman said. Koslowitz said she had scheduled a meeting with the winning bidders after the auction, but it was later cancelled after company representatives showed up late and asked to reschedule.
The 70-35 113th St. Holdings LLC did not comment.
The court appointed Joseph Risi to serve as referee for the auctioned off deal, and a spokesman for Koslowitz said he was now considering reopening the auction since the initial bidder has been unable to provide the necessary funds.
Risi could not be reached for comment.
Frank Gulluscio, district manager for Forest Hills’ Community Board 6, said the 56,400-square-foot spot has become a known eyesore in the community, and he hoped it would someday be transformed into something a bit more welcoming, such as a new senior housing facility. Other members of the board have also floated the idea of turning the site into a hotel, he said.
Nonetheless, members of the community have not let up filing complaints with the city and CB 6 to ensure something is done at the site sooner rather than later, Gulluscio said.
The city Department of Buildings website showed that Parkway Hospital collected $10,700 in different violations ranging anywhere from failing to maintain the outside of the building to not keeping current with building inspections. The violations dated back to 2009, when former owner Dr. Robert Aquino tried to reopen the hospital but failed after a long battle with the state.
At that time, Aquino argued Queens was in desperate need of hospital care as the number of beds continued to shrink with closings at St. John’s in Elmhurst, Mary Immaculate in Jamaica and Peninsula in the Rockaways. But the state commission had determined the borough was being well served by existing hospitals.
That same year, Aquino accused then-state Assemblyman Tony Seminerio of purposely setting up the hospital to fail along with former Jamaica Hospital CEO David Rosen and filed a lawsuit against him. Both Seminerio and Rosen were convicted on bribery charges, though the assemblyman died in prison while Rosen received a three-year sentence.
By Phil Corso
