Lenox Health Greenwich Village

Joseph Curran Building and the O’Toole Medical Services Building
Restored

Lenox Health Greenwich Village

Credit

© Chris Cooper, Courtesy Perkins Eastman

Site overview

In 1964, Albert Ledner, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, completed his largest and most high-profile collaboration with the National Maritime Union (NMU)—the Joseph Curran Building in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Built as part of a public relations campaign by the NMU to lend a sense of prestige and legitimacy to a profession then suffering from a lack of both, the building was both the union’s national headquarters and its New York hiring hall. It was key to creating a modern image for the union, achieved in no small part by its distinctive nautical design.

 

Entering the cityscape around the same time as Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal, Wallace Harrison’s Lincoln Center, and Edward Durell Stone’s 2 Columbus Circle, the building was bold in its appropriately ship-like design, in its deference to circular forms (illustrating fairness and equality), and in its stark contrast with the more historic architecture that typifies Greenwich Village.

Awards

Design

Award of Excellence

Commercial

The Commercial Design Award of Excellence is awarded for the restoration of the Lenox Health Greenwich Village, formerly known as the Joseph Curran Building and the O’Toole Medical Services Building, in New York City. Designed by Albert C. Ledner in 1964, the building, which served as the National Maritime Union headquarters, was bold in its appropriate ship-like design, in its deference to circular forms (illustrating fairness and equality), and in its stark contrast with the more historic architecture that typifies Greenwich Village. In 1973, the building was purchased by St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and became the Edward & Theresa O’Toole Medical Services building. After St. Vincent closed their doors, a herculean effort was made by preservation advocates to save the building, resulting in the commitment of the new owners, Northwell Health. The design team, led by Perkins Eastman, painstakingly restored and adapted the historically significant building within a landmarked district to capture the original design vision, while creating a leading-edge medical facility—the first of its kind in Manhattan.

“This beautiful and unique building is an incredible piece of urban architecture whose restoration respectfully honors the building’s original concept while creatively adapting a dramatic structure to a new purpose. This project offers clients and cities alike valuable lessons about the transformative impacts of architecture and design; specifically, the often-surprising elasticity which waits patiently, and at times unexpectedly, in certain works of modern architecture.”

- 2018 Jury
Client

Northwell Health

Restoration Team

Northwell Health
Perkins Eastman
CANY
Turner Construction
BR+A
Silman
Cerami & Associates
Russell Design
Sam Schwartz
VDA
Langan Engineering
Louis Sgroe Equipment Planning

Primary classification

Health (HLT)

Designations

Within the Greenwich Village Historic District designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission April 29, 1969

How to Visit

The building currently serves as a freestanding emergency department and community care center.

Location

30 7th Avenue
New York, NY, 10011
Credit:

© Chris Cooper, Courtesy Perkins Eastman

Designer(s)

Other designers

Furman & Furman - Local associate architects

Related News

Commission

1961

Completion

1963