Rallying to Save a Community Lifeline

Advocates Push to Landmark Historic New York Eye and Ear Infirmary Amid Hospital Closures

By Jeff Peters

PRESS CONFERENCE TO LANDMARK New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, October 15, 2024. Photo courtesy of Village Preservation.

Advocates and community members are rallying to landmark a historical medical facility in Manhattan. On October 15, Village Preservation hosted a rally in support of landmarking the historic New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYEEI). Attendees included NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, City Councilmember Christopher Marte, disability rights organizations including CIDNY and 504 Democratic Club, as well as doctors, staff, patients, and alumni of NYEEI. Community members and passersby paused as they were regaled with stories from NYEEI’s more than 100 years of history.

Since its opening, NYEEI has been a medical facility that New Yorkers, and particularly people with disabilities, have come to trust and count on for their care. It is not only a leading institution in New York City, but worldwide, and its historic stature cannot be questioned. Noted disability pioneer Helen Keller spoke at the ribbon cutting for NYEEI’s opening of the Schermerhorn Pavilion in 1903. Dr. David Kearny McDonogh, a practicing doctor at NYEEI in the 1800s and protégé of NYEEI’s founder Dr. John Kearny Rogers, was America’s first Black ophthalmology and otolaryngology specialist.

Advocates were clear in their support of landmark status. Jumaane Williams, NYC Public Advocate, called landmark efforts a “no-brainer” while Sharon McLennon Wier, Ph.D., MSEd., CRC, LMHC, Executive Director for CIDNY, said “The Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York advocates for the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary to receive an immediate status as a historical landmark in New York City. This hospital is the leading medical institution that addresses the sensory needs for numerous New Yorkers and the metropolitan region. From Helen Keller to the consumers served at CIDNY, many New Yorkers have received crucial eye, ear, and throat care at this premiere medical center. We cannot afford to have Mount Sinai close another outstanding medical center that would put the sensory healthcare for thousands of people in jeopardy.”

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is a part of medical history, African American history, disability history, and New York City history. About that, there is no doubt. It is a shame the New Yorkers are not only facing the potential shuttering of another medical facility, but one with such a long and important history.

Those interested in supporting NYEEI’s landmark status efforts can lend their support at https://p2a.co/ra1zgmt