KIPS BAY — A sleek, glass-encased elevator tower with views of the East River recently opened at NYU Langone Medical Center’s flagship Tisch Hospital, officials said.
The four elevators in the new 18-story tower — part of a $1 billion renovation of the hospital — whisk patients and visitors to their destination while giving them a high-tech ride and sweeping views, the hospital said recently in its newsletter.
"As the doors open smoothly, passengers step into a spacious elevator cab whose terrazzo floor matches that of the lobby," the newsletter stated.
"Calmly and silently, the cab glides upward, its glass wall revealing a vista that includes the East River and the Lower Manhattan skyline.... It’s the kind of sleek, scenic ride you might expect in a five-star hotel, but the location is NYU Langone Medical Center’s Tisch Hospital."
The new elevator tower, built in the hospital's courtyard, is designed to ease crowding in the main lobby and allow room for more public seating areas. The tower equips the hospital with four more elevators, bringing the total to eight in all.
"This project significantly increases Tisch hospital’s lift capacity, and ensures that our physicians, nurses staff, patients and visitors can promptly get to where they need to go,” said Deborah Haffeman, a spokeswoman for NYU Langone, in an email. “They also help to ease congestion in the main lobby, making it a more spacious and comfortable environment.”
Construction on the elevator tower, along with renovations to the hospital's lobby, began in the fall of 2010 and just finished in April. The project was partially funded by the Tisch family.
The glass tower was built as a free-standing structure in the courtyard of NYU Langone’s campus at First Avenue and East 33rd Street, to minimize the impact of construction on patients and visitors, Haffeman said. Once construction of the tower was complete, it was connected to the main building.
The new elevators currently serve floors 1, 2 and 9 through 17. Access to the eighth floor will be available starting this summer, Haffeman said.
“The high-tech elevators are faster and larger than their counterparts,” she noted. “The original elevators will remain in service, which will further reduce crowding and improve overall traffic flow.”
Tisch Hospital, with 705 beds, is NYU Langone Medical Center’s flagship and acute-care facility, composed of 66 operating rooms and a 32-bed state-of-the-art critical care unit, among other services.
Additional improvements are planned for the hospital in the near future, including a new meditation room in the hospital’s main lobby and a newly landscaped courtyard, Haffeman said.
