UES Residents Vehemently Oppose Bldg Plans for New York Blood Center HQ

By Hellen Zaboulani

The New York Blood Center’s plans for a new headquarters have Upper East Side neighbors in an uproar. As reported by the NY Post, the proposed expansion includes a Bio Safety Level 3 lab to study dangerous microbes, which is frightening local residents. Opponents also argue that the size of the new building would dwindle all other buildings in the area.

The Blood Center, the largest community-based non-profit blood bank which doubles as a research facility, has filed to rezone its 3-story headquarters on East 67th Street, hoping to construct a 334-foot tower, most of which would be rented out to for-profit companies as a “life sciences center.” Local residents and some elected officials have voiced the opinion that the Blood Center does not even need all that space and that a tower that large would dwarf the neighborhood school and park. Critics are also complaining that the non-profit initially failed to disclose that the plans include a BLS 3 lab. These labs work with “agents that may cause serious and potentially lethal infections,” as per the city Health Department, which noted in 2016 that “an accident in a New York City-based high-containment research laboratory could have catastrophic consequences.”

Plans for the lab had been a total hush till it was included in a slide presentation to the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. The Center has responded that it has always had such a laboratory. It told The Post that the lab “is a necessary component for the research and development of new antivirals and vaccines.” It added that it has used the lab in the past for hepatitis and HIV research.

This counter has not really helped to quell the fears of anxious neighbors. “I hate to think of what they’re cooking up in there,” said City Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents the UES area. He noted that the Blood Center has not been transparent about the lab, and that the Center has already tried unsuccessfully for a rezoning and expansion multiple times in the past. As per city records, this time the Blood Center has hired the number one NY lobbying firm led by Suri Kasirer to push the expansion, paying $175,000 to Kasirer since 2020.

“We hear the community’s concerns, and we are committed to working together to bring this proposal to the Upper East Side,” said Robert Purvis, the Blood Center’s executive vice president. He added that the research is “essential to bring its discoveries to patients as new vaccines, products, drugs and treatments.”