Voters Reject Sale of No. 6 School to Simone [Updated]

Editor's note: This story was updated on April 4 with the official final vote tally.

School District 15 residents decisively on Wednesday voted to not allow Simone Development Companies to build a medical facility at Number Six School.

According to the final tally, 4,155 Lawrence School District residents, about 67 percent, voted no to a referendum that would allow the district to sell the former school site in Woodmere to Bronx-based Simone for $12.5 million. Only 2,014 people voted yes.

“We are very proud of our community for making the best decision,” said Josh Justic, an organizer of the Community Coalition of the Five Towns, which formed to oppose Simone’s proposed medical center. “We are very proud of our dozens of volunteers in securing this victory, and we look forward to being able to serve our community in future endeavors.”

Results depended heavily on the polling place, with a vast majority of voters at Atlantic Beach Village Hall and Number Two School in Inwood supporting the referendum. But at both Lawrence Middle School and Lawrence High School, where turnouts were much higher, residents cast a resounding no.

Most of the residents who spoke to Patch at the polling sites said that they were voting no because the medical center would cause too much traffic and not fit into the area. Some also said they did not trust Simone.

“This would be the worst thing for the neighborhood and ruin quality of life,” said Ruth Hauptman of North Woodmere. “Once they pave over the fields, we can never get it back.”

North Woodmere resident Eric said in regard to Simone's proposal, “Intentions are one thing, facts are another.”

Yossi, an Inwood resident, pointed to traffic as a big concern, but also said Simone “seems like they’re trying to get away with a lot of stuff.”

A couple of other residents said they voted no in the hopes something better will be proposed for the site, such as a vocational school or Shulamith, which also bid on Number Six School.

Meanwhile, voters in support of the referendum said they wanted to see the property added back to the tax rolls and favored having a medical center in the area.

“We don’t have resources like that in our community,” said Felicia, of Inwood. “It would benefit the community and bring jobs.”

A few referendum supporters said they do not want to see a non-taxable entity such as a private school or religious institution on the Number Six School land.

In a statement, Simone and Mount Sinai, who would have managed the medical facility, said they're still interested in working in the Five Towns.

"Despite the outcome of the referendum regarding the Number Six School property, Simone Development and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai remain committed to providing coordinated outpatient care to the residents of the Five Towns community. We will look for an alternative site within the Five Towns.

"We are encouraged by the community’s positive response to the concept of coordinated care and have listened carefully to concerns raised by residents living near the school about potential traffic and loss of open space," the statement continued. "We thank supporters for their votes in favor of the School Six site for medical offices.”

Now that voters have rejected the sale to Simone, the bidding process for the property starts again. The Lawrence School Board will have to pick a new bidder and another public referendum will eventually be held.