Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation

Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation
St. Nick's Renaissance Center, head administrative building of the GREC
General information
Status	intact
Type	Hospital
Location	Brooklyn, New York City, USA

The Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation (GREC) is a consortium of neighborhood organizations in North Brooklyn that serves to facilitate and advocate the activities for city initiatives, as well as coordinate community involvement in the neighborhood of the former Greenpoint Hospital Complex.

GREC's mission is bring together community residents through collective institutions and to put forth proactive initiatives, suggesting what the city government of New York could be doing to make the neighborhood better for all of the residents. This includes planning the physical space in the neighborhood in order to make it into a place where people can have a decent quality of life in a safe environment. The consortium initially came together to coordinate community involvement around the redevelopment of the former Greenpoint Hospital Complex after the city closed the facility, preparing a comprehensive plan with the Williamsburg/Greenpoint community that reflects the broad community consensus on the reuse of the campus. The plan was adopted by Community Board #1 as the "Community Plan," and supported by all elected officials.

The community vision seeks to utilize this public resource to create a broad range of health, residence, and community services to meet the current and future needs of residents in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, as well as greater North Brooklyn.

Greenpoint Hospital was shut down by the City of New York in the winter of 1982. Once the heartbeat of community health services, the hospital represented an anchor institution of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg community. Neighborhood residents and leaders responded by forming the Greenpoint Hospital Task Force in a cooperative effort to help protect the vacant property and develop a comprehensive plan for its reuse.

In 1983 the New York City government began to move homeless men from various parts of the city into the vacant buildings of Greenpoint Hospital without the knowledge or approval of the local community. The number of men rose quickly, reaching a peak of over 1,100 men by 1984. The men were offered (virtually) no support services other than housing and were turned out into the street each day. The local crime rate increased drastically; “men who badly needed support to get back on their feet were often found living in hovels throughout the community, stripping homes of aluminum and otherwise engaged in a broad array of antisocial and criminal activities. New York City’s decision to reuse the facility as a homeless shelter without local consultation and with complete indifference to its impact on community life enraged local residents." As a result, led by community leaders Tish and Guido Cianciotta and the Concerned Citizens of Withers Street and Area Block Association, residents spent 140 nights in a vigil outside the complex to draw attention to the combined injustice to homeless men and the host community.