Morris Park on the Move

Walking along Eastchester Road and Morris Park Avenue, one can't help but notice the changes arising in Einstein's Morris Park neighborhood. "Several new developments in the area create a beautiful mélange that benefits the medical school and our surrounding neighborhood," observed Dr. Edward R. Burns, executive dean at Einstein.

Although in various stages of completion, these projects include:

• the Hutchinson Metro Center, a 42-acre office complex that includes a Marriott hotel;
• introduction of Metro North train service from New Haven, CT to Manhattan's Penn Station with four stops in the East Bronx—including one directly across from Einstein's Jack and Pearl Resnick campus;
• an 18-hole golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus; and
• a 780,000-square-foot shopping mall.

Montefiore recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the unveiling of Tower Two at the Montefiore Hutchinson Campus. Montefiore and the Jack D. Weiler Hospital on the Einstein campus are among the core tenants in the complex, which now offers patients multidisciplinary, coordinated care that runs the gamut from pediatrics to geriatrics, all housed under one roof.

On November 12, 2014, Montefiore cut the ribbon on an 11-story, 280,000-square-foot ambulatory care center in Tower Two. This leading-edge facility offers "the resources and staffing levels of an inpatient hospital, but no surgeries that require overnight stays," says Lissen Simonsen, senior director, ambulatory services, Montefiore. "Putting same-day surgery cases in one centralized location frees up operating rooms at Montefiore's Wakefield, Weiler and Moses campuses to handle more complicated cases, such as organ transplants," says Ms. Simonsen. The facility is adjacent to the Center for Joint Surgery, which is located in Tower One of the Hutchinson Campus.

The Sweet Spot

The Hutchinson Campus is located off the Hutchinson River Parkway—providing easy access from Westchester County, as well as being within minutes of I-95. The complex includes a seven-story, 125-room Marriott Residence Inn, set to open this fall, which features a 2,000-square-foot conference facility; a child care center; an LA Fitness gym; and a garage that accommodates 1,000 vehicles.

Both Dr. Burns and Ms. Simonsen noted that the Marriott simplifies arrangements for faculty recruits and other professional guests travelling to the Bronx. "In the past, candidates had to stay in Manhattan, Yonkers or New Rochelle," said Ms. Simonsen.

"The hotel and conference center will allow Einstein-Montefiore to host national medical conferences, which will further raise the prominence of both the medical school and Montefiore," said Dr. Burns.

"A major hotel located in a state-of-the-art business complex, in close proximity to the expanded Throggs Neck Mall at Bay Plaza, in Co-op City, and a new, 18-hole golf course, will revitalize Morris Park and the East Bronx," predicted Lenny Caro, president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce—which is also located at the Metro Center.

Mr. Caro anticipates that individuals attending conferences and staying at the Marriott, as well as out-of-town golfers and shoppers, will seek out restaurants on Morris Park Avenue, on East Tremont Avenue in Westchester Square and on City Island.

Dr. Burns envisioned the addition of new, trendy restaurants where people working in the Metro Center, the medical school and the hospitals can go for lunch or dinner. "Morris Park is food-centric," he said. "We already have several excellent Italian restaurants, but also need upscale Asian and Indian restaurants. That would be a big draw."

Tracking Success

A telling sign of the developments at the Hutchinson Metro CenterMorris Park has been without rail service to midtown since the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stopped operating in 1931, but plans are now under way for Metro North to whisk East Bronx residents to Penn Station—and in the opposite direction, to New Haven.

"The Hutchinson Metro Center is the linchpin of economic development in Morris Park," said City Councilman Jimmy Vacca. "And with the area poised to draw more tourists to an outer borough locale, proposals for expanded Metro North rail service that had stalled for decades gained some immediacy."

Governor Cuomo approved the $1 billion project, which involves building four stations at Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point, earlier this year.

Just as Brooklyn's Williamsburg and other outer-borough neighborhoods that are a short subway ride from Manhattan have lured young professionals starting families, Mr. Vacca predicted "expanded Metro North service will open up a whole new market as people discover Morris Park is a strong, vital and safe neighborhood."

"Once Metro North begins covering our part of the Northeast Corridor, collaborative research with Einstein's colleagues at Yale and Harvard or other Boston institutions will be enhanced," noted Dr. Burns. "They'll be able to come right to our door, and we'll be able to get to them in a more direct way, too."

A Prime Location

Recruitment will become easier as well. "There's a limited pool of highly talented people, so medical schools recruit from each other," Dr. Burns added. "A scientist at Yale may find new opportunities at Einstein without having to move from the New Haven area."

While Mr. Vacca thinks an easier commute will help keep young professionals who grew up in the area from moving closer to their jobs in Manhattan, Dr. Burns suggested that people wanting to live near their jobs will flock to Morris Park, and the neighborhood will become more competitive with City Island, Throggs Neck, Country Club and neighboring towns in Westchester County.

While the new train service is exciting to consider, it won't begin operating in the immediate future. In the meantime, Mr. Vacca has made headway in extending the Bx24 bus route. That bus now travels from the Westchester Square subway station into the Metro Center, with new stops on Williamsbridge Road, Waters Place and Marconi Street within the complex.

To alleviate traffic coming into the area, Mr. Vacca would also like to see similar route extensions on the Bx21 and Bx8 bus lines, but admitted, "because of MTA budget cuts, it took me two years to get this expansion."

There's little doubt that the route extensions will be needed. As Dr. Burns observed, "The burgeoning medical-research-industrial complex that Montefiore and others are developing at the Metro Center will bring an influx of workers into the area. We're excited about the possibilities that these developments in and near our neighborhood offer."