Its collegiate division would later form the Downstate Medical Center, an academic unit of the State University of New York in 1948.

[citation needed] The Polhemus Memorial Clinic, an eight-story 1897 tower that was part LICH until July 2008, is considered to be the first example of skyscraper hospital, anywhere in the world.

This merger made sense, in part, due to the existing partnership with SUNY Downstate that dated back fifty years.

On February 8, 2013, the Trustees of the State University of New York voted to close the hospital, which met with immediate protest from the public and the unions.

[14][15] While protests and lawsuits continued following the facility's closure in August 2014, NYU operated a walk in emergency room by October of that same year.

[17] At the time, mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio opposed the Fortis plan because it did not contain a full hospital and had too much luxury housing compared to what the neighborhood could accommodate.

[18] As a result, Brooklyn Hospital made a bid for the property that included 1,000 housing units, 1/3 of them to be "affordable", an outpatient medical facility and a 24-hour emergency services department.

"[23] On May 5, SUNY issued a notice stating that Brooklyn Health Partners failed to complete the terms of the agreement and had decided to move on to the next highest bidder.

[31] It was initially controversial because its high-rise design would have clashed with the mostly low-rise nature of the surrounding neighborhood, and residents were concerned that there would not be sufficient replacement medical facilities.