Landmarks panel approves St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan tower

After a yearlong battle with preservationists, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan has won approval from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission for a slightly smaller version of a planned $830-million medical tower. The tower is a key component of the hospital's $1.63-billion, two-tower plan to modernize its facilities. The commissioners voted to issue a certificate of appropriateness that would permit the hospital to build a 19-story, 286-foot-tall medical building in the Greenwich Village Historic District.