More than 100 Long Island seniors face uncertainty as The Harborside's future remains unclear

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. - Residents of a senior community on Long Island are pleading with New York state to save their homes, and life savings. 

The Harborside, formerly known as The Amsterdam, is an independent and assisted living facility and is in bankruptcy. Its purchase was just rejected by state regulators. 

"It's awful. There is no other way to describe it."

Constance Miceli, 95, and Joyce Shapiro, 93, are in limbo, along with 180 other elderly residents. They are bracing for eviction. 

"It's been horrible because we don't know what's going to happen to us," Shapiro said. "There you are, out on the street, and everybody doesn't have a family to move in with." 

"It's awful. There is no other way to describe it. Awful. We are not sleeping nights," Miceli said. 

It's the third time in a decade the facility has been in bankruptcy court, and it has had financial woes from the start. Half of the 330 units are empty. 

The sale of life care company LCS was abruptly denied days ago, with the New York state Health Department citing "severe critical issues," including a lack of required financial transparency. LCS called the ruling deeply disappointing, and said "nothing could be further from the truth." 

The blame game has left the residents in the middle. 

"I paid over $850,000 to live here, which will be lost," Miceli said. 

Residents sold their homes to buy into the facility. They're writing letters to Gov. Kathy Hochul begging for negotiations to continue. 

"The state will work with the families to make sure their loved ones have a place to go -- they will be given options. We are committed to ensuring that everyone gets the care that they need and deserve," a spokesperson said. 

"We don't need their help, where to go, we need their help to stay here," Miceli said. "They don't seem to have a feel for what the people are going through here. It's a catastrophic situation for our residents," Miceli said. 

"It's horrendous and the state just washed its hands of it, and the governor could change it," Shapiro said. 

"There is no Plan B"

State Senator Jack Martins suspects the state killed the deal because it's a for-profit company. 

"There is no Plan B. Plan B is the building gets handed over to the bondholders, gets sold, gets redeveloped for profit, and these 180 people... will be left with nothing. It's an absolute disgrace," Martins said. 

With the future so uncertain, residents say the facility is also losing employees. If the sale doesn't go through, it will run out of money by year's end. 

LCS released the following statement about the matter: 

Since 2022, LCS has been working to purchase the Harborside out of bankruptcy and restore it to a thriving senior living option for current and future residents. Ten months ago, after a complex and contentious process, we received approval from the bankruptcy court to buy the Harborside as part of a transaction designed to stabilize the Harborside's tumultuous financial history. Since then, we have diligently pursued finalizing the purchase of this community with state regulators and invested significant resources, including providing operating funds to the Harborside, in good faith to keep this community open for residents and employees.

Despite a robust plan that included significant renovations, expanded employment opportunities, and a commitment to honor resident refund obligations, state regulators failed to provide the necessary approvals in a timely manner, even with LCS granting multiple extensions of the outside date in the purchase agreement. As of the start of October, we were still no closer to an approval or commitment to a path forward with the New York State Department of Health than we were when we submitted our applications in January. As a result, we can no longer continue our pursuit of the Harborside.

The Department of Health has had multiple chances to engage with us and navigate the approval process on time to keep this community open for residents and employees. Now that the purchase agreement has expired, the Department is looking to shift blame through a false narrative about incomplete applications and refusals to provide information- nothing could be further from the truth.  Instead, the DOH has failed the residents of the Harborside who now face an uncertain future.  We are deeply disappointed by this result as we looked forward to improving this community for the residents, employees, and the greater Nassau County community.

We heard from the state Department of Health about the matter on Tuesday.

"In keeping with its regulatory responsibility, the Department protected vulnerable residents by denying an applicant who was unwilling to comply with instructions on how to bring the application in compliance with State law. As regulator, we'll continue working with the existing operator to ensure that the needs and concerns of residents and their families are addressed."