New York Methodist Hospital's controversial plan to build an eight-story, U-shaped outpatient center in the brownstone neighborhood in Park Slope has been approved, according to an article on the New York Daily News website.

The hospital expansion, which has been a controversial issue among residents since the plan was unveiled last July, calls for the demolition of 16 hospital-owned buildings — including some 19th century brownstones — to make way for the 300,000-square-foot Center for Community Health, the article said.

“Because this project has the potential to forever alter the essential character of Park Slope, we will continue to challenge (the hospital’s) efforts and hope to work with elected officials and community leaders to modify the current plan,” said Bennett Kleinberg, a Fifth St. resident who heads up the anti-expansion group Preserve Park Slope.

Critics have charged that the new building will overshadow neighboring homes and complained about added traffic from the 100,000 patients who would visit the center each year.

Read the article.