A proposed takeover of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn by New York City’s public hospital system has hit a new obstacle, after the state Attorney General’s office rejected a request to fast-track the merger deal amid fierce opposition in the Orthodox Jewish community it serves.
The AG’s office’s charities bureau told Maimonides that it cannot proceed through administrative approval and must instead seek judicial sign-off ahead of a scheduled April 1 transfer. That process for nonprofit property transfers requires a court filing in Brooklyn, public notice and a hearing before a judge — a timeline that could delay the merger or, opponents hope, derail the transaction altogether.
The setback comes as the hospital and state and local authorities face a pair of lawsuits seeking to stop the merger. As part of one of those cases, the state filed the city Health and Hospitals system’s 500-page merger application with a state court on Friday, detailing specifics about the projected timeline, funding and more…