Owners of Harlem nursing home under scrutiny for coronavirus deaths made notorious sale of Rivington House

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Update Time : Thursday, May 7, 2020
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The corporate owner of a Harlem nursing home under scrutiny for a bodycount not reflected in state data on coronavirus deaths was involved in the Rivington House scandal that rocked Mayor de Blasio in the early days of his administration.

The Allure Group, which owns the Harlem Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on W. 138th St., previously grabbed headlines for the shady sale of the Lower East Side nursing home.

The Rivington House, at 45 Rivington St. in Manhattan.

Allure paid $16 million to the city in 2015 to lift deed restrictions requiring the Rivington House property be used for the needy. Allure then quietly flipped the specialty facility for HIV/AIDS patients to a luxury developer for $116 million, outraging the community and sparking one of de Blasio’s early scandals.

As part of its deal to resolve an investigation by then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Allure agreed in 2018 to pay $2 million in penalties and make major improvements to the Harlem Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. The former AG had used Allure’s acquisition of Harlem Center as leverage in negotiations over the Rivington controversy.

“They should not be in the business of taking care of vulnerable people,” Lower East Side resident K Webster, 66, said of the Allure Group.

“Allure was dishonest. They have absolutely no scruples.”

Webster became familiar with Allure through her membership in Neighbors to Save Rivington House. The grassroots group has since advocated for reform of the nursing home industry around the state.

“When Allure took over operations of Harlem Center in 2014, beds were empty and the business was failing. We’ve done exactly what we said we would do under the settlement. We made significant financial investment into facility and equipment improvements that will maintain the Center as a community asset for years. We employ more than 260 New Yorkers, most of whom are union,” said Allure’s general counsel, Richard Brum. “Like all nursing homes, we are now on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. It would be more appropriate to recognize the heroic work of our employees than to criticize us for providing essential care for the most vulnerable people in society.”