$12.5M more for med school at Hofstra

Three months before its first students arrive, Hofstra University's medical school won approval Monday for the final installment of a $25- million state grant.

The board of directors of Empire State Development Corp. signed off on $12.5 million for the school, a joint venture between Hofstra and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.

The money, set aside in the state budget by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Long Island's other eight senators, will help pay for a three-story, 50,000- square-foot addition to the medical school's Weeb Ewbank Hall. The hall once housed offices, a weight room, sauna and other facilities used by the New York Jets for their summer training camp.

The addition, to be completed by December 2015, will connect to Ewbank Hall through a glass atrium. The 45,000- square-foot hall was renovated with $10.5 million in state funds while $2 million was used to plan the addition.

"An innovative and vibrant school of medicine will be a boon to Nassau County's economy," Skelos said. "An academic center for medical science will advance our regional biotech and health sciences industries, create opportunities for both entrepreneurs and established industries, and create good jobs for our residents."

Both North Shore-LIJ and Hofstra officials lauded the state funding, saying it was crucial to establishing New York's first new allopathic medical school -- meaning it will confer doctor of medicine degrees -- in about 40 years.

The Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine "will help the region become a magnet for the nation's most talented and skilled physicians and researchers," said Michael Dowling, chief executive of the giant health system.

Noting 40 students will begin studying at the new school in August, Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz praised Skelos and Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), whose district includes the university, "for their leadership, vision and support."

The development corporation directors also approved $1 million for a tourism campaign with JetBlue Airways. Begun earlier this year, the campaign includes in-flight commercials airing on seat-back monitors and a plane emblazoned with a new logo combining the state's "I Love NY" slogan and the airline's moniker.

On seat-back monitors JetBlue passengers can see four short films touting the state's attractions. Produced by students at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, two of the films include scenes from Montauk and Hamptons beaches.

The tourism grant is part of a $19.6-million incentive package given to JetBlue in return for the airline promising to keep its headquarters in Queens. Next year JetBlue will move 880 jobs from Forest Hills and 70 jobs from Connecticut to new offices in Long Island City. It also hopes to add 130 positions there within five years.

The airline, which also employs more than 5,000 crew members and maintenance workers at New York airports, had considered relocating to Florida or Connecticut, according to Edwin Lee, a senior project manager at the development corporation.