After a long legal fight over the future of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in downtown Manhattan, a state Supreme Court judge has cleared the way for its closure.

A lawsuit filed in August by community advocates had put the shutdown on hold, but a judge dismissed the case Monday, determining that the state followed the necessary rules in approving the closure.

An internal memo from Mount Sinai leadership said they were planning to close the hospital campus at First Avenue and 16th Street at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 26.

“This date will allow us to ramp down the facility in a manner that is seamless and safe for patients and staff,” the memo reads.

A new urgent care center at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai nearby on 14th Street is also set to open March 26, according to the memo.

Beth Israel had already been cutting services so that the neighborhood would gradually become less reliant on the hospital.

The state approved the hospital's closure plan on July 25, 2024, setting some conditions, including requiring Mount Sinai to run a 24/7 primary and urgent care clinic for at least three months and formalizing an agreement to invest in the expansion of nearby Bellevue Hospital's emergency department.

Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer on behalf of the community advocates who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement that the plaintiffs are seeking an appeal.

“We are planning to be in court by tomorrow seeking a stay in the appellate case,” Schwartz told NY1 Monday night.

Mount Sinai first announced its plans to close Beth Israel in fall 2023, about two years after it walked back a previously announced plan to downsize.

Opponents of the hospital’s plan have said its closure would have devastating impacts on the local community and could potentially overwhelm other city hospitals.

Hospital officials, however, have said financial losses and dwindling inpatient volumes have left them with no choice but to close.