Wednesday, December 3, 2008

What's doing at 72 E. Fourth St.?

As we noted early last month, one-story structures in the neighborhood seem to be an endangered species. (And Jeremiah reported last month that Jam Envelope & Paper's one-level storage space is history.)

So I was curious to learn more about the now-familiar scaffolding around the single-level structure at 72. E. Fourth St. (Between Second Avenue and the Bowery.)



Turns out to be an interesting project. In October 2005, New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) purchased the vacant building -- a former New York City storage facility -- “as is,” from New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development for $1.

According to the NYTW Web site, the site will be "a new scenery, costume and prop workshop. Construction is scheduled to begin in the winter 2008 and be completed in 2009. The facility will be designed and built using sustainable design principles and widely accepted LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) standards, optimizing comfort and health benefits to its employees. Manufactured materials with recycled content will be used, and wood produced from sustainably harvested forests will be used exclusively."



By the way, the day I walked by, there was a "stop work order" slapped on the front dated Nov. 25.

3 comments:

Ken Mac said...

something good. 'Cept for that stop work order...

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I meant to check to see what the infraction was...Likely something minor.

Jill said...

As far as I can tell, Stop Work Orders are only issued if someone complains, the DOB doesn't take it upon themselves to inspect anything of their own accord, or even review the applications they receive with more than a cursory glance. That would lead to things like cranes not falling and illegal additional stories not being built.