Sunday, June 26, 2016

[Updated] Community forum tomorrow about the Rivington House



An EVG reader shared this photo of a flyer spotted near the former Rivington House on the Lower East Side.

The sign is for a press conference and community forum tomorrow (Monday!) at 11:30 a.m. Location: Speyer Hall at University Settlement, 184 Eldridge at Rivington.

The event is sponsored by the recently formed Community Voices To Save Rivington House.

To the usual recap: In February 2015, the Allure Group paid $28 million for the property, promising that 45 Rivington — the former Rivington Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation — would remain a health facility. In November, a city agency lifted the the deed in exchange for the Allure Group's $16 million payment to the city. Earlier this year, Allure then reportedly sold the property for $116 million to the the Slate Property Group, a condo developer who plans to create 100 luxury residences in the building that overlooks Sara S. Roosevelt Park.

The state attorney general, city comptroller and city Department of Investigation are all investigating the Rivington House deal. You can find the most recent development here.

Updated 6/27

Gothamist has a report on the rally hosted today by Community Voices To Save Rivington House.

"We want the place back," said Tessa Huxley, president of coop adjacent to Rivington House, where she's lived since 1981. "I don't need anyone to be punished, just give us back our facility. It's been a complete, deafening silence from the mayor."

Meanwhile, the petition campaign to "return the Rivington House to the LES" continues. You can sign the petition here.

9 comments:

cmarrtyy said...

And we wonder why 22% of the registered voters came out in the last election for mayor and elected Mayor Bill with 19% of the vote. DON'T THEY GET IT! The sad answer is yes. And by their actions they don't care.

Anonymous said...

@cmarrtyy
Do you think something like this would not have happened under Bloomberg's watch?
I hope there is some way this sale can be stopped, with monies returned to each party. A purchase of property which violates the law should not be allowed to stand. We need to win this one as a city.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that people like to sit behind their computer screens and boohoo about the good old days of cheap living in the EV but then when it comes time to actually do something, they're complacent in their little rent stabilized apartment. Fuck everybody else.

cmarrtyy said...

2:13
It might have happened... But it's a question of morality. Maybe someone else would not have craved in and let this happen. This transaction, I believe was legal. But if all parties agree, it can be undone. But there's no one involved who is mortal enough to undo the transaction. And if there is no one moral enough to insist that the deal be undone, as voters our democracy is a fraud. That's where this is at. SO we have to ask, where is the moral outrage over this?

Anonymous said...

Just taser everyone involved, repeatedly.

lue glass said...

anon at 4:05 PM
there was a time when the folks in this neighborhood (and the city) did things and accomplished a lot.
a rent strike or a picket or a press conference meant something.
now there is just too much fucking money involved, dishonesty from the bottom up, and the old folks are tired.

there is a reason people miss the not so good old days - it's because they (we) could have an effect on their lives and the neighborhood if not so much the world
.
what have you done for your neighborhood or the city?

Anonymous said...

@lue glass
you bring up very good points. I think the only outrage newbie residents of the EV have is when their coffee is not exactly as they want it. They take their outrage to Yelp.

Bowery Gals said...

Thanks EV Grieve. The Neighbors to Save Rivington House are a collection of neighbors, people whose family members lived in RH, former staff, local organizations, friends and families who are desperate need of a nursing home right now, and larger organizations that are trying to keep this in the public eye - and in Mayor de Blasio's eye. And yes people did this deal so people can undo it. Even China Vanke could. We were told to give up before we started but we are not helpless pawns. They once said the Divine Right of Kings was forever. How'd that work out?
YOU can help. Sign this petition: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-deblasio-return-rivington-house-to-the-les/u/17048246?tk=MuBN-Yk6OnXUPNTw4V137cZwWkhstkuF74ochuple9E&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email

Anonymous said...

The problem is, if you are Allure or Slate, why do you WANT to undo this? Allure acted in a pretty shady manner, sure, but it was still legal. And Slate, the end buyer, did nothing wrong at all except get caught up in a corrupt city process.

The City wants to undo this because they took a relatively tiny sum of money without doing their homework about end uses, and got burned. You can even make the case that Allure, who acted in an ethically gray area, should want to remedy their mistake (though how many of us are turning around and giving up a $72 million profit?). But Slate? All they did was buy a building to develop. What POSSIBLE motive do they have? Nothing to feel guilty or shameful about in their actions.