Friday, April 12, 2013

If these plywood walls could talk...

In the last week, several messages have gone up on the plywood outside the former P.S. 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street... Building owner Gregg Singer filed plans to renovate the space into dorms for an unspecified school on Feb. 12. (The city disapproved the first round of plans on April 1.)

Jefferson Siegel sums it up this way in the current issue of The Villager:

Neighborhood animosity has boiled for years over owner Gregg Singer’s attempts to develop the location for various uses, including as a 27-story university dormitory. At one point, angered by the opposition, Singer threatened to turn the building into a drug rehab center. The old school was eventually landmarked and now Singer and his partners are trying to retrofit it as a student dorm once again, according to plans filed with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Now to a few of the messages spotted on the politically charged plywood since the latest plans for the use of the space were revealed:




[Photo via MoRUS]


[Photos via MoRUS]

As for the fire on East Ninth Street late last Friday night... the Post noted this on Wednesday:

Authorities are hot on the trail of a group of inadvertent firebugs.

The suspects set a bonfire on an East Village sidewalk to stay warm but accidentally set three cars on fire, cops said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Deed for 'community facility use only' at the former P.S. 64 now on the market

Something new in the works for PS 64?; plus sidewalk bridge expiration anniversary
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2 comments:

  1. Nicole MarieApril 12, 2013 at 1:47 PM

    Yes! Give CHARAS back! Last I checked it was zoned for community use, and a private dorm doesn't strike me as available to the local community...at all, actually. It's incredibly frustrating, continually fighting for what should already be ours. Shame on Gregg Singer. There is a special place in hell for money hungry real estate developers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. robApril 13, 2013 at 1:06 AM

    Why is it that the power brokers in this neighborhod have failed to preserve the purpose of this building? They worked to preserve the structure -- they got it landmarked, and they even rezoned the entire EV to prevent tall towers in part to preserve this building. But for the human interest in community, we've failed. Preserving structures for the upscale -- when was that the fight about?

    ReplyDelete

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