[City Hall photos by Peter Brownscombe]
A group of residents, community leaders and local elected officials delivered more than 1,000 holiday cards to City Hall yesterday afternoon urging Mayor de Blasio to help return the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street to the neighborhood.
The group delivered the greeting cards along with gold-wrapped chocolate coins, frankincense and myrrh on Three Kings Day to help draw attention to the ongoing battle for the landmarked building between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Developer Gregg Singer, who bought the building from the city in 1998, has to date unsuccessfully been able to convert the long-emtpy space into a dorm. There is currently a Stop Work Order on the site that the city issued in September.
Here's a collection of quotes about the building from local elected officials via Councilwoman's Rosie Mendez's office:
Mendez: "The Former PS 64 CHARAS/El Bohio was a school building and a cultural community center that cultivated the hopes and dreams of so many people in our community. Community activists laid the seeds and the foundation that created our community gardens and our urban homesteading buildings while sitting in a room at CHARAS. This holiday season my community and I want nothing more than to get our building back."
Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer: "Not too long ago, the CHARAS community center was an anchor that enriched this neighborhood, and with Mayor de Blasio's help it can be again. The Giuliani administration was wrong to shutter this community center and hand this historic space over to developers. The chance Mayor de Blasio has right now is one we rarely get: an opportunity to reclaim a lost jewel and make this neighborhood whole again."
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez: "CHARAS was a cherished public space and I will continue to support my community in its efforts to reclaim the building for the
community!"
State Senator Brad Hoylman: "We have reached a critical point in the decades-long fight to reclaim the PS 64/CHARAS building for community use. However, we are still at risk of losing this valuable asset to unwanted and unnecessary development. I look forward to working with all stakeholders to help ensure that CHARAS truly benefits the neighborhood, instead of private interests."
As for the Mayor, he happened to arrive halfway through the event, but walked right by and into City Hall without acknowledging the group.
Per previous reports, both The Joffrey Ballet School and Cooper Union have signed on to place its students at what will be called University House.
On Monday, Singer told DNAinfo's Lisha Arino that "the city issued the order because it wanted to clarify the language in the leases" he signed with the schools. He said that he is "working with the city to change the wording and hopes to restart construction by the end of next month."
Singer also said that he wasn't opposed to the idea of a community center in part of the space, though he hadn't seen any proposals for a community center. One local leader disputed this, telling DNAinfo that Singer "has never reached out to us in good intention and good faith."
22 comments:
A community center would be a good idea but CHARAS/El Bohio was mainly a private clubhouse over the years. A few meetings and shows for that immense amount of space was a selfish waste. While I doubt there's any legal standard to get the building back from Singer it should be remembered that Singer got the building so cheaply because "activists" did stuff like release a bunch of bugs to disrupt the hearings. How about a community center that actually actively involves the community as more than an afterthought?
There is no bigger threat to our future than the selling off of our public land and buildings to developers. Our city's neighborhoods will never recover from these losses and a monoculture will replace a living diverse city.
This is a good test case to see just how much in touch...or out of touch....Mayor Blasé is...or isn't depending on which way you want to phrase it.
Does he care or will he leave up to his blasé rep?
How about 2/3 community center, 1/3 tech incubator?
1. Community people are landlords, get the $, and plenty of space and funding for... community.
2. The tech people pay for it, because they can. And believe me, they can.
3. Tech people, on occasion, get to help low income / girls / other underrepresented people into tech careers as they're in the same building. Girls Who Code for instance, and other great programs like that.
4. Tech people get lovely offices right off Tompkins Square Park, where they can take their dogs to go play, drink their $7 coffees, take their dogs to the park, and other things tech people do.
Thoughts?
Now that the building's gutted any community center would also have to raise the money for a full renovation. That would not be cheap. Without proving some corruption involving Singer and the Guiliani administration getting the building back is most likely a legal impossibility. As mentioned above a "tech incubator" read: floors of tech companies, might be able to raise the money to buy the building from Singer but the price would be insane as Singer is a scumbag but not evidently stupid. If one of the crackheads currently camped under his scaffold assaults anyone sue him for a huge amount.
The important issue is that the community makes the decision. Tech Incubator/Artist Residencies...Whatever.
CHARAS was one of the few things that made sense in the wasteland that was Alphabet City. It is a monument to the resiliency of this population and to resilient populations everywhere.
Deed is restricted to community facility use--cannot use for commercial purposes. (dorm is community facility--that is why Singer is building a dorm)
Singer did not buy cheaply because the crickets were released--the crickets were released to disrupt the auction where Charas was being sold.
I think Shawn's idea of a tech incubator / community facility is a great one. There's a real shortage of affordable space like that in Manhattan (it's all moved to BK) and I do think there would be great opportunities for the two groups to work together.
BUT, it does sound like the deed and/or sales agreement prohibits that.
I say take it back from Singer and charge him for the full amount to restore it to the condition it was in before his crew deliberately damaged the structure. But that will never happen, unfortunately.
Charas El Bohio as maintained by Bimbo Rivas, Chino Garcia, Slima, and a handful of additional pioneers was one of the most vital community centers that existed in Loisaida. The cultural classes, movie theater program and importantly the ongoing community organizing against abusive landlords and ill-conceived development, were far more healthy contributions to the community than any other use of the building after it stopped being a school. During much of the civil unrest of the '80's in the neighborhood it was a positive anchor. It's role in the preservation, strengthening and education of the cultural identity of the majority of the area's residents was totally essential and probably what the vindictive ghoul, Rudiani, took pleasure in erasing. To bring back even a fraction of the former functions would be a positive jolt to the health of the community.
I like Shawn's idea...not sure about the legal restrictions...but surely this approach would benefit the community - and NYC - much more than another condo tower or whatever Singer eventually has in mind...sure, he'll have dorms - for a year or so - then guess what...condo penthouses in the sky...
That's the best idea I heard so far, i.e. tect-arts. Wire it up, and get Google in there! The welding of community, the arts, and high tech. It could work!
> vital community centers that existed in Loisaida
I differ in my view of what went on. Full disclosure: I've been able to see old PS 64 from my front window(s) since 1982. In the early 80s they were not at all a welcoming crew. As it continued there was a massive amount of floor space for their private clubhouse. Some events occurred but compared to the vast square footage involved it was extremely under utilized. The entire top floor was a pigeon coop with, literally, a few feet of pigeon ... uh ... droppings. Local journalists covering the fiasco at the time agreed that the releasing of bugs in the hearings was one of the reasons Singer got the building so cheap. I'd like to suspect there was corruption but have no inside information. I'm all for a real community center. Charas was not much of one.
I'd like to differ with your differing.
First: Without the small group that ran Charas El Bohio the building would have been a dope shooting gallery just like other abandoned properties in the area.
Second: Anyone who wants to criticize the efforts of that small group of pioneers should themselves try to establish a viable community center with absolutely no budget and win the support of countless families who sent their children there to be culturally educated. The organization achieved results far out of proportion to their resources.
Yes, Charas El Bohio was not the Met or Lincoln Center, and the group that ran it never wanted it to be. They did not want it to be a rigidly structured organization along the lines of what countless other places were. PS 122 for example most definitely was and is a small club of insiders and cateres mostly to the non-Spanish speaking middle and upper classes.
there has never been a hearing about Charas--only the auction (where crickets released). Cost is really not relevant anyway.
Return it to its original purpose a school it could be the much need space for a non profit charter.
In the early days of Charas the "pioneers" froze out anyone outside of their crew who wanted to help. People did volunteer work for them and were laughed out of the building after the labor. Over the next decade and a half, while there were some events, most of the enormous space was just for their crew. Whole empty floors. I understand it wasn't supposed to be The Met but most of it wasn't in use because it was kept as a private social club. This wasn't a storefront, it's a huge building. I only visit the block here in the Singer era but neighbors say when Singer had his demolition crew in there they did not look entirely competent and that pieces of the upper scaffold keep falling onto the sidewalk shed on 10th street. You can differ about the 80s and 90s as can I. I enjoyed some of the events in Charas but it was incredibly under utilized. As for releasing bugs in the hearing, all that did was make sure Singer got the building cheap. It couldn't have worked out better for him.
In the '80's I walked right into Charas El Bohio and was warmly welcomed by Chino and Bimbo and invited to participate in events like the weekly poetry readings. I met scores of people there like myself who enjoyed the same experience. I was encouraged to come to all the organizing events focused on neighborhood protests against the activities of several atrocious landlords on the block. To utilize 100% of the building would have taken an organization of hundreds of staff and administrators. Instead they attracted people like Buckminister Fuller to do projects FOR FREE! Far from being a place that froze people out, I found it to be intensely inclusive.
@ RRReality - The level of community involvement would have great if Charas was a storefront. Yes it would have taken more people to utilize the whole building but they weren't interested in letting anyone else into the politburo in the beginning, at least according to a few friends who tried with volunteer labor to get involved, and they had close to two decades to work it out. Do you have an idea how the sheer square footage of that building? At the end, after many, many years, the top floor was exclusively a pigeon coop complete with pigeon poop three feet deep. (as a neighbor at the time I did like the birds in the morning). Look, I seem to have thread-jacked this topic into rehash the past, a little homesick maybe. I'm guessing most of us can agree that if there's any chance (which I doubt) of getting the building away from Singer and turning it into a community center, or at least part of it into a community center, it would be a great thing. Times change and any community center in 2015-16-17 ... would now use every available inch as it should. I'm not full time on the LES anymore but it's where I'm from (born) and I don't recognize most of it the months I'm in town. A friend showed me the Federal income breakdown for the Lower East Side and it's a spectacular demographic picture of what the neighborhood has become. There is a certain percentage at the bottom of income, a huge hole where you might expect a lower-middle class, and then a big bulge starting at 90k a year and headed up. I'm all for anything that pushes against this trend in any way and glad that some of the gardens and one or two of the squats are still there. Charas won't be back as it was, in my opinion obviously a good thing, but Charas back and fully engaged I'd be all for. Please accept my apologies for the thread-jack. You keep your memories, I'll keep mine.
Anon. 6:33 quoth:
Local journalists covering the fiasco at the time agreed that the releasing of bugs in the hearings was one of the reasons Singer got the building so cheap. I'd like to suspect there was corruption but have no inside information.
I was at the auction and happen to know that a) the bugs were crickets mail-ordered for the purpose—the action was called "Project Jiminy Cricket"—and b) the release was the work of an activist who wanted to interrupt the hearing and prevent the sale altogether. It was not Singer's doing at all; unfortunately, it was a bungled attempt to block the sale from going through.
I live a block away from CHARAS too and can see the top floor from my apartment. I also didn't find CHARAS to be intimidating or exclusive at all when I hung out there in the 90s; in addition to rehearsal and studio space for theater groups, dancers, and artists who might not have been able to get it elsewhere, there were meetings and performances.
Naturally, if they had been allowed to use the top two floors, they would have.
I need to remind people that the former gang members who formed The Real Great Society—the subject of a LIFE magazine pictorial in the 60s—rescued P.S. 64 in addition to a number of other neighborhood buildings including the Christodora House and the church building on 4th street and Avenue C that has been condos for many years now. They repaired the roof, and that was critical to keeping the building intact so that it didn't have to be torn down.
The letters C.H.A.R.A.S. each stood for one of the original founders.
I sorely wish the space could be returned to its previous use as a community center; I tend to think—romantically, but still—that it's haunted by Armando Perez' ghost. He spent all his time there and swore he'd give his life for the building.
The Mayor can and should use the power of eminent domain immediately to reclaim this extraordinary building. The current owner, Gregg Singer, will provide nothing that enhances or supports our community. A dormitory for students from Cooper Union and some vague Ballet Camp for the Joffrey Ballet does not represent the larger interests of the East Village/Loisaida neighborhood.
This will be a long process. And Gregg Singer will tie up the City in the courts for a number of years with ultimately doomed and costly appeals. However, he will lose and sometime around 2018-20, the building will be back in the hands of the City. At that time, a careful review of the most current neighborhood demographics, economics, social, educational, and cultural services and needs should be completed and shared by smart, independent reviewers--It is critical the the whole community be included in this process at the time of the review. And more critical that the review be shaped looking forward not backward.
City Hall should then act, and in partnership perhaps with vetted philanthropic sources, restore this amazing landmark, and provide appropriate services to the community: A straight-up public school—possibly, a charter school, possibly, a pre-K center-perhaps, a cultural center—possibly—a not-for-profit tech incubator, a meaningful health services clinic for the poorest in our community all partially funded by hi-tech enterprises—perhaps—a combination of all these? There is plenty of space…135,000 square feet of it!
Rehashing the past from multiple points of view at this point is irrelevant. Knowing history is always a good thing, honoring those who struggled to do something good in their own historic epoch is important but hanging onto and arguing about memories will not help reclaim this building. If this process began tomorrow, realistically it would take at least 6-8 years to bring this gutted, shell of a structure back on line. Those folks who tried to work within the strictures of City ownership decades ago will no longer have the strength or coherence to make much of a difference. A new generation of trained, young, dedicated neighborhood activists who have the skills to manage and guide a 135,000 sf enterprise along with complex budgets and multiple agendas and the latest technology need to prepared and nurtured now.
Yes, emphatically, PS64 belongs to the community, but the community of the present and future, not the rapidly fading past. Honor the past, build for the future.
Anyone who thinks Tech $ is a good solution needs only to look @ the pillaging of the Roosevelt Island community by Cornell to see the reality. The sweetheart deals & consistent flow of obvious lies are outrageous. Next idea?
Yipes! Whining about the evils of "tech" won't get this building back online and serving the community. Yes, Big Tech can be suffocating but I don't think our smart, savvy hood is going to let the big bad wolf in. We wont be outsmarted or overwhelmed by them. Where does one think the money is going to come from to salvage this hulking edifice? It will cost at least $50-60 million in today's dollars just to renovate and restore this structure. And then there is the money the City will have to invest over years to fight Singer. He will eventually have to be paid off in some way as well.
The City will have to see this process as having real value. They are not simply going to fork over millions of dollars worth of legal work, and eminent domain payouts just to let the building languish in the hands of people who can't fully realize its potential. Not-For-Profits if they kick in some money will also want to be assured of a real ROI. How is this structure going to be operated?
There will have to be a healthy annual operating budget. Please try and let go of the hazy fantasies of the past. This building cannot be restored to it rightful use as a true community space without some very deep pockets being brought in as honest partners. They will have to monitored and vetted for sure. But to think we can count on the collective spirit of a few dedicated idealists is simply unrealistic, childish, and frankly selfish.
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