Bea Arthur Residence nearly ready to accept first tenants on 13th Street

[Photo from Sunday]

The Ali Forney Center recently celebrated a major milestone — the naming ceremony of the now-completed Bea Arthur Residence at 222 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

As previously reported, the 18-bed facility will house participants in the center's two-year transitional living program designed to prepare homeless LGBTQ young people for successfully living alone.

From a Facebook post on Dec. 1 via the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth...

This building ... was made possible by the love and generosity of the icon Bea Arthur. We are proud to dedicate this residence in her honor, and humbled to celebrate this momentous occasion alongside Bea Arthur's son and grandson.

The Bea Arthur Residence marks an important shift in the way that we are able to house and care for young people who have been discarded by their families simply because of who they are. Pending city approvals, we hope to begin housing young people here within the next few weeks.

To the countless staff, donors, city and state officials, architects, and friends of the Ali Forney Center who have breathed life into this remarkable project, we extend our sincerest gratitude and love, and look forward to moving our young people in to begin their journey to a bright future.

Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Center in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence.


[Image via the Ali Forney Center]

Plans for this long-abandoned building were first announced in 2012. (The property had been owned by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.) The groundbreaking took place in July 2015.


[EVG photo from 2012]

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

A look at the incoming Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth on 13th Street

Been awhile since we checked in on 222 E. 13th St., the future location of the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Here's how the gut renovation is shaping up outside...



Per some previous posts:

Bea Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Ali Forney Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence.

And here's the rendering ...



Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, told DNAinfo last month that renovations were expected to wrap up in June or July.

There are currently more than 200 young people on a waiting list for the facility, which has an 18-resident capacity.

Per DNAinfo:

The residence will provide on-site counseling and case management for gay and transgender youth, as well as help securing employment with the goal of eventual financial independence.

"What we really focus on with our program is helping them get jobs," said Siciliano.

"What we ask is they put a portion of their income in bank accounts so when they leave the program they have several thousand dollars saved up...a lot of what happens in the program is preparing people ot live independently, on their own."

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Construction watch: 222 E. 13th St.

Checking in on the progress at 222 E. 13th St. near Third Avenue. The long-vacant building is undergoing a transformation to become the Bea Arthur Residence, which will "provide quality, safe, transitional housing for homeless LGBT teenagers and young adults, ages 18-24," per press materials on the facility.

As previously reported, Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Ali Forney Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence.

The property had been owned by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Here's what the building will eventually look like, per the rendering on the property.



The Cooper Square Committee has some recent interior photos of the building. There's no official word just yet on a completion date. The groundbreaking took place in July 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Construction watch: 222 E. 13th St.

Just noting that work has commenced here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue at the future location of the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth.

Per some previous posts:

Bea Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Ali Forney Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence, which will house 18 residents.

And here's the rendering ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Nearly two years have passed since news broke that the long-vacant building at 222 E. 13th St. near Third Avenue would become the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth.

Today, though, as Out Magazine first reported, the center breaks ground for the facility that will accommodate 18 residents.

Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Ali Forney Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence.

The property had been owned by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Executive Director Carl Siciliano of the Ali Forney Center will be in attendance at the ground breaking with several elected officials. In a press release, Siciliano said: "It meant the world to me that a star of the magnitude of Bea Arthur would do so much to help the Ali Forney Center in our work of housing homeless LGBT youths. I am very grateful that we will now be able to honor Bea and continue to keep her compassion alive through the establishment of the Bea Arthur Residence for Homeless LGBT Youth."

And here's a rendering from July 2012 of what the property will look like when it opens later next year...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Art house

Our friend THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N. sends along this photo noting a few recent art additions at the long-vacant 222 E. 13th St.

Some day, though, this will become the Bea Arthur Residence, providing housing for up to 18 homeless LGBT youth.

The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop raising money today for the Bea Arthur Residence

[File photo]

As previously reported, the Ali Forney Center will develop housing for up to 18 homeless LGBT youth at 222 E. 13th St., which will be formally named the Bea Arthur Residence.

Today, the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop is raising money for Ali Forney and Bea Arthur ... (Co-owners Doug and Bryan are longtime fans of both... they even named a cone for Bea Arthur.)

So... to the Big Gay Ice Cream blog:

We are proclaiming Friday, September 14 “Golden Girls Day” at our shop. That day marks the 27th (!!!!) anniversary of the show’s premier. God, don’t you wish shoulder pads would finally come back?

Come by our shop that day if you can — we’ll be collecting money for the Bea Arthur Residence. Here's how you can give:

- Pick up a Bea Arthur cone. 100% of the proceeds from every Bea Arthur cone sold will go to Ali Fornay

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Here's a follow-up to the news that the long-vacant building at 222 E. 13th St. near Third Avenue is becoming the Bea Arthur Residence, providing housing for up to 18 homeless LGBT youth.

Serena Soloman's coverage of the story at DNAinfo including floor plans and a rendering for the space, seen above ...

And how the building looked earlier in the week...

h/t via Joe. My. God.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

A reader points us to some good news via Joe. My. God. .... The long-vacant building at 222 E. 13th St. near Third Avenue is becoming the Bea Arthur Residence.

Here's the official word from the Cooper Square Committee, who has been spearheading the campaign:

The Cooper Square Committee and the Ali Forney Center have been awarded $3 million by the City Council and an additional $300,000 by Borough President Scott Stringer to develop housing for up to 18 homeless LGBT youth at 222 East 13th Street, which will be formally named the Bea Arthur Residence.

Bea Arthur was an advocate and supporter of the Ali Forney Center and its mission.

The property is currently owned by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which will soon begin the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) in order to transfer the property to our organizations so that we can begin renovations.

Last October, CB3's Land Use Commitee unanimously voted in support of the proposal at the former SRO and notorious crack house that has been boarded up for nearly 20 years.

[November 2010]

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Former 13th Street crack house may become housing for homeless LGBT youth

The long-vacant building at 222 E. 13th St. near Third Avenue may be getting a new life as housing for 12-to-18 homeless LGBT youth. On Monday night, CB3's Land Use Commitee unanimously voted in support of the proposal at the former SRO and notorious crack house that has been boarded up for nearly 20 years. Per the website of the Cooper Square Committee, who is spearheading the campaign:

Their proposal (in partnership with the Ali Forney Center) is "to turn a vacant city owned building at 222 E. 13th St. into housing for 12 - 18 homeless LGBT youth. Community Board 3's resolution will urge HPD (the City's housing agency) to grant us site control so that we can apply for the funds needed to renovate the building. We appreciate the support of the more than 500 people who signed the petition in support of our proposal. We will continue to need community support to move this project forward to a successful conclusion. There are over 1,500 homeless LGBT youth in NYC, so this is a small, but important, step in addressing the larger crisis."

Find more information on the project here.

For a lot more of the complicated history on this building, read our post here: A haunted house on 13th Street?

For further reading:
The New Community Activism (City Journal)

More on the history of 222 E. 13th St.

Last Friday, we posted about 222 E. 13th St. — a reader had asked whether the long-abandoned home was haunted. And we received an incredible response from several readers ... You can read some of the history of the address here.

A haunted house on 13th Street?

The Post had a "Haunted New York" feature on Halloween on well, haunted haunts around town... Per the article: "'We live in the 'most haunted city in America,' according to CUNY history professor and 'Ghosts of Manhattan' author Phil Schoenberg." Among the listed haunted locales: McSorley's and St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery. All fine urban legends.

Meanwhile, speaking of haunted... a few months back a reader asked me what the deal was with 222 E. 13th Street... right across the street from the Mystery Lot... The reader mentioned that he or she heard the long-abandoned house was haunted. And if I knew anything about its history.



I don't know much about this address... the DOB lists "Esglad Housing Development Corp." as the owners. A complaint to the DOB dated May 1, 1989 notes that the "recent firebombing of building damaged front hallways and possibly first floor beams."



Anyway, I'm throwing this one open ... Anyone know more about this address? Seems as if it has sat empty for about 20 years...