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

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

The Bea Arthur tag

The "Bad Pussies" mural on the side of Mama's at Third Street and Avenue B (which "passes off a subtle message of yuppicide") has always fascinated me...



...and even more so now with the passing yesterday of NYC native Bea Arthur, who was 86.



...the Bea Arthur tag has been there for as long as I can remember... I just never knew why. I've seen the Bea Arthur tag a few other places around the neighborhood...just can't remember where at the moment.