A voice from the Christodora's past

Yesterday, a new comment appeared on an old post, The Lower East Side: There goes the neighborhood, from June 2008.

Yes, I paid $3M for the Christodora House and I borrowed $2M of that at 24% interest. What a great building! What fun it was to renovate. The Black Panthers had been the last occupants. It was TRASHED. While my flooring subcontractors were installing the last of the oak flooring in the building, someone stole the engine and back seat out of their car which they had parked across the street from the building. The neighborhood was off the charts. I loved it. Sam Glasser December 9, 2009 1:41 AM

I'm not sure if this is actually from the Sam Glasser, who's now developing property in downtown St. Louis. Or maybe Sam Glasser did stumble upon the post and wanted to reminisce...

And I'm not really sure what to make of the comment, real or not. Hey, it was great back then! Sorry that I ruined the neighborhood! Not to bring all this up again, but, you know, the Christodora House was viewed as a symbol of gentrification in the neighborhood, and later a focal point of the "yuppie scum" protests during the 1988 Tompkins Square Park riots. (Read more at The Shadow.)

And if you're interested in a little more of the Christodora's history, there are plenty of sources, including this more recent piece from the Times dated Aug. 26, 1988:

In the 1960's, according to a search of historical records conducted by the building's developer, the city rented Christadora House to a variety of community groups, including the Black Panthers. But it was eventually boarded up, and then sold at auction in 1978 to a private bidder for $63,000.

The building changed hands several times before it was purchased in 1984 by a group headed by Samuel Glasser, who oversaw its conversion into 85 modern condominium apartments, using a $6.5 million loan from Citibank and tax abatements and exemptions under the Government's J-51 tax program.

"Nobody really had the nerve to develop such a big building in the East Village because it wasn't a tested market," said Amos B. Harris, an executive in Mr. Glasser's firm, SMG Construction Inc. We took the plunge and it worked."

Offering most of the apartments for $114,000 to $495,000, Mr. Glasser sold the majority of the units in six months, Mr. Harris said.

During the protests, many demonstrators accused developers of exerting pressure on the city to impose a curfew on the park to encourage gentrification. But building residents and Mr. Glasser said they had made no effort to influence the city's policy.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Lower East Side: There goes the neighborhood

The Christodora House circa 1934

Christodora House by M. A. Tricca
Born: Alanno, Italy 1880
Died: United States 1969
oil on canvas
30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum via Flickr

Flashback: When the Christodora House became a Greek house

Jill's post yesterday on the 12th Street NYU frathouse reminded me of a post I did almost one year ago to date...Here it is again...from Sept. 9, 2008...

[Photos by Charlie Kerman]

In 1983, when the Christodora House on Avenue B was still abandoned, members of the Tau Delta Phi, Delta Eta Chapter at Cooper Union, placed their Greek letters on the west side atop the 17-floor building. Don't have a lot of details, such as how long the letters remained there. Long enough for a photo opp, of course. Photos of the letters crew are below. (Note the condition of the Christodora...)

Rally for the homeless Friday night

Swung by the Slacktivists rally for the homeless Friday night in front of the Christodora... John Penley was holding court out front talking with a reporter....



Didn't get to stay too long. Bob Arihood noted that no one was arrested. The police seemed to think a lot more people might be showing up...



Slum Goddess has more (entertaining!) details from Friday night...Just looking for the drippiest AC in the EV...

Reminder tonight: Rally for homeless outside the Christodora

Scoopy has more in this week's issue of The Villager:

“We’re going to ask Michael Rosen to adopt us — me, Jim Power and Biker Billy,” L.E.S. Slacktivist leader John Penley explained. Penley said he hasn’t actually read Rosen’s new book, “What Else but Home: Seven Boys and an American Journey Between the Projects and the Penthouse,” in which Rosen recounts the story of how he and his wife opened their home to a group of local youths. “I heard reports. People said it’s not bad,” Penley said of the book. “We’d like to move into the penthouse, too — if he wants three new sons... . We’re not all that young!” Penley added that the camp-out concept is being well received: “A lot of people expressed gratitude that somebody’s doing something that’s a little radical this summer,” he said.

For further reading:
"Mosaic Man" and the "Slacktivist" Promise New Tent City for the Homeless ... (Neither More Nor Less)

Long, hot summer at the Christodora (Curbed)

The slacktivists are back: Rally for the homeless set Friday night in front of the Christodora

For further reading:
"Mosaic Man" and the "Slacktivist" Promise New Tent City for the Homeless ... (Neither More Nor Less)

Go inside Noot Seear's closet, see her nipple artwork

Ah, our old friend Noot, who lives in the Christodora House.


See more videos on modelinia.com

Last year at this time on EV Grieve: The Lower East Side — There goes the neighborhood

That's the headline for the May 28, 1984, New York magazine cover story that I recently came across. The piece begins in the early 1980s with the rotting hulk of the Christodora and the young man eager to own it, Harry Skydell.

You can read the article here.

The Christodora cracks up

Seven years bad luck?

The moon...and those red lights!...at the Christodora House

Even spookier!

Those red lights at the Christodora House

Spooky.

When the Christodora House became a Greek house

[Photos by Charlie Kerman]

In 1983, when the Christodora House on Avenue B was still abandoned, members of the Tau Delta Phi, Delta Eta Chapter at Cooper Union, placed their Greek letters on the west side atop the 17-floor building. Don't have a lot of details, such as how long the letters remained there. Long enough for a photo opp, of course. Photos of the letters crew are below. (Note the condition of the Christodora...)

Scoopy sees the Christodora's fabled swimming pool

In The Villager this week, Scoopy gets a guided tour of the Christodora's fabled swimming pool and gym. He reports:

Wanting to get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all, this week we found ourselves gazing into an empty, gray, 50-foot-long pool in Christodora House’s basement. It was 8 feet deep at one end and sloped up from the center to a shallow depth at the other end. From the looks of it, it hadn’t been used for 50 years.

We also toured an adjacent gym with decrepit, old basketball backboards without rims and a high, cement-slab ceiling barely hanging onto rusted rebar and looking like it was about to come crashing down any second. The gym and pool spaces are zoned for community-facility use, meaning they could be offices for doctors or nonprofit groups. But, according to our tour guide, the building isn’t under any obligation or deadline to rent these spaces. In fact, Christodora tried to convert the gym to residential use a few years ago, but the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals rejected the condo tower’s hardship application.

At the Christodora Sunday night (oh, tonight!)

As we (OK, I) had mentioned earlier, tonight at 8 was the date for David Peel's birthday bash next to the Christodora. I was there a little before 8, and watched the cops prepped and ready for...


nothing. The party stayed in Tompkins Square Park, I was told. I stood in front of the Christodora anyway. Around 8:45, an officer walked up and told the troops to remove the barricades. I asked a police officer if this meant nothing was going to happen there. He, quite honestly, barked (wolfed?), "unless you know something that I don't." OK! All the police officers got into their respective vehicles and left...except for two lone officers, who were told to stand guard "just in case."


Several protestors did show up later with an "Imprison Bush" banner. There was a little shouting -- did a resident throw something at a protestor?


Meanwhile, on the way to the event, I started taking photos of the Christodora for whatever reasons...







Bob Arihood has many photos from yesterday's festivities in the Park.

An evening with David Peel

Bob Arihood has the details on David Peel's post-concert birthday bash Sunday night at 8 in front of the Christodora.

On Jan. 13, 1972, Peel and company performed with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on The David Frost Show. Aron "The Pie Man" Kay has a clip of the performance on YouTube.



Meanwhile, here's a video of Peel at the July 11 "let them eat cake" protest at 47 E. 3rd St.



For further protest reading on EV Grieve, here's where to go.

Is this the leakiest (drippiest?) AC in the EV?

Oh, probably not. But don't be surprised if a car wash opens for business here outside the Christodora.