"A 7-year-old drew this picture at a class here at Charas. The boy was upset because he and his family had found the body of a woman who had been decapitated on their doorstep. That was in the 1980's when they called the Lower East Side the warzone. Now all of N.Y.C. is a warzone. The world is a bad neighborhood. We need cultural centers like Charas more than ever to keep our sanity."Meanwhile, a tent or two with unhoused residents remains under the sidewalk bridge (the site of multiple sweeps by the city) ... as well as a sitting-in-a-car detail from the Massachusetts-based Madison Security Group hired to keep people (TikTokers!) from getting inside the building.
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Plywood removal at the former P.S. 64
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Questions, and concerns, remain over private security detail outside the former P.S. 64
A security detail remains outside the former P.S. 64 (and later Charas/El Bohio Community Center) on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Reader report: Private security firm now keeping tabs on unhoused encampment on 9th Street
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Another rally to return the former P.S. 64 to the community
Our treasured CHARAS/El Bohio was and continues to be a galvanizing force for good in the East Village.
— NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera (@CMCarlinaRivera) February 13, 2022
Proud to show love today with friends and neighbors, and look forward to working with @NYCMayor to return this cherished space to the community, its rightful owner. pic.twitter.com/V2FrDePaPh
Looking forward to working with @NYCMayor to preserve our beloved CHARAS / El Bohio Community Center. There is no reason why a precious building should sit vacant for decades while the need to connect families to services and resources is high. pic.twitter.com/0b9nVdidiR
— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) February 13, 2022
Tonight at 6:30, CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee will receive an update from the Charas Steering Committee. The public may attend via Zoom at this link. (This is the fourth item on the agenda.)On this Valentine’s Day Eve we aren’t asking for flowers, or chocolate or even a spa day, we’re asking for the return of the CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center!
— Senator Brad Hoylman (@bradhoylman) February 13, 2022
We’ve been fighting for 20+ years & we won’t stop until it’s once again serving the people of the Lower East Side. pic.twitter.com/9vCChszQCD
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Showing the former P.S. 64 some love during rally and press conference this Sunday
Join SOCCC-64, elected officials, community orgs, artists and activists this Valentine's Day eve to ask the City to return our beloved community and cultural center, CHARAS / El Bohio.This is an urgent call, as developer Gregg Singer, who purchased the building that housed CHARAS, former P.S. 64 at public auction in 2001, is now in default of his mortgage and is in foreclosure!We are rallying to urge the City to work with us to return our center, and we need everyone's help to make it a reality.
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Report: Madison Realty Capital can proceed with takeover of long-empty P.S. 64
"Madison aims to work productively with borrowers. However, in this case, the borrower has refused to make good on his commitments for more than three years, leaving us with no choice but to enforce our rights and remedies."
In an email to TRD, Singer said that he still planned to move forward with developing the site "and will inform the court at the appropriate time."
He continued: "In the end, we believe even [Madison Realty Capital] will be happy. This will be a great asset for the community, which is highly desirable and in great need."
In her ruling, the judge stated "that Singer had failed to raise any material issues to dispute Madison Realty Capital's arguments, citing a 25-page response that lacked a table of contents and amounted to a 'rambling litany of defenses.'"
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Speaking out for the return of the former P.S. 64 to the community
Friday, November 5, 2021
Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the eviction of the Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center
Lower East Side elected officials, residents, and artists rally to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the eviction of Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center to call on the City to take action to immediately stop the destruction of the building.For over 20 years, Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center provided arts, community and nonprofit space for the Lower East Side and greater New York City area. Mayor Rudy Giuliani auctioned the city-owned building in 1998. Developer Gregg Singer purchased the building and evicted the center on Dec. 27, 2001.Two decades later, the building remains vacant and has been allowed to deteriorate to the extent the Department of Buildings issued a Full Vacant Order in 2019 for failure to maintain the property.The owner Gregg Singer has taken no significant steps to repair the damage, stabilize the building, or restore the facade, and is currently in foreclosure by mortgagor Madison Capital Realty.Mayor Bill de Blasio stated at a Town Hall on Oct. 12, 2017, that the city would take steps to reacquire the building. The administration has yet to act, despite follow-up inquiries from the community coalition and its elected officials. Community activists and elected officials alike call on the City once again to take steps to save this local treasure.The rally will kick off hours of street performances by local artists, poets and musicians that showcase our decades-long efforts to return this once-vibrant center to the community.