A letter to Peter M. Brant about the jackhammering

[Photo on Aug. 11 by Daniel Root]

Construction continues at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, where Peter M. Brant is having Walter De Maria's former home-studio converted into a gallery space for his personal art collection.

There's construction on two fronts: From the rear of the building on Seventh Street (top photo) and Sixth Street...


[Photo from Aug. 4 by Meredith Rendall]

Given the scope of the work, there isn't any shortage of construction-related noise... which explains this suggested letter-writing campaign... as seen in this flyer on First Avenue and Sixth Street...


[Photo by Samir Randeria]

The letter to residents begins:

If you have been disturbed by the jackhammering that we have been subjected to all summer — you can contact the owner of the property at the following email address...

Then the flyer leaver posted the email that he/she sent:

Hello Mr. Brant,

It is exciting to think there will be a museum on our block. We hope that the community will have access to the museum on a regular basis in recognition of your knowledge that you are part of a community. It has been a very difficult summer, waking up each weekday morning to the sound of jackhammering. I'm sure this is not what you would enjoy. In the past, any notices that might have concerned residents where [sic] so small and inconsequential that it was not possible for anyone to be aware of them. I hope in the future you will make sure that there is real spirit of inclusion.

Thank you.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

Checking out the (sort of) new 421 E. 6th St.

A rendering has arrived on the plywood outside the under-renovation 421 E. Sixth St. ...





It doesn't look too different from the existing building ... from the exterior anyway.

Here's a side-by-side look (as noted previously)… showing the existing building (left) and the proposed front...



The address between Avenue A and First Avenue was a Con Edison substation built in 1920-21 that converted direct current to alternating. Artist/sculptor Walter De Maria owned the building from 1980 to the time of his death in July 2013.

As previously reported, the building will be a gallery space to display new owner Peter Brant's personal art collection.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

Peter Brant's 421 E. 6th St. wrapped and ready for more renovations

Just noting that workers finished putting up the scaffolding and netting in front of 421 E. Sixth St., the new exhibition space for Peter Brant's art collection here between Avenue A and First Avenue...



And it looks as if workers are knocking holes in the west-facing wall to make way for the doors that will lead to the new garden space in the empty lot adjacent to the building...



Previously

A sidewalk bridge arrives outside Peter Brant's incoming gallery space on East 6th Street

The sidewalk bridge arrived this week here outside 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As previously reported, the building is expected to be a gallery space to display new owner Peter Brant's personal art collection. The intention is to have two shows per year. The first one was said to be scheduled for this fall. Not sure if that's still on track. We haven't heard much, if anything, about plans for the building since Brant's reps filed permits for renovations last summer.

There has been some signs of work in the vacant space to the west of the building that's part of No. 421's property...



According to previous plans for the place, the empty side lot will feature a garden space...



A new work permit was filed yesterday for the open space, though the job is in hub self-service at the DOB website and can't be viewed until it's accepted.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. The artist Walter De Maria, who died in July 2013 at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

Paperwork filed to renovate Peter Brant's gallery space on East 6th Street

Just noting that reps for Peter Brant have filed the application to renovate 421 E. Sixth St.

Per the DOB, in their glorious ALL-CAP style:

ALTERATION TYPE 1 FILING TO CHANGE USE ON FLOORS 1-3 TO GALLERY AND SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING ON THE 4TH FLOOR. WORK TO INCLUDE PARTITIONS CEILINGS AND FINISHES AS PER PLANS FILED HEREWITH.

Estimated cost of the renovations per the DOB paperwork: $4.8 million.

As previously reported, the building between Avenue A and First Avenue is intended to be a gallery space to display Brant's personal art collection. The intention is to have approximately two shows per year, with the first one scheduled for Fall 2016.

Brant has met with neighbors to discuss his intentions for the building… the plans look like this.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

[Another photo we use a lot]

On Tuesday night, as we noted, reps for Peter Brant were to meet with residents at Village View to discuss his plans for 421 E. Sixth St., the building he purchased last year for $27 million.

Posted flyers said that the owner would be present. Owner owner? Or owner as in owner of, say, the company overseeing the renovation project?



Well, according to an EVG reader who attended the meeting, "Brant was actually there. Yes. Cufflinks and all."

First, though, as previously reported, the building between Avenue A and First Avenue is intended to be a gallery space to display Brant's personal art collection. The intention is to have approximately two shows per year, with the first one scheduled for Fall 2016.


[Meeting photo via Bill the Libertarian Anarchist]

Back to Tuesday night's meeting, which the EVG reader described as intense, though Brant was "open, engaging."

Some guy asked Brant "Why don't you have your art displayed at your Polo Club?" To which Brant replied, "Because they play polo there."

Brant also said that he wasn't aware that the party on March 26 — for the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé — in the building would be what it was, that he was doing a favor for a friend. Per the reader, "He is aware how it affected the neighborhood."

He invited everybody to come to his foundation in Connecticut to see what he is all about. One woman kvetched that she couldn't get there, is anything closer? He said he has a building in Soho. Well, the guy was trying.

I'm starting to sound too much like I'm defending him.

Again, of all the things that could happen to this building, I think this seems like one of the best things. It will be a private space. Not a lot of people there. Maybe a couple of invite-only openings. I want to believe him. Basically it sounds like a garage to store some of his art.

Anyone who attended the meeting want to share his or her thoughts on Brant's plans?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

[EVG file photo]

Reps for Peter M. Brant and his architect are meeting tomorrow night at Village View to discuss the art collector's plans for 421 E. Sixth St., the building he purchased last year for $27 million...



Well, the posted flyers note that the owner will answer questions. (What are the chances that Peter Brant will be at this meeting?)

In any event, among other modifications/additions, Brant's reps are calling for a rooftop terrace and a garden to the west of the building here between Avenue A and First Avenue. (Read more about the plans here.)

During a CB3 Landmarks Committee meeting last month, residents learned that the building is intended to be a gallery space to display Brant's personal art collection. The intention is to have approximately two shows per year, with the first show scheduled for Fall 2016. (Hopefully Vito Schnabel's people won't be doing the planning.)

The meeting is at the Village View Community Room at 6:30 p.m., 175 E. Fourth St.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

On Tuesday night, reps for Peter M. Brant and his architect appeared again before CB3's Landmarks Committee to discuss a Certificate of Appropriateness application for 421 E. Sixth St., the building that the art collector-publisher-paper magnate bought last year for $27 million.



Among other modifications/additions, Brant's reps are calling for a rooftop terrace and a garden to the west of the building here between Avenue A and First Avenue. (Read more about the plans here.)

An EVG reader attended Tuesday's meeting, and shared this:

The building is intended to be a gallery space to display [Peter Brant's] personal art collection. The intention is to have approximately two shows per year, with the first show scheduled for Fall 2016. There would be an opening night event for each show. This is not intended to be a party space or a commercial space. Entrance to the gallery space will be by appointment only so there will not be people going in and out each day. On a daily basis, there should only be two people using the building, if even that. The maximum capacity of the building is 200 people.

The new garden in the empty lot next door is intended to be a sculpture garden to display the sculptures in the owner's collection. It also will be the main entrance because the current entrance on Sixth Street is not handicap accessible.

Demolition work is scheduled to begin in August and will last approximately two months. All work will be done during the day. There will be a telephone number that people can call if they have complaints about the construction.

The reps also said that they'd come speak to any concerned residents who live in Village View across the street to make sure everyone was comfortable with the plans.

And what about the 11 days of activities with the generators on East Seventh Street that culminated with an elegant dinner party for the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé? (The event, on the evening of March 26 — hours after the deadly Second Avenue explosion — featured a marching band playing outside at 1 a.m.)

The owner's rep also apologized for the party with the generators. She said that the owner lent the space to a friend as a favor and that the owner didn't realize it was going to be like that.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

[Photo from March 24 via @hanyakrill]

Meant to post this earlier in the week… for anyone who was curious about that 11 days of activity around the incoming Brant Foundation exhibition space on East Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

We only heard that the space was hosting an event for Dom Pérignon.

The event was held on the evening of Thursday, March 26. (Perhaps worth noting that the fire was still raging nearby at 119-123 Second Ave.)

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that it was for the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé.

Some excerpts from the article…

Nine rosé Champagne aficionados sat down for an intimate, one-of-a-kind pairing dinner … with Dom Pérignon Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy.

Guests at the East Village event included New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, real-estate executive Michael Fascitelli and wine-store owner Robert Schagrin.

And!

The seven-course dinner featured dishes showcasing a global range of spices, from a Thai bouillon to an elegant mole verde to a duck entree, redolent of cumin and coriander, based on a 17th-century French recipe.

The dinner was held at 421 E. Sixth St. and the space decorated for the occasion by rock star Lenny Kravitz’s Kravitz Design, which brought in sculptures, dramatic lighting and sleek furniture.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Neighbors curious about the 11 days of activity at Peter Brant's exhibition space on East 6th Street

The art of noise on East 7th Street ahead of tomorrow night's event at the Brant Foundation

The art of noise on East 7th Street ahead of tomorrow night's event at the Brant Foundation

[Wednesday night on 6th Street via @hanyakrill]

The other day we noted that there is a big event taking place at the incoming exhibition space for the Brant Foundation on East Sixth Street.

Crews have been busy coming and going from the building's back entrance on East Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, where two high-powered CAT generators have been stationed since March 19. According to a security guard, the event is for Dom Pérignon tomorrow night.

All told, the party-related activities at the Brant building, which has been cast in a pinkish glow inside the last few nights, will last 11 days, per the signs posted on the building at 421 E. Sixth St.



Several neighbors have grumbled about all this, from 11 days of reserved parking on the street to the often-noisy generators.

A few commenters to our post on Monday thought we should all just mind our own business.

He's probably having some kind of celebration / party in his new space. People need to get lives and mind their business. Now the guy is getting written up on blogs?

And!

Peter Brant is bringing much-needed class and sophistication to this neighborhood. If you want your squats back move to Detroit. Echoing the previous commenter: get lives just because you can't afford champagne!

Some of these comments prompted a resident on East Seventh Street "to demonstrate what a racket they're making."

To the reader: "I'm excited Brant has taken over the space and I'm sure he'll do lovely things for the community, but those babies are loud! I live right in front of where [the generators are] parked and it's very loud up here on the uppers floors. I'm attaching a video of the noise the trucks make — this might set straight some of the commenters who think this is an overreaction!"



Previously on EV Grieve:
Neighbors curious about the 11 days of activity at Peter Brant's exhibition space on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

We finally have an idea of what art collector Peter Brant plans on doing with the renovations of 421 E. Sixth St., the former home-studio of artist Walter De Maria here between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Tonight at 6:30, CB3's Landmarks Committee will discuss a Certificate of Appropriateness application for the building that Brant bought last year for $27 million. (The address falls in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District.) Brant told the Times last October that he plans on opening an exhibition space here.



Among other things, the proposal calls for:

Exterior work includes the restoration and repair of the existing brick facade, replacement of the existing windows with new thermally broken steel windows to match existing, new window openings on the west and north facades, a new occupiable roof terrace with a new glass skylight. there is an increase in height of the bulkhead to accomodate the elevator and the addition of a roof mounted hvac unit which will be screened from view on all four sides.

Here's a side-by-side look… showing the existing building (left) and the proposed front...





Some of the most noticeable changes would occur on the lot's East Seventh Street side … where there is currently a wall/rolldown gate leading to the back of the property…



… that would be converted into a garden space… (no word if this space would be open to the public, or just guests of the Brant Foundation).



In addition, Brant's reps are calling for a rooftop terrace and a garden to the west of the building, currently an empty lot that was also part of the sale…



You can find a PDF with all the proposals (diagrams! renderings! photos!) right here.

If you want to see if all for yourself, the 6:30 meeting tonight is at the JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died in July 2013 at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Last week we noted that a new exhibit was now taking place at 421 E. Sixth St., the former home-studio for Walter De Maria that Peter Brant bought for $27 million.


[Photo last Wednesday night by Shawn Chittle]

Andrew Russeth, co-executive editor of ARTnews, has an essay on the show, titled "Dan Colen: The L...o...n...g Count." For starters, this is NOT not a project of the Brant Foundation Art Study Center. Brant told the Times back in October that he plans on opening this space in a few years.

So we don't know if this is just some one-off show … or the first of many before the new space officially opens.

And now some thoughts via Russeth's article:

It will be hard for many — this writer not included — not to see the Colen show as the latest example of the relentless commingling of big money, new art, and real estate in present-day New York, but let’s just admit that there is a very slim silver lining: at least it wasn’t converted into condos.

And!

[M]y hope is that, when Brant opens the space, he will get weird in a major way. Yes, he should do some big-name exhibitions (the Urs Fischer and Karen Kilimnik shows at his Greenwich estate were superb), but he should also take some aggressive chances, inviting in marginal institutions and little-known young names. He should give artists, big and small, free rein and see what happens, establishing a legacy.

The Colen show, which Russeth described as "deeply mediocre," runs through Sunday here in the former Con Ed substation between Avenue A and First Avenue.



Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Back in August, news reports confirmed that billionaire art collector Peter Brant bought Walter De Maria’s former home and studio at 421 E. Sixth St. for $27 million.

In May, a tipster told us that The Brant Foundation would use the building between First Avenue and Avenue A as an exhibition space.

While Brant's reps haven't released any further details on what he plans on doing with the address, work is underway on the building. Plans filed with the DOB Friday call for the rather generic "removal of interior non loading bearing partitions and related finishes."

Gluckman Mayner Architects are listed as the architects of record. Among their projects: the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, the renovation and expansion of the Whitney and the conversion of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

De Maria died of a stroke in July 2013 at age 77.

Per artnet: "De Maria is best known for The Lightning Field (1977), 400 stainless steel poles planted in a one-by-one-mile grid in the New Mexican desert. The famously isolated piece can only be visited by six guests per day, each of whom must stay overnight in an isolated cabin."

The property, which includes the empty lot to the west, had been listed for $25 million. It was built in 1920 as a ConEd substation, but had been converted into a photography studio after De Maria bought it in 1980.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

[File photo]

Back in May, a reliable source told us that The Brant Foundation was in contract to buy the longtime home-studio of the late Walter De Maria for use as an exhibition space.

This sale has been confirmed. The Real Deal reported that billionaire businessman Peter M. Brant paid $27 million for the building at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, according to property records filed with the city yesterday.

Here's more about the Greenwich, Conn.-based Foundation via its website:

The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, designed by Richard Gluckman, has a mission to promote education and appreciation of contemporary art and design, by making works available to institutions and individuals for scholarly study and examination. The Brant Foundation Art Study Center presents long-term exhibitions curated primarily from the collection. The collection is remarkable in that scores of artists are represented in depth, including works from the earliest period of their practice through their most recent works. Currently, The Brant Foundation, Inc., established in 1996, lends works to more than a dozen exhibitions per year.

Paper magnate-publisher-art collector-wealthy person Brant is the founder and president, as you may have guessed.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died last summer at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)