Spotted: The front of P.S. 64

The other day, I spotted workers putting up new plywood at the old P.S. 64 on Ninth Street east of Avenue B...



... I haven't seen the front of the school in eons. So I took a picture.



A worker saw me and said that "so many people" had also walked by and took pictures. I asked him if he was there to tear down the school. He laughed and said that he was only there to help put up the new plywood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Last Thursday I noted that the sidewalk shed had been removed by workers at the old PS 64 space owned by developer Gregg Singer ... fueling plenty of speculation, mostly by me.

Anyway! The plot thickens here on East Ninth Street ... Scoopy notes the following in his column in The Villager this week..

"Michael Rosen, a Christodora House neighbor and founding member of the East Village Community Coalition, tells us there may be a new twist: A local preservationist ... recently told him that, while plans are still to make the building a dorm, now the owners also want to renovate the old school's existing basement theater and rent it out to a nonprofit theater company. And Singer is still very much involved."

And then the Scoopster let's loose:

"Clearly, Singer wants to exploit preservation-specific tax credits he can get for renovating the landmarked building — the same building he ironically defaced only a few years ago, trying to reverse its landmarking. Talk about 'theater of the absurd.'"

Sidewalk shed removed at the rebranded PS 64

Been some time since I recall a sidewalk-shed-free stretch of Ninth Street east of Avenue B outside the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center -- now known as University House at Tompkins Square Park...




Not sure what, if anything, this means at the moment...Haven't heard any news about construction here since the fall...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

"Active demolition" this morning at the former P.S. 64

Over at the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center on Ninth Street/10th Street:

An EV Grieve reader notes this morning that "active demolition going on ... dumpsters being loaded into trucks..."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Good morning from Ninth Street (and 10th Street!), where you'll wake to the sound of power tools and demolition

Good morning from Ninth Street (and 10th Street!), where you'll wake to the sound of power tools and demolition

A resident writes in this morning to note the noise coming from the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center on Ninth Street. "Sound of power tools, chute (pictured) and dumpster — is Gregg Singer gutting the place?"

Yes, it appears the work continues to turn the school into University House at Tompkins Square Park.

According to marketing materials for the building: [It's] "currently undergoing a complete renovation including new building systems, core and shell. The property is zoned R8-B. The property is ideal for schools, universities, museums, college dormitories, medical offices, hospital, foundations, nonprofit institutions and related facilities."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

I'm doing a little guest-blogging at Curbed this week. A version of this post appears there too.



Add another chapter to the long, complicated story of the old P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center -- now known as University House at Tompkins Square Park. According to marketing materials (PDF) that HelmsleySpear is circulating, the landmarked space at 350 East 10th Street (and an aside, the rebranding includes not using the 605 E. Ninth St. address):

[I]s currently undergoing a complete renovation including new building systems, core and shell. The property is zoned R8-B. The property is ideal for schools, universities, museums, college dormitories, medical offices, hospital, foundations, nonprofit institutions and related facilities.



Ownership will consider all offers to lease or purchase the entire building. In addition, ownership will consider the creation of a “building-within-building” allowing for multiple entrances and uses within the property, including the possibility of leasing individual floors and selling portions of the building as a
commercial condominium.

No mention anywhere of Gregg Singer, the building's owner who unsuccessfully tried for years to get his megadorm project off the ground. This past spring, Singer told The Villager that he's still an investor, but he had moved "onto other stuff." Meanwhile, one longtime P.S. 64 watcher said many of these new plans for the site have been moving forward without the knowledge of the East Village power brokers.

For more on the efforts to save P.S. 64 and its history:
East Village Community Coaltion: Save our School

And a few photos of the old P.S. 64 from a few weeks back...