Sometimes Christmas comes early; sometimes it arrives on-time; sometimes it’s a bit late. But occasionally, when you’ve been really good, it comes on all three occasions. If that’s the case, then Village Preservation must have been really good indeed this past year. The Early Present The former P.S. 64 building at 605 East 9th Street […]
Each year, New York City’s 1 million public school students return to school after a long summer break. Few realize that one man is responsible for so profoundly shaping our idea of how a school would look and function, and that some of his best work is located right here in our own community. In […]
The tumult and unrest in the streets of Puerto Rico right now harken back to a time when many Puerto Rican New Yorkers were also agitating in the streets for long-overdue reform and change. One milestone in that history took place 50 years ago when several Puerto Rican activists gathered in the East Village to found […]
This Friday, July 20, marks the 20th anniversary of the controversial auction of the former P.S. 64/CHARAS-El Bohio Community and Cultural Center at 605 East 9th Street by then-Mayor Giuliani over widespread community opposition. Check out the Facebook event page here.
We have written a number of times about the former P.S. 64/ CHARAS-El Bohio Community and Cultural Center and our efforts to save the landmarked building. The beloved historic structure was built in 1906 and designed by architect and then-New York City Superintendent of School Buildings C.B.J. Snyder (November 4, 1860 – November 14, 1945). During his tenure […]
On this day in 1970, the Landmarks Preservation Commission granted landmark status to the dignified Greek Revival house at 37 East 4th Street. This three and a half story house was built in 1844-45 by Samuel Tredwell Skidmore, a relative of Seabury Tredwell, who lived with his family only a few doors away at 29 East 4thStreet, […]
Show your love for community centers and spaces for a powerful and quick event next Tuesday. Join GVSHP, elected officials, community groups, and neighbors for a rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall to save the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center (the old P.S. 64) at 605 East 9th Street, which is in grave danger […]
“Alternative facts” seems to be the buzzword this week, and may become the phrase of the next four years. For better or worse, for those of us involved in the fight for preservation and against overdevelopment, tackling the concept of “alternative facts” — assertions by someone in authority that seems to have no basis in […]
East Village activists were surprised to learn recently that the city’s Department of Buildings had issued new work permits for 605 E. 9th Street, the former public school that served as the CHARAS-El Bohio community center for two decades, until it was sold by the Giuliani administration to a private developer in 1998. Since 2001, […]
Oh, if only Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration hadn’t auctioned off P.S. 64 to a private buyer back in the sultry days of July, 1998, a whole decade and a half ago. The community center called CHARAS/El Bohio that improved and inhabited the historic 1906 schoolhouse would not have gone homeless for 12 years (after finally […]
We hope you can join us for our upcoming lecture on Charles B. J. Snyder on Tuesday, September 4th (RSVP information). An architect and Superintendent of School Buildings from the city’s consolidation in 1898 until 1923, Snyder was the guiding force behind the planning and construction of more than 140 elementary schools, ten junior high […]
