Great News Regarding Proposed 32-ft.-Tall 5G Towers in the West Village, Saving Charas/Former P.S. 64 at 605 East 9th Street, and Bleecker Street Morton Williams Supermarket

To kick off the new year, we have some great news to report on three vital fronts, spanning the West, East, and South Village:

• Following our urging that the proposed 32-ft.-tall metallic 5G towers at 771 Greenwich/99 Bank Street, 100 Horatio Street, and 100 Jane Street be rejected based upon historic preservation concerns, the NYS Historic Preservation Office in late December also called for the siting of the towers at these locations to be rejected. So far, whenever the state agency has called a site inappropriate in this manner, it has ultimately been rejected, as happened with the one planned for 445 West Street (at Westbeth). We are optimistic that the same will result here. We will continue to monitor and keep you posted. Please continue to send letters opposing the other planned locations, including 184 East 7th Street, that would negatively impact historic resources, and ask friends, family, and neighbors to do the same — it does make a difference.

• After a more-than-quarter-century battle, the landmarked historic former P.S. 64 at 605 East 9th Street (Avenues B and C), which for decades was the home of the Charas/El Bohio community center, has been wrested from the hands of developer Gregg Singer. Singer, who bought the building at auction from then-Mayor Giuliani, has sought to destroy the building, site uses here that were found to violate zoning restrictions, and left it dangerously open to the elements and vandals for decades. Village Preservation and a coalition of community groups and elected officials have sought to get the historic building out of Singer’s hands and back to a worthwhile community use. We are hopeful that under new ownership the building can finally be restored and used for a purpose that serves the public and the East Village as it did for decades as the home of the Charas/El Bohio Community Center. Read more here.

• We’re also pleased to report that in late December, the city, NYU, and Morton Williams announced a deal under which the supermarket located on NYU land on Bleecker Street east of LaGuardia Place would remain open at its current location for at least another 13 years. During the contentious battle over NYU’s 2031 expansion plan more than a dozen years ago, the university repeatedly promised that no matter what, it would either allow the supermarket to remain in its current location or provide a new space for it nearby in one of its new buildings. However, more recently the university and the City said the supermarket would have to vacate the site to accommodate new construction, and that there was no space available in any NYU building to house it. Village Preservation joined local residents and elected officials in calling for the university and the City to honor the original pledge by NYU to keep the supermarket in an accessible location where it could continue to serve local residents, many of them elderly and living in the adjacent affordable housing development at 505 LaGuardia Place. This deal will ensure that remains so through 2036.

Thank you to all who joined in these many fights to ensure these important victories!