City Raises Objections to “Dorm” Plan for PS64

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The Department of Buildings has issued a Stop Work Order and moved to revoke a partial permit for the dorm conversion planned for former PS64/ CHARAS – El Bohio. In response to Councilmember Rosie Mendez’s letter dated September 3rd, the DOB raised objections to the approved conversion plan, which had earned agency support based on misinformation. The plan violates the zoning code and the “dorm rule”, a hard-fought protection on the speculative development of student housing.

The collective efforts of community groups, community members and the community board with a unified group of elected officials led by CM Mendez kept the energy and pressure needed to reverse the City’s decision. We continue to demand the return of this landmark building to true community use.

The EVCC remains dedicated to ensuring that the historic PS64 building and the intent for future use at the time of its sale are honored. Join us, other community groups, residents, and CM Mendez with other elected officials at a rally/ press conference on Sunday, 1pm at 605 East 9th Street (Avenues B & C)!

It’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (Garden)

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East Village Residents gather around treats and talk neighborhood shop.
East Village residents gather around treats and talk neighborhood shop.

Last Tuesday, July 8th marked the East Village Community Coalition Host Committee’s third ever “First Tuesdays” event. We were fortunate to make use of the beautiful Green Oasis Community Garden & Gilbert’s Sculpture Garden. This large-lot community garden, tucked away on 8th St. near Avenue D, was slated to be shut down by the Giuliani administration. The gardeners successfully protected the site through the early aughts. Thanks to their efforts, the garden today features a gazebo, stage, brick oven grill and a koi pond. Green Oasis was the perfect setting for East Village residents and enthusiasts to socialize, share with and support one another.

The Koi Pond, one of the many beautiful and unique features of the garden.
The Koi Pond, one of the many beautiful and unique features of the garden.
Throughout the evening, residents mingled over wine and delicious cookies generously donated by Taneesha Crawford of Rebellious Treats. We were fortunate to welcome State Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh who joined in the festivities. Each guest left with a printed map marking East Village community gardens and their accompanying information. Interested in finding your local community garden? Click here or check out this East Village Gardens Key.
If you weren’t able to attend our most recent First Tuesday, don’t fret! We are in the midst of assembling another exciting event for Wednesday, August 13th, and you’re invited. Looking to learn more about our Host Committee and the EVCC, or considering volunteering?  Contact HOSTCOMMITTEE@EVCCNYC.ORG for more information.

Accidental Skyline: A Map of Underbuilt Manhattan

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The Municipal Art Society released a new tool for identifying parcels with air space that can be developed under existing zoning. Much of the East Village is already near or at its height limit as a result of the 2008 contextual rezoning advanced by the EVCC and the East Village/ Lower East Side community. Some lots (in darker shades) remain vulnerable to potential future development. Neighbors take notice of underbuilt neighbors that may one day attract development interest.
View the interactive map.

Accidental Skyline
Buildable space in the East Village available on MAS’s Accidental Skyline

Community Calendar Now Live!

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Bookmark our community calendar the keep up with exciting East Village events, community announcements, and important meetings!

calendar

Email info@evccnyc.org to get your event listed.

Chalk LES

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May 2, 2014

Share your memories and images of the Lower East Side on the city’s pavements.
EVCC will be scribbling on East 9th Street near Avenue B from 12pm – 3pm.

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May Is Final
First Tuesdays and Chalk LES are organized in celebration of Lower East Side History Month
See the full schedule of events at www.leshistorymonth.org

Help St. Mark’s Bookshop move to new location in the East Village

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The Friends of St. Mark’s Bookshop is sponsoring an Indiegogo campaign to move the Bookshop into a new space in the East Village. But the Bookshop needs another financial push to build out the space and pay for moving costs, as well as maintaining its inventory for the remaining months at 31 Third Avenue. Once again, we turn to our loyal community for help.

For contributions of $250 up to $5,000, St. Mark’s Bookshop has one-of-a-kind books, including signed first editions that are personalized by the authors, as thank you gifts to our generous campaign supporters. These authors include Junot Diaz, Anne Carson, Anne Waldman, Patti Smith, Paul Auster, Lydia Davis, Eileen Myles, and others. Discounts on future purchases are also included for contributors. Even giving a smaller amount can get you a gift certificate to spend at the store.

Now is the opportunity for a final push as St. Mark’s reinvents itself as a non-profit event space, while continuing to fill the East Village’s niche for a small brick-and-mortar bookstore featuring carefully selected new theoretical, political, art, design, poetry and independent literary texts in traditional print format.

May is Lower East Side History Month

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May Is Final

The East Village Community Coalition is proud to serve on the Steering Committee of Lower East Side History Month: Exploring Our Past, Shaping Our Future!

Lower East Side History Month is an annual celebration of the rich and diverse history of the Lower East Side. Taking place during month of May, LES History month is an umbrella for a variety of public events, exhibits, tours, and learning opportunities taking place in the historical definition of the Lower East Side—which includes the East Village, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Alphabet City. Conceived and launched by LES-based cultural and community groups, LES History Month aims to connect our present to our past, exploring how our history can inform and inspire our future.

See the full schedule of events

 

This May, more than fifty Lower East Side-based cultural and community groups are collaborating to launch Lower East Side History Month. Help support the work of this collective by contributing to the crowdfunding campaign.

 

Support the Landmarks Proposal for Tifereth Israel, 334 East 14th Street

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Fifty years after it first got the attention of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Tifereth Israel Town and Village synagogue is under consideration for landmarks designation. The 1866 German Romanesque building at 334 East 14th Street needs your support to receive this overdue, official recognition. Designed originally as a church and converted in the 1960s to a conservative synagogue, the unique architectural details feature some historic alterations, including the onion dome prominent atop the facade. The building will increase in distinction among a rapidly transforming East 14th Street.

tifereth israel

Comments on the proposal will only be accepted for one more month, so join the many in our community who have already expressed support by sending your testimony to the LPC today! Click for sample letter.

First Tuesdays: “Art For Art’s Sake”

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First Tuesdays

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
6pm – 8pm
Dorian Grey Gallery, 437 East 9th Street
On View: Secret Gardens: Lowell Nesbitt & Philip Van Aver

 SOCIALIZE  Meet your neighbors over drinks and small bites.

 SHARE Enjoy current exhibit by veteran East Village artist Philip Van Aver.

 SUPPORT Engage in your community.

 Register today.

About the Artist
Though Philip Van Aver has lived in the same apartment on East 6th Street since 1969, this exhibition of his works dating from 1976 to 2014 is his first gallery show to take place in the Tompkins Square Park area of the Lower East Side.

During the over forty years Philip Van Aver has lived on the Lower East Side, he has been very involved in the politics of the area. Beginning in 1976 he became a member of the Citizens Committee to Keep the Ottendorfer Library Open, which succeeded in having the exterior and parts of the interior landmarked. Since then, he has worked with preservationists, building owners and elected officials to designate the Charlie Parker Residence and The Children’s Aid Society building, both on Avenue B; P.S. 64 and other area sites. As a steering committee member he has worked with the Friends of Tompkins Square Park in 1985 and 1991 to stop proposed redevelopment of the park. He was on the executive committee of the Lower East Side Joint Planning Council, which was mostly concerned with housing issues, and was a founding member of CoDA, a Lower East Side Democratic party activist organization. More recently, he worked with the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative to implement the massive Second Avenue/ East Village historic district proposed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

About First Tuesdays
The First Tuesdays meetup series is designed to bring together residents of the East Village in the hope that socializing, sharing and supporting one another will lead to a stronger, more informed community. Our First Tuesdays series is presented by the East Village Community Coalition’s Host Committee, dedicated to creating enjoyable and informative events throughout the community on behalf of the EVCC.

Sign the petition to preserve the former H. Nieberg Funeral Home at 139 Ludlow

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139 Ludlow

The East Village Coalition in partnership with Friends of the Lower East Side have launched a campaign to designate 139-141 Ludlow Street a New York City landmark. The unique Gothic structure was home to the H. Nieberg funeral home for more than fifty years. This commercial building with decorated terra cotta facade and preserved ground-floor entrance is distinct the surrounding tenement structures. Sign the petition to help preserve this important LES building!