‘A major threat’
Derelict ex-school menaces E. Villagers
East Village locals and preservationists fear a dilapidated former school with 67 open violations and a vacate order from city inspectors poses a danger to the neighborhood.
The historic, deteriorating PS 64 building has been further damaged recently by trespassers with pickaxes, photos provided to the Daily News show. Dangerous holes have appeared in the sidewalk that allow access to the building that served as the CHARAS/El Bohio community hub beginning in 1979, according to Department of Buildings records. A subsequent inspection found the building had been “secured,” according to DOB.
Village Preservation executive director Andrew Berman said the building’s sorry state resembles that of 729 Seventh Ave. in Midtown — now the center of a contentious lawsuit over the death of a woman struck by debris that fell some 15 stories from a crumbling façade.
“We don’t want another situation like [that], where a combination of owner and city neglect leaves a dangerous situation unaddressed and an innocent bystander suffers the consequences. Conditions at this building are ripe for just such a tragedy,” Berman said.
Neighbors of the landmarked building lamented to the Daily News in February that a DOB initiative imposing higher fines and possible criminal charges against landlords who fail to maintain properties would leave out PS 64 because it’s only five stories.
“Our top priority is public safety. We are closely monitoring the situation and will enforce all measures necessary to ensure the building does not put pedestrians or neighboring structures at risk,” the agency said in a statement.
Carolyn Ratcliffe, the president of the 9 BC Tompkins Square Block Association, lives next door to the building. Dreading the possibility of an accident, she makes a point to always walk on the other side of the street when nearby.
“If there has been a case for demolition by neglect it’s this building. It’s tragic,” said Ratcliffe, 78. “It represents a major threat to the lives of people who live next to it.”
Mayor de Blasio said in 2017 that the city was looking to reacquire the building. But those efforts have slowed amid ongoing lawsuits and budget shortfalls caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The building owner, Gregg Singer, has clashed with locals since he bought the property at auction for $3.15 million in 1999. In February 2019 the building was slapped with a vacate order, as well as a mandate to hire an engineer to analyze the entire structure. Singer has performed mandated “facade stabilization work,” according to DOB.
His lawyer, Nicole Epstein, said comparing Singer’s building to the Midtown tragedy was unfair, given that he’s built a sidewalk shed at the property. Neighbors complaining about its condition had also opposed Singer’s proposals to develop the property into college dorms, she noted.
“It’s quite ironic and hypocritical,” Epstein said.