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August 20th, 2010
 Google map. The Villager is reporting the tenants of Masaryk Towers have voted to gate off a section of Rivington Street used by a lot of people to walk between Pitt and Columbia Streets. The large cooperative just to the north of the Williamsburg Bridge owns the walkway. Right now, the path serves as a convenient link for many residents, especially elderly tenants of the Baruch and Gompers public housing developments. Continue reading Report: Masaryk Towers Closing Rivington Walkway August 16th, 2010
43 years after 2-thousand homes and many businesses adjacent to the Williamsburg Bridge were bulldozed, former site tenants are still battling for the right to return. They’re actively involved in Community Board 3′s drawn out quest for a consensus plan. Meanwhile, Chusid is on a quest of his own. At a recent meeting of CB3′s SPURA task force, he vowed to “pitch a tent,” if necessary, rather than be displaced. Continue reading One Man’s Battle to Stay on SPURA August 12th, 2010
August 10th, 2010
 221 East Broadway. Photo by Chris Gage. Thanks to Lo-Down reader Chris Gage for this photo and the following tip, “the deli on the corner of Clinton Street. and East Broadway has moved around the corner, to Clinton (between East Broadway and Henry Street). When I asked the man behind the counter, he said “Rent was too high.” It was speculated that a restaurant was going in the old space.” We don’t know about any restaurant going in here, but there are some other interesting happenings to report about 221 East Broadway. For awhile now, we’ve been hearing about a new gourmet coffee shop going into a smaller space in this building. Continue reading 221 East Broadway: Bodega Moves, Coffee Shop Planned, and… August 4th, 2010
August 2nd, 2010
We’ve been meaning to post a little update on Essex Flowers’ move to Grand Street. Owner Bill Frazer is settling in at 365 Grand Street, the former home of the infamous pizzeria, Isabella’s Oven. It’s a much larger location than the old flower shop at 39 Essex. He’s fixed up the backyard nicely and hopes to hold some special events out there in the future (pumpkin picking, for instance). Continue reading Flower Shop Settles in on Grand Street July 28th, 2010
As Community Board 3 tries to reach a consensus on the future of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, a new group has emerged on Grand Street, calling for compromise. Here’s their flyer:
If you’re having trouble reading the fine print, here are the salient points: the group is called Sustainable Housing & Retail Expansion (SHARE). It was created by residents in the Seward Park Cooperative, but they hope lots of other people on Grand Street will join in. The flyer reads: “SHARE advocates for mixed use of this land – a combination of market rate housing, affordable housing and commercial space – to help revitalize and modernize this area as both a viable neighborhood and a destination once again.” If you would like to join their organization, you can send an email to: sharespura@gmail.com. They’re also urging residents to come to tomorrow night’s SPURA Task Force meeting, at P.S. 124, 40 Division Street, at 6:30pm. July 27th, 2010
 CB3 Chair Dominic Pisciotta Is the Lower East Side ready to make a deal? That’s the question two urban planners hired by the city will be seeking to answer when they meet with members of Community Board 3′s SPURA Task Force Thursday night. It will be the third of four “facilitated” sessions meant to determine if neighborhood factions can finally reach a consensus on a development plan for the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. Recently, I discussed the deliberations with CB3 Chairman Dominic Pisciotta, who played a central role in the creation of the panel. The time is right, he said, for action, “to do something good for the neighborhood.” People on the Lower East Side have been fighting about SPURA since at least 1967, when thousands of homes and businesses were bulldozed in the name of urban renewal. Pisciotta first became interested in the issue in late 2003, not long after moving into the Seward Park Cooperative on Grand Street. During an infamous public hearing to discuss Michael Bloomberg’s mixed-use plan for SPURA, Pisciotta witnessed first hand the bitter divisions that have sabotaged every redevelopment effort in the past 43 years. “That was a really crazy night,” he said, “I was shocked by the comments from both sides.” July 26th, 2010
 Rendering of the proposed synagogue and condo project. Image from freyerarchitects.com. July 19, 2010, marked the fourth anniversary of a bold and ambitious decision by the congregation of an historic Lower East Side synagogue. Saddled with a crumbling building they could not afford to repair, the members of Young Israel of Manhattan voted overwhelmingly to approve a plan that offered them rebirth in a new home, along with the funds to improve and expand their programs and outreach. In the heady real estate climate of July 2006, all parties had reason to believe the deal spelled good fortune. In simple terms, developers would demolish the decaying building at 225 East Broadway and build in its place a modern, spacious temple, valued at $5.9 million, as well as pay the synagogue $3 million in cash. In exchange, the developers could construct and sell lucrative new condominiums on top of the synagogue. The gap between the plan and its execution, however, has grown wider and taken much longer to navigate than either side ever envisioned. The protracted demolition—announced in 2007 but not completed until April of this year—hinted at the trouble behind the scenes. Last week, the project’s principal developers spoke frankly about how their unusual development deal unraveled in a sinking market, leaving a gaping hole on the Lower East Side’s fabled Shtiebel Row. July 26th, 2010
Later today, we’ll be posting an in-depth report about the Young Israel synagogue on East Broadway, where a proposal to replace an aging house of worship with a new synagogue, and condos on the upper floors, has stalled. Our story, based on an examination of court records and interviews with the developers, takes a close-up look at just one deal that unraveled – and its consequences. Every project is, of course, different, but we think the facts surrounding the Young Israel agreement also shine a little bit of light on the broader turmoil in New York’s real estate market. |
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