Supporters and dignitaries gathered on Pitt Street today to celebrate the completion of “The Lee,” a 263-unit supportive housing facility. The building, a project of New York City non-profit Common Ground, will provide homes for 104 homeless adults and 103 low-income residents from the Lower East Side. Following a brief program in Hamilton Fish Park (across the street), there was a ribbon cutting in front of The Lee.
The $59 million building was developed under the city’s New Housing Mrketplace Plan, which is meant to preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by the year 2014. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development provided $24.6 million for the project. The NYC Housing Development Corp. made possible $31 million in tax-exempt bond financing. The state’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program contributed an addition $6.5 million.
The Lee is named for Lee Larson of the Larson Family Foundation (which also helped fund construction). The development includes a community event space available to neighborhood residents. Fifty five units will be reserved for young people aging out of foster care. Youth development services (including job training and counseling) are being provided by The Door (University Settlement).
The site on which the Lee is built, 133 Pitt Street, has had a contentious history. After the Boys’ Club considered selling the property to a market rate developer almost a decade ago, it came to light that the former urban renewal site could only be used as a community-based facility.
This morning Michael Zisser of University Settlement said the Common Ground project is a testament not only to Common Ground’s vision but also the Lower East Side’s determination to protect the “most vulnerable members of our community.” Community Board 3 and Lisa Kaplan, Councilmember Rosie Mendez’s chief of staff, were very active in fighting to keep the Boys Club site from becoming a market rate residential building.
We will always miss the Boys Club, a lot of our kids now walk the streets looking at the criminal element for mentoring… but providing housing to the homeless and low income families in the Lower East Side is a better choice than making another high rise with sky high rent. There are a lot of Lower East Side natives still living here, you cant push us all out…
the lee is a desaster for some people  crime  worse than the streets  this is a long story go to   www theleeatnite.blogspot.com   2 floors of   kids  at risk or homeless  in building and   crack heron and drinking all out of hand  ….its dangerous   because some looser programer thinks  mixing up people with  mentay disorders  and criminals   destrot lives/…first ther is the  guest that  stays  over  2 week time limit then   because   security  alows   it to go on  first the  loud   conversation then the argueing then the   mfghts and   wow what do you know   the  drug dealing  andddd more……….personally when i complained   10 monthe ago   ….i was   said to  have a gun and said i  was  going to jump off building all lies to shut me up …..I HAVE  PROTESTED BY NOT MOVING MY THINGS IN BLDG   SINCE   ITS NOT OVER>….i have complained to news and   manhattan  D A   a few times    …………..was put on dangreerous drug  DEPOLOTE  for life…  to   shut meup there ois more    and   withnessess.to madness….they (common ground_)   medicate and   collect lots of money . i   will fight this in court more later   MOSAIC MAN  JIM POWER  i have been staying in   my workshop for   10 months………. what can  rosie do about this  and too many people from   everywhere (vensuela  communist anti american country yet   many from hood still  homeless  many veterans like my self   still out there….investigate this   sham……..