Chin, Preservation Activists Try to Keep the Bialystoker in the News

Last Friday, Bialystoker Nursing home building, 228 East Broadway.
Last Friday, Bialystoker Nursing home building, 228 East Broadway.

On Friday, City Council member Margaret Chin came to the shuttered Bialystoker nursing home on East Broadway for a “photo op” with community activists battling to save the building from the wrecking ball.  As we reported last month, Chin is urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the 1929 Beaux Arts building. 

The nursing home board, which is trying to sell the property, opposes landmarking.  Among those present at Friday’s event: LES historian Joyce Mendelsohn, preservation activist Mitchell Grubler, former Bialystoker board member Sam Solarz and Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos of Broome Street synagogue Kehila Kedosha Janina.  Chin also posed for photos in front of the building with students from Henry Street Settlement, who have been studying the history of the Bialystoker.  A Landmarks Commission spokesperson told us no decisions have been made about moving forward with the application.