A piece of Lower East Side history is being erased this morning. Workers arrived earlier today at 232 East Broadway to paint over a mural that was created by a group of local teenagers more than 40 years ago.
As reported on Friday, Rob Kaliner’s Ascend Group recently purchased the former Bialystoker Nursing Home at 228 East Broadway, as well as two adjacent properties — the former Dora Cohen Garden and the office building featuring the mural. Plans show two modern structures towering over either side of the Bialystoker building, which is a New York City landmark.
The mural was called, “Our Strength is Our Heritage, Our Heritage is Our Life.” It was made by local youth, teaming up with professional artists and was sponsored by the organization CITYArts. It depicts scenes from Jewish history, including from the Nazi era. Some of the teens were children of Holocaust survivors. You can read more about the making of the mural here.
UPDATED 8:05 p.m. The New York Post has picked up on our story tonight. Kaliner spoke with the tabloid:
He told The Post on Monday that he chose to paint over the mural after noticing pieces of the building and large chunks of paint falling off the side. “It was purely done for safety reasons,” Kaliner said. “The building is going to be demolished anyway, and I wanted to make sure for the safety of residents and the people walking around there that it was taken care of without pieces falling of… We really apologize to anyone who was upset about it, but we wanted to make sure we kept the area safe, and that’s what we accomplished,” he said. “I would feel terrible if anyone was to get hurt because of the site conditions.
Thanks to Lori Cottrell and Freda Fried for tips earlier today regarding this story. Here’s a photo Lori sent us earlier.
