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. ...
The ongoing debate about the future of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area revolves around the issue of affordable vs. market rate housing. But during Community Board 3's deliberations, other topics., such as the need for new schools and...
Monday night, community activists met in a sweltering auditorium at University Settlement to play a game. No money changed hands, but there were plenty of poker faces, and the stakes were high. The participants were members of Community Board...
Today we continue our series of interviews with community activists engaged in the ongoing debate about the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA). The development site near the Williamsburg Bridge has languished for 43 years, as neighbors feuded about...
It felt a little bit like group therapy. Everyone had the opportunity to speak their mind. A professorial facilitator offered encouragement. They even passed around a bowl of grapes and some cookies. But last night's gathering in a stuffy...
No one ever accused Harold "Heshy" Jacob of holding back. A dominant figure on Grand Street for more than 30 years, he has strong opinions and is not afraid to express them loud enough for everyone to hear. Calling...
Michael Tumminia, president of the Seward Park Co-op, says 43 years is long enough to wait for redevelopment of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA). In a recent interview with The Lo-Down, he acknowledged, "the Grand Street co-ops...
Every month, 23 community activists gather in a meeting room on the Lower East Side in the pursuit of a worthy but elusive goal: an agreement on the redevelopment of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA). Under the...
David McWater, chairman of a CB3 committee trying to come up with a plan for the redevelopment of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA), threatened tonight to put the panel's work on indefinite hold. For months, the land...
SPURA - the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area - has been one of the most contentious issues on the Lower East Side for 40 years. Repeated efforts to redevelop the five parcels in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge...
