EAST VILLAGE — East Village activists who are fighting the conversion of a former public school into a six-story dormitory are adding a holiday touch to their efforts.
Save Our Community Center CHARAS — PS 64 plans to deliver greeting cards, gold-wrapped chocolate coins, frankincense and myrrh to City Hall on Three Kings Day, Jan. 6, to draw attention to their cause.
“We think this is a nice, physical way of trying to get more momentum and visibility and more awareness of the history of this building,” said district leader Anthony Feliciano, who is on the group’s steering committee.
SOCCC 64, a coalition of community groups and residents, has been fighting the conversion of the landmarked building into a college dormitory, insisting that it should return to its former use as a community space instead.
During the holiday season, the coalition has asked supporters to write cards to Mayor Bill de Blasio to seek his help, Feliciano said. So far, the group has collected more than 1,000 cards.
The mayor's office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The former P.S. 64 building has been vacant since 2001, when owner Gregg Singer of 9th and 10th Street LLC kicked out its last remaining tenant, the CHARAS/El Bohio Cultural and Community Center.
The center had been a haven for neighborhood activists and artists for more than 30 years, according to reports.
Singer announced plans to turn the former school building into a college dormitory and the Department of Buildings gave the developer a permit to build housing for Cooper Union and the Joffrey Ballet last August, records show.
However, the agency issued a stop work order the next month, after it found that the developer was not complying with zoning regulations.
The order is still in place and the only work permitted is for steel welding testing, according to a DOB spokesman. The stop work order cannot be lifted until Singer resolves the objections associated with the project, the spokesman said.
Singer said the city issued the order because it wanted to clarify the language in the leases the developer signed with the schools. The law requires schools to be responsible for the dorms year-round for at least 10 years, he said, but the city did not think the leases were clear enough.
He said he is working with the city to change the wording and hopes to restart construction by the end of next month.
Singer said he was not opposed to a community center but local leaders and groups have not submitted proposals.
"What’s the plan and where's the financial backing for the plan?" he said.
Feliciano disputed the claim, saying that Singer "has never reached out to us in good intention and good faith."
SOCCC 64 plans to march from the school building, at 605 E. Ninth St., at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 6 to City Hall, weather permitting, it said on its website. The group will also present an online petition that collected more than 400 signatures, Feliciano said.
Councilwoman Rosie Mendez will hold a press conference about the issue with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer on the City Hall steps at 2 p.m. the same day, according to a spokesman.
