UPPER EAST SIDE — City Councilman Dan Garodnick put Upper East Side schools and museums at the top of his list for this year’s budget season, dedicating more than $1 million to facilities on the Upper East Side and roughly $400,000 to fix up the area’s institutions.
Garodnick allocated $412,000 to Hunter College for the renovation of Room 543 in its North Building to create a modern, black box performance space and media laboratory.
The school's also getting another $250,000 to upgrade its athletic facilities at Hunter College Campus Schools in the former 94th Street Armory on East 94th Street and Park Avenue, according to Christopher Browne, a spokesperson for Hunter College.
The schools moved into the building in 1977 and the gym has not seen significant renovation since that time, he said.
"The renovated black box space will enable our students and faculty to learn in a modern environment with the latest tools and resources," Browne said. "Both these projects are central to our goal of providing the kind of high-quality facilities Hunter students deserve, and we deeply appreciate the councilman’s efforts on our behalf.”
A number of Upper East Side schools will also receive thousands each to purchase new technology.
P.S. 6, the Lillie Devereaux Blake School on East 81st Street, will receive $130,000 to renovate its schoolyard, according to Garodnick, who did not provide details on which schools would receive funding for technology.
He also promised $150,000 to the East 96th Street Library to help it complete a renovation to its facade and windows. Another $150,000 was dedicated to the renovation of the Park Avenue Armory’s Veterans Room — a reception room that was built in the 1880s.
The Armory, a nonprofit arts institution, began to renovate the Veterans Room this spring to transform it into a performance space. It’s expected to be finished in December, said Chelsea Bruck, a spokeswoman for the Armory.
The project is part of a larger, ongoing $200-million renovation and restoration of the Armory’s five-story landmarked building. Since 2006, the Park Avenue Armory has invested $120 million to restore the structure, the spokeswoman said.
